STOCKTON, Calif. — The No. 12 Cal State Monterey Bay baseball team powered its way to one victory, but couldn't earn a second as it bowed out of the CCAA Championship Tournament Friday night at Banner Island Ballpark. The Otters defeated Chico State 8–2 in a matinee before falling to UC San Diego 13–5 in the final game of the night.

CSUMB (38–16 overall) entered the week as the No. 1 ranked team in the West Region and will hope to secure that seeding as it heads home to await announcement of the NCAA Tournament field Monday morning. The Otters did not bid to host the tournament and so will travel to a site to be named for the regional tournament beginning May 17.

The Otters powered their way to a win over Chico behind two home runs from Jacob Tonascia (San Benito HS/Mission College) and another from Max Sanderson (Foothill HS/Chabot College). Senior Colton Fletcher (San Jose/Westmont HS) looked strong in five brief innings of work to improve to 9–1.

Things looked promising in the nightcap when a TJ Dove (River Valley HS/Yuba CC) staked the Otters to a 1–0 lead over UCSD in the third inning before a pair of Triton errors led to two more runs and a 3–0 lead in the fifth. But an crucial Otter error on a sure double play ball opened the floodgates on a 6–run Triton fifth inning from which CSUMB couldn't recover.
 

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THE CHICO STATE GAME WAS OVER WHEN OVER WHEN… Jacob Tonascia's second homer of the game broke a 2–2 tie in the third inning. Chico managed just two hits over the final six innings and never threatened the Otter lead.

THE UCSD GAME WAS OVER WHEN… Zander Clarke's 2–run single gave the Tritons a 10–3 lead after six complete.

LOSING STREAK, WHAT'S THAT? A good omen for Otter fans heading into the NCAA Regional opener is this: CSUMB has lost two consecutive games just once this season: A pair of home setbacks to Cal State San Bernardino on Feb 24–25.

WELCOME TO THE CLUB… Jacob Tonascia became the seventh player in CSUMB history to homer twice in the same game with long balls in his first two plate appearances Friday versus Chico State. He joins Hayden Duer and Myles Hager in that exclusive club.

OTTERS DIG THE LONG BALL… With homers by TJ Dove,  Max Sanderson and Jacob Tonascia (2) Friday, the Otters now have 50 home runs as a team in 2018. That mark ranks No. 2 on the CSUMB single–season list, trailing only the 54 long balls hit by the 2016 squad.

OTTERS DIG THE LONG BALL, PART II… Led by 10 home runs from Otter bats, teams combined to hit a tournament record 30 home runs through the first nine games of the 2018 CCAA Championship. For good measure, CSUMB also led the field with three triples.

THEY'VE GOT NEXT… The Otters will await the announcement of the NCAA Tournament field on Monday (May 14) at 7 a.m. PDT.