POMONA, Calif. – On a day that saw three multi-run comebacks by both teams, the Cal State Monterey Bay baseball team outlasted San Francisco State, 12-9, in the winner-take-all championship game of the California Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament at Scolinos Field.
The Otters dropped a heartbreaker in game one on Championship Saturday but bounced back in dramatic fashion in the finale.
Down to its final strike of the tournament, CSUMB scored five runs in the ninth.
Nico Hartojo played hero again against the Gators as he ripped a two-run single up the middle to keep the Otters' championship hopes alive.
Hartojo was named the Tournament MVP and joined by teammates
Jaden Sheppard,
Chase Lindemann,
Ryan Io and
Sergio Solis on the annual list.
The back-to-back regular season and tournament titles are a first for the league since Chico State accomplished the feat in 2016-17
Game 2 | CSUMB 12 – SF State 9
In a game that featured 17 runs combined in the final three innings, including two multi-run comebacks, CSUMB claims its second straight CCAA Tournament championship after downing San Francisco State, 12-9, in the winner-take-all title game.
Hartojo played spoiler for the Gators once again as he drove a two-out single up the middle with two strikes to score Lindemann and
JJ Engman.
The Otters weren't done in the inning as
Jimmy Garcia came to bat and plated Sheppard and Hartojo.
Sheppard set the tone for the entire game with
a big solo shot, going 3-for-5 from the plate with two runs and two RBIs. Lindemann, Cole Murchison and Jacob Dressler also tallied multi-hit games.
Daniel Flores had a solid start, going six shutout innings before allowing three runs to start the seventh. He finished with five hits allowed and two strikeouts overall. Drew Aguilar was credited with the win after
putting a stop to the big Gator rally late, allowing a hit and striking out two in one inning. Antoine Valerio shut the door in the ninth.
The Otters opened the scoring in the second inning. Sheppard smashed his 13
th home run of the season as he hit a rocket over the wall down the left field line. Dressler then drilled a liner up the middle to plate Hartojo.
CSUMB tacked on another pair in the third as Solis grounded home Engman and Murchison turned on a single through the right side to score Hartojo.
The Otters added an insurance run in the seventh inning when Murchison brought in Hartojo on a hard liner to right-center.
After the Gators plated three in the bottom half, the Otters tacked on two more to push the score to 7-3. Dressler scored on a wild pitch and Solis walked home
KW Quilici.
But like in every game this tournament, each team has answered as SF State posted a huge eighth, scoring six runs to seize the 9-7 lead before the Otter five-spot in the ninth.
Game 1 | SF State 5 – CSUMB 4
The Otters saw their seven-game winning streak snapped as they gave up a four-run lead to fall in the first championship game on Saturday.
KW Quilici,
Nico Hartojo and
Sergio Solis all posted a multi-hit game. The trio also drove in all the CSUMB runs.
Ryan Platero was solid on the bump, breezing through six innings before running into trouble in the seventh. The righthander allowed three runs on three hits and fanned two in 6.2 innings.
The Gators evened the score in that seventh inning and then scored the eventual game-winner in the eighth on a Nicholas Allred single.
Chase Lindemann, who was a magician defensively all tournament long, helped keep the Otters in the game with this catch.
The first hit of the ballgame between the two teams came when Lindemann singled up the middle to lead off the fourth. That promptly started a rally for the Otters as
JJ Engman and KW Quilci tallied hits as the chopper off the bat of Quilci tallied the big RBI.
Hartojo, who hit a walk-off against the Gators on Thursday, smacked a two-run single and then Soilis tallied an RBI through the left side.
The 2024 NCAA DII baseball championship kicks off with a selection show on
Sunday, May 12 at 10:30 p.m. ET streamed live on NCAA.com. Regional competition will begin May 16 and championship bracket games will take place June 1-8 at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, North Carolina.
