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Otters Set To Open NCAA Regional Play Thursday

| By: By Keivn Gilmore (@OtterKevin)

CSUMB will meet Cal Poly Pomona at Azusa Pacific to begin fourth regional appearance

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SEASIDE, Calif. — Cal State Monterey Bay will begin its fourth trip to the NCAA Division II Baseball Tournament Thursday when it squares off against CCAA rival Cal Poly Pomona at Azusa Pacific University's Cougar Baseball Complex. The Otters, Broncos and host Cougars each hope to win the double elimination event and earn a trip to next weekend's Super Regional at a site to be determined.

CSUMB (36–21 overall) and Cal Poly Pomona (29–26) will be meeting in a rematch of last weekend's CCAA Championship game, won by the Broncos 6–4 at Banner Island Ballpark in Stockton. It will be the ninth meeting between the two clubs this season. It's the most meetings with any one opponent in a single season in Otter baseball history.

The schedule for this weekend's regional looks like this:

Thursday, May 16
Game 1 (1:00 p.m.): #4 Cal State Monterey Bay vs. #5 Cal Poly Pomona

Friday, May 17
Game 2 (Noon): #1 Azusa Pacific vs. Loser Game 1
Game 3 (3:30 p.m.): Winner Game 1 vs. TBA

Saturday, May 18
Game 4 (12:00 p.m.): Teams TBA
Game 5 (3:30 p.m., if necessary): Teams TBA
 


TODAY'S OPPONENT: CSUMB is 27–35 all–time vs. Cal Poly Pomona, including a 3–5 record in 2019. This will be the sixth time the teams have met in postseason play. Cal Poly owns a 5–1 edge in those games.

ALL–TIME IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT: CSUMB is 3–6 in three previous NCAA Tournament appearances, going 1–2 in 2013, 2016 and 2018.

FOR (NCAA) OPENERS: The Otters are 2–1 in their previous three NCAA Tournament openers with wins over Dixie State (2016) and Chico State (2018).

ROAD SWEET ROAD: The Otters have enjoyed life on the road this season. CSUMB is a healthy 21–9 (.700) away from home this season.

HOME AWAY FROM HOME: The Otters have enjoyed considerable success at the Cougar Baseball Complex. Their all–time record in the facility is 6–3, including a 1–1 mark so far in 2019.

HEAD COACH WALT WHITE: Walt White is in his ninth season as CSUMB's head coach. He has led the Otters to a 277–200 (.581) overall record and a 220–156 (.585) record in CCAA play.

FROM WORST TO FIRST: Walt White took over a program that had finished with the worst record in NCAA Division II play (8–41 in 2010) the year prior to his arrival. It took him just two seasons to lead CSUMB to the first winning record in program history (26–24 in 2012) and just three seasons to lead the Otters to their first CCAA title (2013).

CCAA CHAMPIONS: The Otters have won two CCAA Championships (2013 and 2018). The won the CCAA North Division title in 2016 (the CCAA flirted with divisional play for baseball in 2016 and 2017).

DEAN OF THE OTTER LINEUP: Right fielder Kyle Dean enters the NCAA Tournament red hot, riding an 18–game hitting streak over which he is hitting .351 (27–for–77).

MORE MORLEY, PLEASE: Senior first baseman Brian Morley joined an exclusive club at last week's CCAA Tournament. He drove in six runs in six games, giving him 54 RBI in 2019. He becomes just the fourth player in Otter history to drive in 50 runs in a season, joining Jacob Tonascia (65) and Hayden Duer (60) in 2018 and Kevin Davidson (51) in 2015 and 2016.

POWER BY COMMITTEE: CSUMB's ability to generate power from throughout its lineup continued to pay dividends at the CCAA Tournament, where it hit nine homers in six games. The Otters have "only" 35 home runs in 2019—Hayden Duer and Jacob Tonascia combined to hit 36 for the Otters in 2018 by themselves—but 13 different Otters have homered in a game this season. The previous CSUMB record of 11 different home run hitters came in 2015.

CLOSER BY COMMITTEE I: The CSUMB bullpen earned its 16th save of Saturday versus Cal Poly Pomona. That is good for No. 2 on the Otter list for team saves in one season. The Otters set the school record of 19 saves in 2018.

CLOSER BY COMMITTEE II: After Connor Fabing tied the school individual record with 10 saves in 2018, the Otters have been going the "closer by committee" route in 2019. Of course, Fabing has joined the starting rotation for the stretch run, leaving six different relievers to amass 14 saves so far this season. By earning his fourth save Wednesday, Parker Fokken became the team leader in 2019.




 
GO OTTERS!





 
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