ST. GEORGE, Utah — Unlucky is a word usually reserved for soccer, but no more apt word describes the way the 2014 season softball season ended for Cal State Monterey Bay in a 5-4 loss in Saturday's Super Regional championship game at Dixie State.
CSUMB finished its best-ever softball season 48-12 overall while Dixie (49-8) advances to play Southeastern Oklahoma in the opening round of the NCAA College World Series Thursday in Salem, Va.

For Otter fans, however, it will be a summer thinking about what almost was. CSUMB entered the seventh inning trailing 5-2 before rallying to within 5-4 with one out. With runners on second and third, Lindsey Clarkson hit a laser reminiscent of the one Willie McCovey hit with the winning runs on base in Game 7 of the 1962 World Series. But like McCovey's drive, Clarkson's found the glove of Dixie second baseman Nicole Chavez, who threw to third for a game-ending double play on call that replays show could have been called the other way.

In another word: unlucky.

"I just want to say how proud I am of our team," said CSUMB Head Coach Andrea Kenney. "We're a young team that starts four freshman. It was a year when our goal was just to make the playoffs and we ended up winning the conference and advancing to the Super Regional as the No. 1 seed, so it's been a phenomenal year.

"Of course I'm not happy with the way it ended, hitting the ball that hard and lining into a double play, but I'm proud of the way our team played."
Things didn't start well for CSUMB, which was uncharacteristically shaky in the field early, leading to an unearned run and a 1-0 Dixie lead after one inning. But the Otters rallied to take the lead on RBI singles from Bianca Noriega and Madison Casto in the third.

Dixie responded with a run in its half of the third to tie then retook the lead with a 3-run fourth, scoring the final run on a 2-out error that proved to be the difference in the game.

The Otters loaded the bases with one out in sixth before the first piece of unluck happened. Courtney Varela hit a high chopper that barely missed getting over the head of first baseman Sheila Geiter, who threw home for the second out. Another ground out ended the threat.

A Noriega walk and a 1-out double by Anneliese Lopez brought Nicole Pires up as the tying run in the top of the seventh. Pires walked and Alissa Greenhaw followed with a double to the gap in left center to pull the Otters to within 5-4.

"I had no doubt in my mind that we'd make a comeback. This team has fought all season and we've been in situations like this before and we've come back," said Noriega. "I knew once I got on that Maddy would get on behind me and that we'd come back. Unfortunately, it didn't end the way we wanted."

Clarkson, who came on as a pinch hitter in the sixth, then smoked an opposite field liner. It was the hardest hit ball by either team in the game, but right at Chavez, who threw across the diamond trying for the double play.

Replays appeared to show that Pires dove back to third ahead of the throw, but Dixie got the call and, with it, the game.

Noriega finished Saturday's game 3-for-3 to lead the 10-hit Otter attack. Casto added two hits whole Lopez, Greenhaw and Brianne Hollon added doubles.



 

GO OTTERS!