STOCKTON, Calif. — With an ending almost, but not quite, as dramatic as Friday's 10-inning thriller over Chico State, the Cal State Monterey Bay softball team walked-off another opponent and walked into the CCAA Tournament Championship game with a 5-3 win over No. 15 Humboldt State Saturday at Arnaiz Stadium.

This time, senior third baseman Alissa Greenhaw (Galt/Cosumnes River College) did the honors, drilling an 0-1 pitch out to dead center field to break a 3-3 tie in the bottom of the seventh. Vanessa Avila (Dana Point/Santiago Canyon College), who had singled in front of her, also scored on the play.

The win allows the No. 5 ranked Otters (46-10) to take the remainder of Saturday off as the three remaining teams—Chico State, Sonoma State and Humboldt—play through the loser's bracket for the right to face the Otters on Sunday. The survivor of that side of the bracket would have to beat the Otters twice to take the title and the automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament that comes with it.

CSUMB is looking to become just the second team to win both the CCAA regular season and tournament titles in the same year. Humboldt State turned the trick in 2013. Regardless of Sunday's outcome, the Otters are all but a lock to earn one of the top two seeds the next week's NCAA West Regional rankings and, with it, the right to host a regional tournament for the third time in four seasons.

Although Saturday's win ended dramatically, it began innocuously enough. Greenhaw led off the game with a double and came around to score on a Cori Reinhardt (Riverside Poly) single over a drawn-in infield. The Otters scored a second run on a 2-out, bases loaded walk by Danica Arterburn (Sparks, Nev./Spanish Springs HS), driving Lumberjack starter Madison Williams to an early shower.

A 1-out single by Greenhaw and a 2-out double by Reinhardt in the second extended the CSUMB advantage to 3-0 off reliever Katie Obbema. With junior Lindsey Clarkson (Fresno/Central HS) dealing a no-hitter into the fifth inning, that lead appeared to be comfortable.

But Obbema was dealing as well, retiring 11 consecutive Otters to keep Humboldt within striking distance. The Lumberjacks closed the gap slightly in the fifth, using two walks and their first two hits of the game to make it 3-1.

Anneliese Lopez (Ventura/Buena HS) finally broke Obemma's spell with a 2-out single in the bottom of the sixth. While that hit didn't lead directly to a run, it set the stage for the game's fantastic finish.

Alison McKibbon got Humboldt back to within a run with a 1-out homer in the top of the seventh inning. A single and a hit batter brought on a pitching change as Reinhardt came in to shut the door. Reinhardt hit the first batter she faced before yielding a sac fly to Darian Harris that tied the game at three.

But on the play, Greenhaw cut off a strong, accurate throw by Arterburn in left to catch Cyndi Chavez trying to advance behind the play. That ended the inning and gave the Otters a chance to win with a single run.

A 1-out single up the middle by Avila set the stage for Greenhaw, who touched Obbema for a game-winning, 3-run shot in Arcata last weekend. Greenhaw took a strike before getting everything into the next Obbema offering, depositing her fifth homer of the season and third extra base hit of the tournament over the 210 sign in center.