SEASIDE, Calif. — The Otters did it the hard way, but they did it with a flourish. The No. 8 ranked Cal State Monterey Bay softball team broke out of its week–long funk with its 11th run–rule win of the season to earn a series split with Cal State East Bay Sunday afternoon at the Otter Sports Complex. East Bay took Game 1 of the doubleheader 12–4 before CSUMB rallied for an 11–3, 5–inning win in the finale.
CSUMB (32–6, 20–6) got long balls from
Madison Casto (Sunnyvale/Homestead HS),
Lusi Stanley (San Jose/Howard College) and
Julia Garcia (Ventura College) to highlight a 20–hit afternoon. Freshman pitcher
Hayley Fein (Sparks, Nev./Spanish Springs HS) earned the win in Game 2 for her 19 victory of the season.
Poor defense by the Otters helped East Bay race to a 6–0 lead on just four hits in the opener. The Otters cut the lead in half, thanks in large part to Casto's fifth homer of 2017, before late long balls by Ali Cerminara and Emilie Portesi helped the Pioneers pull away late.
An RBI double from Sarah Fukushima and a passed ball helped East Bay jump to a 2–0 lead in the first inning of the finale. But the Otter offense exploded soon thereafter as Garcia's team–leading ninth home run and a costly error by Portesi led to a 5–run CSUMB second.
Stanley then followed a leadoff single by
Anneliese Lopez (Ventura/Buena HS) with a shot to dead center field, her third as an Otter, to kick start a 6–run third inning that led to the run–rule win.
GAME 1 WAS OVER WHEN OVER WHEN… Emilie Portesi homered leading of the seventh inning. East Bay would go on to score three more times in the frame to put the game on ice.
GAME 2 WAS OVER WHEN OVER WHEN… Madison Casto beat out a 2–out single deep in the hole to allow
Jayme Stark (La Quinta HS) to score CSUMB's 11th run, pushing the game to run–rule territory.
LEADING OFF… The Game 2 win was CSUMB's 11th run–rule victory of 2017, tying the 2012 CCAA Championship squad for second most in school history. The CSUMB record for run–rule wins is a season is 14 by the 2015 CCAA Championship team.
ON DECK… Hayley Fein picked up her 19th win of 2017 Sunday afternoon. She needs one more victory to join
Cori Reinhardt and
Lindsey Clarkson as the only Otter pitchers to post 20 wins in a season.
IN THE HOLE… Madison Casto hit safely in both games Sunday to raise her hitting streak to eight games. It's her longest of 2017 and the second longest by an Otter (
Julia Garcia, 9 games from Mar. 26–Apr. 5).
LEADERS OF THE RAFT… Madison Casto (3x6, HR (5), R, 3 RBI);
Julia Garcia (3x6, HR (9), R, 2 RBI);
Lusi Stanley (2x6, HR (3), R, 2 RBI);
Jayme Stark (4x6, 2B, 3B, R, 3 RBI).
THEY'VE GOT NEXT… The Otters begin a 6–game roadtrip with a doubleheader at Stanislaus State Tuesday (Apr. 11).
GO OTTERS!
