LOS ANGELES – The Cal State Monterey Bay baseball team opened the CCAA Tournament with a 12-9 victory over Chico State in the quarterfinals at Reeder Field on the campus of Cal State LA.
 
CSUMB scored the 12 runs on the strength of 15 hits as Dominic Felice and Noah Zertuche paced the Otters with three hits each, while KW Quilici and Javier Felix collected two hits apiece.
 
Dylan Gardner (4-1) was credited with the win after allowing three runs on three hits in 2 2/3 innings of relief. Andrew Kotin earned his seventh save after allowing one run on one hit in the final 1 1/3 innings.
 
The Otters raced out to an early 3-0 lead, scoring a run in each of the first three innings. Felix drove in Quilici to start the scoring in the opening frame.
 
In the second, Zertuche doubled home Cole Murchison before Felix stuck again, this time plating Quilici on single to center in the third.
 
After the Wildcats took the lead with a pair in the fourth and added three more in the fifth, CSUMB took advantage of Chico miscues to score four runs in the sixth.
 
Felice started the scoring by coming home on a balk. Zertuche evened the score when he crossed the plate on an error off the bat of Quilici and then Jacob Dressler scored on a wild pitch. Jaden Sheppard singled home Quilici to cap off the inning.
 
The Otters tacked on two runs in the seventh when Jimmy Garcia ripped a two-run double off the wall in right-center to plate Zertuche and Felice.
 
Max Farfan provided what proved to be the final blow, clearing the tall wall in right for a three-run home run to push the score to 12-8.
 
The Otters will face San Francisco State tomorrow at 2 p.m.