LOS ANGELES – For the third year in a row, the Cal State Monterey Bay baseball team are CCAA Tournament champions. The Otters swept their way through the double elimination tournament, taking down San Francisco State, 12-8, Saturday afternoon at Reeder Field on the campus of Cal State LA.

The victory secures the Otters their fourth-straight NCAA West Regional appearance and marks the first time since 2009-11 (UC San Diego) that a program has won both the regular season and tournament titles outright in three consecutive seasons. 

CSUMB once again had to show resolve as the Gators jumped out to an early 4-0 deficit, and took the lead in the fifth, but the Otter bats exploded for four runs in the bottom half and added another pair in the eighth to secure the win. 

After San Francisco State opened the game with the four runs, Monterey Bay answered with three of its own. 

A Javier Felix double to right-center got the Otters on the board and then Jaden Sheppard hit a sac-fly to plate KW Quilici before Cole Murchison doubled home Felix. 

The Gators plated runs in two consecutive innings to grab a double-digit lead again, but the Otters had another answer by plating three more runs in the fourth to even the score, 6-6.

Max Farfan opened the scoring in the frame by smacking a double to right-center that brought home Murchison and then Jimmy Garcia plated Farfan on a fielder's choice. Felix was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to score Garcia. 

SFSU tacked on another in the fifth to take a brief 7-6 lead, but CSUMB erupted for four runs to claim the lead for good.

Farfan evened the game by scoring on a wild pitch and then Jacob Dressler hit the eventual game-winner for the second game in a row, plating Dominic Felice on a double to right. Quilici promptly followed with a double of his own to score Dressler and hand CSUMB a 10-7 lead.

Murchison added more than enough insurance for the Otters, doubling down the line to score Quilici in the eighth. 

CSUMB out-hit SFSU, 13-10, as three Otters recorded multi-hit games. Murchison led the way with his 4-for-5 effort that included a run and three RBI, while Farfan went 3-for-5 and Jimmy Garcia hit 2-for-5 with three runs scored from the leadoff spot. The Otters smacked seven extra-base hits. 

Kyle Giovannoni (4-0) earned the win after throwing two innings of scoreless relief. Jacob Parks didn't allow a hit and struck out two in an inning to get the ball to Drew Aguiar, who earned his third save. 

The Otter bullpen allowed just one run in the tournament's final two games. In 13 2/3 innings, the relievers gave up five runs in the three games as four different hurlers had an unblemished ERA. 

Murchison was named the Tournament MVP after batting 8-for-11 with four runs, two doubles and three RBI. The senior boasted an .800 on-base-percentage and .909 slugging percentage for an 1.709 OPS.  

Joining Murchison on the All-Tournament Team was Dressler, Garcia, Farfan and Aidan Lee.

The Otters await their NCAA West Regional location tomorrow on the annual selection show that can be seen on NCAA.com at 7:30 p.m.