SEASIDE, Calif. – The postseason magic continued for the Cal State Monterey Bay baseball team on Saturday. The Otters scored six runs in the final two innings, including five in the ninth to secure a 9-5 victory and win the NCAA West Regional title.
CSUMB forced the winner-take-all game after running away to an 18-5 victory. The Otters will now head south to face No. 1 seed Point Loma in the Super Regional round. The best-of-three series will begin on Friday, May 24.
GAME 2 | CSUMB 9 – SFSU 5
Trailing 4-3 in the eighth inning the Otters exploded for six runs in the final two innings to come from behind and claim the regional title.
Max Farfan got a great read on a wild pitch and dashed to the plate and beat the tag to even the score at 4-4.
In the ninth,
Cole Murchison drove in the game-winning run when he singled up the middle to plate
Jaden Sheppard.
Jacob Dressler then smacked a single to right to score
Sergio Solis before
JJ Engman banged a bases-clearing double off the wall in left-center to give the Otters all the insurance they would need.
Engman and Sheppard collected three hits apiece and
Nico Hartojo, Solis and Dressler also tallied multi-hit games.
Daniel Flores (5-1) was credited with the win after allowing one run on one hit in two innings of relief.
Ryan Sleeman started the contest and allowed four runs on five hits and struck out six in 4 2/3 innings.
GAME 1 | CSUMB 18 – SFSU 5
The Otter bats left no doubt on if there was going to be a winner-take-all game later in the afternoon. CSUMB exploded for a season-high 22 hits to run away to an 18-5 victory.
The Otters scored in all but two innings and put up crooked numbers in all six of the innings they scored in.
Max Farfan had a huge contest, smashing three home runs to bat 4-for-6 with four runs and four RBI.
Jaden Sheppard was a perfect 4-for-4 with an RBI and two walks while a total of six Otters recorded a multi-hit game.
Ryan Io. (5-0) earned the win after allowing two runs on nine hits while striking out six in six innings of relief.
