AZUSA, CALIF. – CSUMB Baseball overcame an early five run deficit to defeat Azusa Pacific 12-7 and earn a series split Saturday afternoon at the Cougar Baseball Complex.

The Otters found themselves down by five runs through five innings when they began their trek back into contention. CSUMB plated their first two runs on a defensive miscue committed by APU and would add one more on a Dominic Felice (Hollister/MPC) RBI single, bringing the score to 5-3. 

The Cougars added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth, but it was the eighth inning in which the Otters turned this one upside down. With two away in the eighth, Zach Meddings (Elk Grove/Delta College) drove in Jack Tomlinson (Gilroy/Delta College) to open the floodgates. Kyle Guerra (San Leandro HS) drove in the tying run and Chase Lindemann (Saugus/Hartnell College) earned a bases loaded walk to give the Otters their first lead. It was Brady Miguel (Hollister/San Benito HS), however, with the biggest AB of the eighth, launching a no-doubt grand slam over the right field fence to push the Otters ahead by five. 

Chris Tonna (Fremont/Chabot College) earned the win after a quality three inning performance out of the bullpen. Tonna allowed just one unearned run on three hits, while fanning two. 
 

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THE GAME WAS STATISTICALLY OVER WHEN… Brady Miguel launched his eighth inning grand slam to push the Otters ahead 11-6. 

DEJA VU… Miguel's grand slam was the second of his Otter career. The first came on Apr. 23, 2022 against Cal State San Bernardino. That grand slam was also part of a nine run inning for the Otters, who put up nine in the first against the Coyotes. 

CONTINUING THE HIT PARADE… The Otters have recorded double-digit hits in three of their first four games this season. This should come as no surprise to the Otter faithful, as CSUMB tallied 28 double-digit hit contests last year.  

TYING UP THE SERIES… With today's win, not only did the Otters earn the split with APU, but they also tied up the all-time series at 14 wins apiece. 

THE LAST WORD… "APU has a really good program and we've had some great games and series over the years and this series lived up to expectations. It went back and forth all weekend. I'm proud of our team's competitive spirit and their ability to hang in, compete, and continuously battle back. By no means are we a finished product. We made plenty of mistakes and we need to play much better as the season progresses, but I believe we have a group that should steadily improve." – Cal State Monterey Bay Head Coach Walt White

THEY'VE GOT NEXT… The Otters welcome Point Loma to Seaside for their first home series of the season. First pitch of the series is set for 2 PM on Friday, Feb. 10.