The California State University, Monterey Bay (CSUMB) Otters played their two games in a four-game series against the California State University, East Bay (CSUEB) Pioneers on Feb. 26. In the first game of the day, both teams played tough, but East Bay won in the end with a close score of 6-5.
The game had a slow start with Manny Garcia (#9) of the Pioneers scored by the end of the first inning.
At the top of the second inning, CSUEB’s Donovan Bailey (#21) slid into home. CSUMB’s Sam Nastari (#28) tagged Bailey as he reached the base, making it a close call. The umpire ultimately called Bailey out, ending the inning for the Pioneers. East Bay fans were notably upset about this call.
The score did not change until the fourth inning, where the game started to pick up when both teams scored, making the score 2-1.
By the bottom of the sixth inning, the Otters started to make a hard comeback when Brady Miguel (#3), Jason Ajamian (#27), and Chris Rubottom (#22) each scored one by one, bumping the score to 2-4, with the Otters in the lead.
The Pioneers returned the same energy at the top of the eighth inning when Francisco Pedraza (#13) hit a home run to left field and scored three runs by the end of the inning, making the teams tied with a score of 5-5.
During the top of ninth inning, Garcia (#9) scored again, pushing the score to 6-5. With one more chance to catch up, bases loaded, and one out, Jacob Martin (#23) hit center field, grounding Rubottom (#22) into a double play and getting Martin out at first base.
Despite losing the first match of the day, the Otters made a comeback during the night-cap with a score of 0-3. The Otters won both the other games of the four-part series, with scores of 9-1 on the Feb. 25 game, and a score of 10-2 on the Feb. 27 game.