RIVERSIDE, Calif. — Cal State Monterey Bay's run in the NCAA Division II Baseball West Regional came to a tough end Saturday afternoon as No. 10 ranked Dixie State avenged an opening game loss to the Otters to hand them a 7–4 defeat in an elimination game at Totman Stadium.

CSUMB (34–21) ends the second most successful baseball season in school history with the setback. Dixie (40–13) advances to play host Cal Baptist University for the right to meet undfeated Cal Poly Pomona the regional championship game.

"Could not be more proud of these guys," said CSUMB Head Coach Walt White. "They played their hearts out, just came up a bit short."

Dixie tried to take control of this one early when Sam Hall's 2–run double sparked a 3–run first for the Trailblazers. They went up 4–0 before  an Otter power surge made things interesting.

Junior Nicholas Vigo (Simi Valley HS/College of the Canyons), making his first appearance since Apr. 16, got things started with his first collegiate home run. Myles Hager (Tarzana/Chaminade Prep) added his eighth homer of the season—a 2–run shot— in the fourth inning to pull CSUMB back to within 5–3.

The game turned in the bottom of the sixth inning. After pitching a scoreless fifth, Dixie reliever Tyler Burdett wasn't fooling anybody in the Otter sixth. Will Rosado (Clovis East HS/Fresno City College) and Hager both hit balls on the screws to open the inning, but both went right at Dixie fielders.
That bad luck was exacerbated when Jeffery Amaral (Sunnyvale/West Valley College) and AC Nuñez (Corona/Roosevelt HS) followed with crisply hit singles that otherwise might have tied the game.

Burdett escaped the jam by getting Vigo to pop to shallow left. Dixie eventually tacked on two more runs while the Otters pulled one back in the bottom of the eighth, but that's how things ended.

"We'll be back," said White. "We'll keep knocking on the door."