HAYWARD, Calif. -- It's usually a grind when the Cal State Monterey Bay softball team visits Cal State East Bay. Such was the case again Friday as the No. 3 ranked Otters battled twice to earn a split with the Pioneers, winning the opener 2-1 before falling 5-3 in the nightcap.
Senior pitcher
Cori Reinhardt (Riverside Poly) allowed just one run on four hits to improve to 9-0 in Game 1. In Game 2, junior
Lindsey Clarkson (Fresno/Central HS) was in control with 11 strikeouts through five innings before the game got away from her in the sixth.
A pair of leadoff errors opened the door for the Otters in the first inning of the opener.
Madison Casto (Sunnyvale/Homestead HS) cashed those errors in with a 2-out single to left. That was all the support Reinhardt would need as she allowed a first-inning run before settling down to toss 6 2/3 innings of shutout ball.
Clarkson was in control in the nightcap, but her offense stranded six runners in the first three innings--including a runner on third in each of them--before East Bay starter Tatiana Beilstein settled down, retiring eight consecutive Otters at one point.
The game remained scoreless until the sixth when
Bianca Noriega (Ventura/Camarillo HS) led off with a 4-pitch walk and gave way to pinch runner
Marielle Valdez. Casto sacrificed her to second before
Alissa Greenhaw hit a sharp grounder to with two outs that Pioneer shortstop Nikki Foster threw wide of the bag at first, allowing Valdez to open the CSUMB ledger.
The lead was short-lived, however, as Jaynie MacDonald blasted her eighth home run of the season following a leadoff walk to put East Bay in control. A double, walk, error and pair of seeing-eye singles put the finishing touches on a 5-run East Bay rally.
The Otters came back to score two in the top of the seventh on a Reinhardt double, but that was all they got.
Also of note, the Otters played the game under protest following contention of an illegal substitution call after
Danica Arterburn drew a leadoff walk to start the inning.
The Otters and Pioneers will finish their 4-game series with a doubleheader at Pioneer field Saturday. First pitch is set for noon.
GO OTTERS!
