SEASIDE, Calif. — With timely power supporting a pair of strong pitching performances, the No. 18 ranked Cal State Monterey Bay softball team ran its season–best winning streak to 10 games by sweep a doubleheader from Cal State San Marcos, 3–0 and 9–1, Saturday at the Otter Sports Complex.
CSUMB improved to 21-4 overall and 15-3 in the CCAA with the wins. The Otters retain sole possession of first place. San Marcos is now 7-18 and 6-15.
Freshman sensation
Hayley Fein (Sparks, Nev./Spanish Springs HS) ran her scoreless innings streak to 23 1/3 innings by tossing a 3–hit shutout in the opener. She improved to 12–3 on the season, the most wins in the CCAA.
Sophomore
Rosalia Keirns (Claremont HS) improved to 5–0 by retiring 12 of the final 13 Cougars she faced in the nightcap, allowing just two first–inning hits and one run in the win.
The Otter bats didn't pound their usual number of hits, but they made up for it with power as
Julia Garcia (Ventura College),
Lusi Stanley (San Jose/Howard College) and
Courtney Hennings (Amador Valley HS) all went deep to drive the offense. Garcia hit her team–leading seventh homer to open the scoring in the first inning of the opener. Stanley added a solo shot an inning later. Henning's 2–run blast in the second inning of the nightcap erased an early 1–0 San Marcos lead.
GAME 1 WAS OVER WHEN OVER WHEN… Lusi Stanley hit a solo home run (her second of the season) to give the Otters a 3–0 lead in the second inning. San Marcos came into the game averaging just 2.3 runs per game.
GAME 2 WAS OVER WHEN OVER WHEN… A 2–out, 2–run single by
Anneliese Lopez (Ventura/Buena HS) made it 6–1 Otters in the third.
Rosalia Keirns did not allow a hit over the final 4 2/3 innings to make that lead stand up.
LEADING OFF… The 9–1 win in Game 2 was the ninth run–rule win of the season for CSUMB. The Otters had only seven such wins in all of 2016. FYI, the CSUMB record for run–rule wins in a season is 15 set in 2015.
ON DECK… Hayley Fein broke the CSUMB record for shutouts by a freshman when the tossed her fifth clean sheet in the opener. She shared the record with
Cori Reinhardt (2012). The Otter record for shutouts in a season is 10 by then sophomore
Lindsey Clarkson in 2014.
IN THE HOLE… The Otters enter Sunday's doubleheader riding a 10–game winning streak, their longest of the season. It's their longest such streak since winning 11 in a row from Apr. 4–24, 2015. The longest win streak in school history (for any sport) was the softball team's 19–game run from Mar. 15 through Apr. 11, 2014.
LEADERS OF THE RAFT… Julia Garcia (3x5, HR (7), 2 R, 2 RBI);
Courtney Hennings (1x5, HR (2), 2 R, 3 RBI);
Lusi Stanley (1x3, HR (2), R, RBI);
Hayley Fein (W, 7.0 IP, ShO, 3 H, 4 K,);
Rosalia Keirns (W, 5.0 IP, 1 R, 2 H, 6 K).
THE LAST WORD… "San Marcos is a well–coached team. They played well against us. I'm please that we took care of business today." —
CSUMB Head Coach Andrea Kenney
THEY'VE GOT NEXT… The Otters conclude their 4–game set vs. San Marcos with a Sunday doublheader beginning at 11 a.m.
GO OTTERS!
