CARSON, Calif. — In a pair of games that virtually mimicked their Friday counterparts, Cal State Monterey Bay and Cal State Dominguez Hills split the finales of their 4–game series, with Dominguez Hills taking the opener 3-2 in 10 innings before the Otters rolled to a 10–3 win in Game 2 Saturday afternoon at Toro Diamond.

CSUMB (22–22 overall) fell in nine innings in Friday's opener, 6–5, before winning a blowout in Game 2, 7–1.

Bianca Noriega (Camarillo HS) allowed just seven hits in 9 1/3 innings in Game 1 Saturday, but three of those were solo home runs. Toro center fielder Jazmine Ruiz hit two of those, including the game–winner with one out in the 10th. The last one spoiled a great effort by the Otter senior, who not only struck out five while walking just one, she also went 3-for-5 at the plate.

Game 2 held no such drama as Courtney Varela (Torrance HS) tripled and scored to lead off the game. Anneliese Lopez (Ventura/Buena HS) ended any suspense with a grand slam in the third inning—her fifth homer of the season—to give CSUMB a 6–1 lead.

An RBI double by Jenae Coleman (Castaic/Hart HS) and a 2–run double by Valerie Aguilar (Montebello/ELAC) made the game a runaway in the sixth inning.

Varela, Coleman, Aguilar and Courtney Hennings (Amador Valley HS) each hit safely in both games Saturday. Varela ran her hitting streak to a season–best nine games while Hennings has now hit safely in eight consecutive games.

Also of note Saturday were the two stolen bases in Game 1 by Varela, giving her 30 steals on the season. She ties the Otter single season record set by Jessica Wardle in 2007.

In the circle, freshman Tori Pierucci (San Mateo/Hillsdale HS) earned her 10th win of the season, marking the fifth consecutive season in which the Otters have had two pitchers reach double digit wins.

The Otters will close their 8–game roadtrip with four games in Hayward at Cal State East Bay Apr. 19–20. They return to the Otter Sports Complex for the final home games of 2016 Apr. 22–23 against Stanislaus State.