SEASIDE, Calif. – The No. 14-ranked Cal State Monterey Bay baseball team split its doubleheader with No. 21 Point Loma on Friday. The Otters claimed the victory in the first game by slugging their way to a 13-8 win and then dropped the nightcap, 6-1.
The two contests could not have been more opposite of each other as CSUMB raced out of the gate to score 13 runs in the first game on 17 hits; but as the temperature started to cool down in the evening, so did the Otter bats.
GAME 1
The two teams combined for 21 runs on 32 hits as the Otters evened the series in the first game of the doubleheader, 13-8.
Brady Miguel batted 3-for-4 with six RBI on the strength of a grand slam and a two-run homerun. The two-time CCAA Player of the Year reached base five times and scored three runs.
Leadoff hitter
Chase Lindemann reached base all six times at the plate and was 5-for-5 in the contest. He was a catalyst atop the Otter lineup by scoring four times. The five-hit effort was the second of his Otter career.
Evan Stauch also had a huge impact in the game as he batted 3-for-4 with four RBI. The first three hitters in the CSUMB lineup combined to bat 9-for-12 with seven RBI and 10 runs scored.
Mitchell Torres (1-0) was credited with the win. The righthander allowed four runs – three earned on three hits in two innings of relief.
Nico Hartojo earned the three-inning save as he allowed two hits and struck out a pair to cap off the Otter victory.
Point Loma started off the scoring with a two-run home run in the first, but CSUMB plated 10 unanswered runs.
Stauch gave the Otters the lead for good in the bottom of the first when he smacked a three-run double in the gap in left.
Miguel supplied the punch in the next two innings as he yanked a grand slam in the second and added a two-run homer in the third.
The Sea Lions would claw back into the contest and pull within three in the sixth, but the Otters would add two insurance runs in the seventh.
GAME 2
After an offensive onslaught in game one, the bats went cold in game two for the Otters as they fell in the nightcap, 6-1.
CSUMB could only muster five hits as Hartojo led the way with a 2-for-3 effort. Lindemann continued to make an impact on the day as he literally drove in the lone Otter run on the impact of a bases loaded hit-by-pitch.
The Sea Lions evened the score in the fourth and then took the lead for good with a run in the sixth. Point Loma added four runs of insurance in the final frame.
Andrew Kotin was tagged with the loss for the Otters as he allowed an unearned run on two hits in two innings of relief.
Ryan Platero allowed an unearned run on three hits while striking out six in his four-inning start.
CSUMB (4-3) will welcome back Point Loma (3-2) for the series finale tomorrow. First pitch is scheduled for 11 a.m.
