HAYWARD, Calif. – The No. 9-ranked Cal State Monterey Bay baseball team split its doubleheader with Cal State East Bay Saturday afternoon at the Pioneer Baseball Field. The Pioneers rallied to win game one, 10-9, and then the Otters exploded for a 10-1 victory in the nightcap.
 
Game Two
 
CSUMB rebounded from a narrow loss earlier in the day to decisively defeat East Bay, 10-1, in the second game of a doubleheader.
 
The game remained scoreless through the first two innings before the Otters unleashed a powerful offensive barrage in the third. Xander Sielken singled up the middle to score Casey Hinojosa.
 
Jason Del Villar then launched a grand slam to left field, clearing the bases and extending the Otters' lead to 5-0. Bodee Goins followed with a two-out home run to left field that scored Kyle Olimpia and Conner Smith, giving Cal State Monterey Bay an 8-0 advantage after just three innings.
 
The Otters continued to add runs in the fourth inning when Sielken singled up the middle to score JJ Kinnaird, extending the lead to 9-0. The Pioneers managed their only run in the fourth when Caleb Chance singled to right field to score Logan Stelling.
 
Monterey Bay added one final run in the fifth inning when Jordan Hockett singled to left field to score Hinojosa, pushing the final margin to 10-1.
 
For the Otters, Goins contributed three hits and three RBIs with one home run. Sielken recorded two hits and two RBIs, and Kinnaird finished with three hits and two runs scored, while Smith recorded two hits and one run scored.
 
On the mound, Andrew Kotin (6-1) earned the win, allowing four hits and one run over four innings with two strikeouts. Jalen Hernandez pitched 2 2/3 scoreless innings with two strikeouts.
 
Game One
 
CSUEB defeated CSUMB, 10-9, in the doubleheader opener. Despite a strong offensive performance by the Otters, which generated 14 hits and mounted multiple rallies, the Pioneers prevailed in a back-and-forth contest.
 
The Otters struck first in the second inning when Kyle Olimpia scored on a bases-loaded walk to James Starkus. The Pioneers responded quickly in their half of the second, as Logan Stelling launched a solo home run to left field, followed by an unearned run on a double play to give the East Bay a 2-1 lead.
 
Monterey Bay exploded in the third inning, scoring four runs to take a 5-2 advantage. Kyle Olimpia doubled down the left field line to score Conner Smith, followed by Jordan Hockett's double that scored Olimpia. JJ Kinnaird then launched a two-run home run to left field.
 
The Pioneers answered with a run in the inning on a Stelling single that scored Cristian Angulo to make it 5-3.
 
East Bay continued to chip away at the deficit. Angulo doubled down the left field line in the fourth inning to score Dominick Najar and cut the lead to one.
 
In the fifth inning, the Pioneers tied the game and took the lead as Stelling singled in a run, followed by Chance singling in another run. A throwing error by the Otters allowed two more runs to score, extending the CSUEB lead to 7-5.
 
The Otters stormed back in the fifth inning when Andrew Lehmann launched a three-run home run to left field to take an 8-7 advantage. However, the Pioneers scored twice more in the seventh inning on an Angulo single that drove in two runs to extend their lead to 9-8.
 
CSUMB mounted a furious ninth-inning rally. Jason Del Villar doubled down the left field line, scoring Jordan Hockett to tie the game at 9-9. Alijah Ramos delivered the walk-off single to left center, scoring Najar for the win.
 
Lehmann led the offensive charge with two hits and three RBIs, including a solo home run, while Kinnaird contributed one hit and two RBIs with a solo home run. Hockett recorded two hits, one RBI, and scored three times, while Olimpia finished with four hits and two runs scored.
 
The Otters will look to even the series tomorrow in the finale. First pitch is scheduled for Noon.