ARCATA, Calif. -- The No. 5 ranked Cal State Monterey Bay softball team took one step closer to repeating as CCAA champion by splitting a doubleheader at No. 12 Humboldt State Friday at the HSU Softball Field. CSUMB won Game 1 1-0 behind Cori Reinhardt's (Riverside Poly) seventh shutout of the season. Humboldt stayed alive by making three first inning runs hold up in a 3-1 Game 2 victory.

Reinhardt improved to 26-2 with her victory in the opener. The 26 wins break the CSUMB record of 25 she shared with Lindsey Clarkson (Fresno/Central HS). Reinhardt also led the way with her bat, going 2-for-3.

She led off the fourth inning with her 18th double of the season. Jayme Stark (La Quinta HS) came in to pinch run and scored three batters later on Anneliese Lopez's (Ventura/Buena HS) clutch 2-out, RBI single.

Reinhardt made that lead stand up, scattering six hits while striking out five.

The nightcap saw Humboldt capitalize on one bad Otter inning to prevent CSUMB from clinching the CCAA title. An RBI single by Tiffany Hollingsworth and a 2-run homer by Dani Randall staked the Lumberjacks to a 3-0 lead in the first.

The Otters pulled one back in the fourth when Alissa Greenhaw (Galt/Cosumnes River College) scored on a wild pitch. But even that came on the heels of some hard luck.

Greenhaw and Courtney Varela (Hawthorne/Torrance HS) reached to lead off the inning. Reinhardt hit a hard grounder up the middle that should have been a run-scoring single. But shortstop Cyndi Chavez made a diving stop and came up to get Varela by an eyelash at second to short-circuit the potential big inning.

CSUMB (42-10, 26-8 CCAA) and Humboldt (39-13, 25-9) will close their regular season schedules with a doubleheader Saturday morning. One CSUMB win will clinch the conference title for the Otters. A Humboldt sweep would give the Lumberjacks the title.



 

GO OTTERS!