SANTA BARBARA – The No. 19-ranked Cal State Monterey Bay baseball team needed two wins to advance to the super regional and that is precisely what the Otters did, taking down No. 12 Westmont, 6-2, and then 6-4 to win the NCAA West Regional held at Russ Carr Field.
The Otters now improve to 39-17 on the season and 6-1 in the postseason. The 39 victories equal the program record.
Game One
Behind two mammoth home runs off the bat of
Cole Murchison and a gem of an outing from
Mitchell Torres, the Otters claimed game one over the Warriors, 6-2.
Murchison started off the scoring in a loud way, blasting a solo shot over the tall wall in right to give the Otters the 1-0 lead in the fourth.
CSUMB would tack on two more in the fifth when
Jaden Sheppard lined a two-run single to center that scored
Noah Zertuche and
Jimmy Garcia.
Murchison would strike again, this time clearing the net in right-center for a three-run bomb, extending the Otter lead to 6-0 in the seventh.
Torres was brilliant on the mound, striking out a season-high eight batters while allowing just three hits in seven shutout innings.
The Otters out-hit the Warriors, 8-6, as Murchison paced the offensive attack with a 3-for-4 effort that included two runs and four driven in. Sheppard batted 1-for-2 and drew two walks with a run scored and two RBI.
Game Two
The Otters clinched their third straight berth to the super regional round after defeating the Warriors in the winner-take-all championship game, 6-4. CSUMB carried over the momentum from game one, scoring three in the first to lead wire-to-wire.
Murchison started the contest still feeling it at the plate, lacing a hard single to centerfield that scored
Jimmy Garcia and
KW Quilici.
Javier Felix tacked on one more in the opening frame by plating Sheppard with a single through the left side.
The Otters extended their lead to 4-0 in the third inning when
Max Farfan singled home Quilici on a two-out liner to center.
After Westmont pulled within one after scoring three runs on the strength of two homers in the fourth, Quilici pulled out the power stick and turned on a Zach Yates breaking ball for a two-run moon-shot down the line in right to give the Otters a 6-3 lead in the sixth.
CSUMB out-hit Westmont, 12-10, as five Otter hitters collected multi-hit games. Quilici batted 2-for-3 with three runs and two RBI. Murchison drove in two while batting 2-for-5 as the top of the Otter order saw
Jimmy Garcia and
Jacob Dressler bang out two hits. Farfan also batted 2-for-4 with an RBI.
After
Ryan Sleeman gave the Otters a solid 3 2/3 innings to start the game,
Drew Aguiar (1-1) came in to earn the win after allowing one run on four hits while fanning four in 3 1/3 innings.
Nate Rohlicek, who tossed 114 pitches in his win Thursday against San Francisco State, came in and closed the door on the Warriors, striking out one in a scoreless ninth to earn his second save of the season.
The Otters now await their opponent in the super regional round. CSUMB will face the winner in a best-of-three series between Point Loma and host Northwest Nazarene.
