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MODESTO, Calif. — The No. 3 Cal State Monterey Bay softball team split a pair of unusual games to bow out of the CCAA Softball Championship Tournament Saturday at Arnaiz Stadium. The Otters defeated UC San Diego 10–8 in the first elimination game before falling to Sonoma State for the second time in the tournament, 9–5, in Saturday's late game.

CSUMB (45–9) will rest Sunday and prepare for the announcement of the NCAA Softball Championship bracket Monday morning. The Otters entered the week at No. 1 in the West Region rankings and are a lock to to make the 8–team regional field.

The big positive that came from Saturday's action was the awakening of the Otter offense, which had scored just nine runs in its four games leading into the day. CSUMB exploded for 10 runs against UCSD, its most since scoring 10 in a win over Pace University on Mar. 29. The Otters finished their three tournament games with 41 total hits, including seven extra base hits, stats that bode well for the team heading to regionals.

On the flip side, the Otters are happy to be saying sayonara to Arnaiz Stadium. The top fielding team in NCAA Division II play has committed 20 errors in its last six games at the facility, including seven more Saturday.

Junior Cori Reinhardt (Riverside Poly) enjoyed a big day at the plate, going 6–for–8 with five runs scored, including a 4–for–4 effort in the win over UCSD. Sophomore designated player Bianca Noriega (Ventura/Camarillo HS) also collected eight hits Saturday, including four hits, a pair of doubles and four RBIs in the win over the Tritons.

In the circle, sophomore Lindsey Clarkson (Fresno/Central HS) allowed just three earned runs against UCSD. Although the Tritons tacked on five of the unearned variety, it wasn't enough to stop her from picking up her CSUMB record 24th win of the season. Reinhardt opened the late game with three scoreless frames, but couldn't hold the lead as Sonoma State rallied to tie it at 5–5 in the fifth innng.

Clarkson came on in relief, but the Seawolf bats remained hot, continuing a skein of what proved to be nine unaswered runs over their final three at bats to earn a berth in Sunday's championship game versus Humboldt State.