LEADING OFF: The Otters play their second of three split series this weekend, traveling to Hayward to face Cal State East Bay on Friday (3 p.m.) and Sunday (noon). CSUMB will host the Pioneers on Saturday in a doubleheader beginning at noon.
SCOUTING CAL STATE EAST BAY: The Pioneers are flirting on the edge of getting a spot in the CCAA Championships, just six games back of Cal Poly Pomona and UC San Diego, who are tied for third in the standings. CSUEB split an important series at No. 5 Chico State last weekend, taking the final two games 3-1 and 8-7.
Players To Watch: Junior infielder Daniel Carney (.318 Avg., 27 H, 4 2B), junior outfielder Kelly Starnes (.306 Avg., 33 H, 20 R, 5 SB), senior infielder Eren Miravalles (.305 Avg., 25 H, 15 R, 4 SB), senior RHP Ben O'Bryan (3-3, 2.12 ERA, 46.2 IP, 43 SO)
LAST SERIES AGAINST THE PIONEERS: CSUMB won three of the four games against the Pioneers by three or fewer runs. The Friday opener was decided by a seven-run sixth inning as the Otters held off CSUEB's rally for an 8-5 win. The Otters bounced back from a 8-5 loss in first game of the twinbill with a 3-1 nightcap victory. In an ugly game that consisted of a total of six errors, CSUMB came out on top, 5-3.
LAST TIME OUT: The Otters suffered their second series sweep of the season, dropping four games to visiting Cal State Dominguez Hills. With a large rainstorm enroute, the normally doubleheader scheduled for Saturday was moved to Friday. CSUMB's offense was nonexistent in the opener until the final inning as the Pioneers cruised to a 6-1 win. The nightcap was a showcase of strong pitching between
Jeff Owen (Clovis East HS) and CSUDH's reliever Joseph Perez with each team scoring one run in the seven scheduled innings. The game was concluded in the 10th inning when the Toro offense exploded with six runs.
CCAA WEEKEND RECAP: There were five CCAA series played last weekend while CSUMB enjoyed its bye weekend. UC San Diego and Sonoma State each registered sweeps over Cal State L.A. and San Bernardino respectively. The San Francisco State series at Cal Poly Pomona and the Cal State Stanislaus series at Cal State Dominguez Hills each resulted with the home team winning three of the four games. Cal State East Bay split at Chico State.
OTTERS NEAR TOP OF CCAA: Junior
Brian Hamm (Pleasanton/Chabot College) sits in second place in the CCAA stolen bases category with 14, closing in on leader Cal State East Bay's Mark Wise 15 stolen bases. Junior
Jeff Owen ranks third with 46 strikeouts. Senior
Mark Hurley (Hollister/College of San Mateo) ranks third in doubles with 11 as Cal Poly Pomona's David Armendariz leads the conference with 13.
CSUMB LEADS CONFERNECE: CSUMB leads the CCAA in five categories: doubles (67), doubles per game (1.97), stolen bases (40), sacrifice flies (19) and triples (9). The Otters rank second in walks (105), hits (268), slugging percentage (.372), runs (154), runs batted in (139), and triples per game (.22).
OWEN FRUSTRATING BATTERS: Junior RHP
Jeff Owen is making CSUMB's opponents irked by allowing only 5.01 hits per nine innings, ranking him eighth in the nation. He also ranks 87th with 46 strikeouts.
MAKE IT A DOUBLE: With a conference leading 67 doubles, CSUMB ranks 4th in the Otter record book by averaging 1.97 doubles a game. The 2006 squad is on top with 2.14 per game. One note, CSUMB played 55 games in 2006. In 2010, the NCAA lowered the maximum number of regular season games played to 50.
WHATEVER IT TAKES: The Otters will take a run any way they can including sacrifice flies. They rank No. 21 in the nation with a conference-best 19 this season.
