SEASIDE, Calif. -- The Cal State Monterey Bay baseball team opened the 2016 season with a doubleheader against regional opponent Holy Names University at the Otter Sports Complex on Friday afternoon. After six innings of quiet offense, the Otters bats erupted, leading to a 13–1 victory in game one. CSUMB followed that up with a much closer contest, but got the big plays when they mattered in the 5–4 win in game two.
GAME 1: CAL STATE MONTEREY BAY 13, HOLY NAMES 1In the first game of 2016 the Otters got off to a slow start by mustering up just one hit in the first six innings. However, that one hit was a
Hayden Duer (Davis HS) big fly that tied the game at 1–1. Fast forward to the seventh inning and the Otter bats came alive. CSUMB scored four times in the seventh inning followed by an eight–run eighth inning.
The eighth inning began with a
Kevin Davidson (Yucaipa HS) double and the flood gates opened from there. Davidson would come around to score the first run of the inning. Two runs came in on back–to–back walks giving CSUMB a 9–1 lead and loading the bases for Davidson to come up for the second time in the inning. On a 3–2 count, Davidson sent the pitch over the left–centerfield wall for a grand slam and his first home run of the season.
Jeffrey Ahern (Anderson HS) closed the door on the Hawks throwing two innings of shutout ball while striking out three in the 13–1 victory.
Davidson led the Otters with four RBIs, but
Matt Urakami (San Jose, Calif. / Branham HS) also drove in two runs including a two–RBI double to break the 1–1 tie.
GAME 2: CAL STATE MONTEREY BAY 5, HOLY NAMES 4Game two was a much closer affair, but things didn't get dicey until the top of the seventh inning. CSUMB jumped out to a 3–0 lead on a couple of RBI doubles by Davidson and
Justin Flores (Fresno, Calif. / Clovis West HS). Holy Names scored twice in the fourth followed by a CSUMB run in the fifth. Monterey Bay was able to get an insurance run in the six inning on an RBI walk by
Brian Bostjancic (Forest Knolls, Calif. / Sir Francis Drake HS), putting the score at 5–2.
That sixth inning run would be needed as the Otter allowed two runs to come across on two errors in the top of the seventh. However,
Steven Zaharias (S,1) was able to induce an game–ending double play to secure the 5–4 win.
Josh Heinz (Santa Clarita, Calif. / West Ranch HS) led the offense with two RBIs.
Ryan Boydstun (La Quinta HS) earned his first win of the season. Monterey Bay moves to 2–0 and will play Fresno Pacific on Saturday at 11:00 a.m. at the Otter Sports Complex.
GO OTTERS!
