SAN MARCOS, Calif. — The No. 23 ranked Cal State Monterey Bay baseball team thundered its way to within 1/2 game of first place and reduced its magic number for clinching a spot in the CCAA Postseason Tournament to three with a 14–10, 15–5 sweep of Cal State San Marcos Saturday afternoon at the CSUSM Baseball Field.

The wins, combined with a Chico State split at San Francisco State, lift CSUMB (30–14, 19–13 CCAA) with within 1/2 game of Chico as the teams enter the final eight days of the regular season. The Otters also reduced their magic number for clinching a CCAA Tournament bid to three. Any combination of CSUMB wins and Sonoma State losses totaling three will earn the Otters a return trip to Stockton.

There were heroes aplenty for the Otters Saturday, as they pounded a remarkable 40 hits to produce a 29–run afternoon. Senior Kevin Davidson (Yucaipa/UC Riverside) led the power surge in the opener by clubbing his ninth and 10th home runs to tie his own school record for homers in a season.

Not to be outdone, center fielder Will Rosado (Clovis East HS) had a remarkable seven hits in the twinbill, including four in the opener. He finished the afternoon 7-for-9 with five runs and four RBIs.

Rosado lead six Otters with multi–hit efforts in Game 1. Bryan Bostjancic (Forest Knolls/College of Marin) and third baseman Matt Urakami (San Jose/Branham HS) added three hits each. Even pinch hitter Garret Brown (Tustin/Indiana Univ.) got into the action with his first collegiate home run, a 2–run shot in the eighth.

Amazingly, the Otters needed only three extra base hits to tally 15 runs in the nightcap. This time Justin Flores (Clovis West HS) led the onslaught with four hits as an amazing eight CSUMB players collected multiple hits in the win.

This time, Jeffery Amaral (Sunnyvale/West Valley College) chipped in his third 3–plus hit game of the season (3-for-6), joining Bostjancic (3-for-5) and Rosado (3-for-4) at the top of the Otter hit parade.

Game 1 actually contained a little drama as San Marcos battled back from deficits of 6–0 and 10–3 to pull with 10–8 in the seventh inning. But Brown's homer capped a 3–run Otter eighth and Davidson's second shot in the ninth added a little extra insurance.

The nightcap was close for two innings, when an 8–run third inning turned the contest into a rout. By the time they had finished their at bats in the sixth, the Otters had scored 13 unanswered runs, removing any doubt as to the outcome.

The Otters and Cougars will close their 3–game series with a single game Sunday at 11 a.m. CSUMB closes the regular season with a 4–game set against Cal State East Bay May 6–8. That series features a doubleheader at the Otter Sports Complex on May 7.