ARCATA, Calif. — A big afternoon by NCAA Division II Player of the Year candidate
Julia Garcia (Ventura College) helped the No. 4 ranked Cal State Monterey Bay softball team earn a doubleheader split at No. 8 ranked Humboldt State to close the regular season Saturday at the HSU Softball Field. Humboldt took the opener 17–8 in six innings before the Otters won the nightcap 3–2.
CSUMB (42–9, 30–8 CCAA) had already clinched the CCAA regular season title and the No. 1 seed in next week's CCAA championship tournament. The split helped Humboldt 34–12, 22–11) clinch its own tournament bid while strengthening its position in the NCAA West Region rankings.
Home runs by Garcia and
Lusi Stanley (San Jose/Howard College) staked CSUMB to a 3–2 lead in the fourth inning of Game 1. But four Otter errors led to nine unearned runs as the Lumberjacks scored 17 times on just 10 hits.
In Game 2, a 4–hit game from Garcia helped the Otters rally back from a 2–0 deficit with a 3–run fifth inning that provided
Hayley Fein (Sparks, Nev./Spanish Springs HS) all the support she needed to earn her 28th win. Garcia and Stanley both had RBI doubles in the 3–run Otter fifth.
GAME 1 WAS OVER WHEN OVER WHEN… The Otters closed to within a run a 9–8 before Humboldt scored eight runs on just four hits in the sixth inning to end the game via run rule.
GAME 2 WAS OVER WHEN OVER WHEN… Not until
Hayley Fein got Sydney Roberts to fly out with the tying run on first base for the final out.
LEADING OFF… The 4–hit game by
Julia Garcia in the nightcap was the first 4–hit game by an Otter this season. CSUMB has posted 123 multi–hit games this season, including 38 3–hit games.
ON DECK… The Otters head to the CCAA Tournament as the No. 1 seed for the third time in the past four seasons. They will be making their seventh CCAA Tournament appearance in their 10 years of NCAA Division II eligibility.
IN THE HOLE… Julia Garcia won the CCAA Triple Crown by leading the conference in batting average (.432), home runs (12) and RBI (43) during league play.
LEADERS OF THE RAFT… Julia Garcia (6x7, 2 2Bs, HR (14), 3 R, 3 RBI);
Lusi Stanley (3x6, 2 2B, HR (6), R4 RBI);
Madison Casto (3x7, 2B, 3 RBI),
Anneliese Lopez (3x8, 2 R).
THE LAST WORD… "I'm happy to win the second game in a very emotional environment. I think the Otters learned a great deal today and competed with class." —
CSUMB Head Coach Andrea Kenney
THEY'VE GOT NEXT… CSUMB will open play at the 2017 CCAA Championship tournament Friday, May 5 when it takes on No. 4 seed Chico State in the first game at 3 p.m.
GO OTTERS!
