With playoffs in sight, Seawolves take two from Otters

The Sonoma State Seawolves softball team took two of four games from the CSU Monterey Bay Otters last weekend in doubleheaders on Friday and Saturday that ran the gambit from pitching duels to offensive slugfests.
The team lost its first game on Friday by a score of 5-0 before beating the Otters 3-2 later that day, and then repeated that pattern on Saturday, as they lost their first game by a score of 12-3 before taking the series finale by a score of 11-8.
SSU is now 20-16 (11-12 CCAA) for the year, good for sixth place in the CCAA, and has won 15 out of their last 19 games, but more importantly was ranked fifth in last week’s NCAA West Region Rankings, the first regional rankings released for the year. The Seawolves will make the NCAA West Regional Tournament in May as long as they finish no lower than eighth in the poll at season’s end.
CSUMB’s Jessica Boyle was the star of game one between the Otters and the Seawolves, as the pitcher shutout the Seawolves while giving up only two hits and striking out four in a complete game effort in the CSUMB’s 5-0 win. Lindsay Emmel received the loss for the Seawolves, as she pitched the whole game for SSU but gave up the five earned runs and seven hits while striking out six.
SSU then played its second game of the day against the Otters, which turned out to be almost as intense as the Cuban Missile Crisis.
The two teams entered the top of the seventh inning with CSUMB clinging to a 2-1 lead, and CSUMB retired two Seawolves before Courtney James, Janelle Arnold and Jessica Abelia loaded the bases with back-to-back-to-back singles for SSU, setting the table for Kayla Ledford. Ledford then proceeded to continue the singles trend for the Seawolves and drove in pinch runner Ashley Sardina and Arnold to give the Seawolves the 3-2 lead.
The Otters then proceeded to load the bases against SSU in the bottom of the seventh before Seawolves pitcher Brittany Reynolds got a fly out to right that resulted in a throw to first base that beat CSUMB base runner Channing Peebles to the bag for a game-ending double play. Reynolds got the win for the Seawolves as she improved her record to 6-6 for the year with a complete game seven-hitter while striking out five CSUMB hitters in the process.
The otters then roughed up the Seawolves like a Jack Bauer interrogation in game three on Sunday, as CSUMB had a 10-0 lead by the third inning and a nine-run lead by the middle of the fifth, thus resulting in the Otters getting the victory via the mercy rule.
The Otters’ Shelair Rowell got the win for CSUMB with a three-inning, three-hit, three-strikeout performance while Emmel got the loss for the Seawolves as she gave up five runs (three of which were earned) and three hits in 1.2 innings while striking out two CSUMB hitters. Abelia, Nicole Cordova and Simone Brandalise were responsible for the Seawolves’ three RBI’s in the contest.
The fourth game of the series was all about Ledford and Sardina, as Ledford went 4-4 from the plate with a homer and four RBI’s while Sardina went 1-1 with a grand slam en route to the team’s 12-8 victory. SSU pitcher Brittany Williams gave up eight earned runs and 12 hits while striking out four in a complete game effort to get the win and improve her record to 6-3 for the year.
Interview requests left to two Seawolf softball players were not immediately returned.
“It’s good to hear that our other programs are doing well,” said SSU no. 1 singles and doubles player Connor Olson. “If they make the playoffs that would be awesome, and if they do I will be supporting them.”
SSU will play a doubleheader against Cal State East Bay this Tuesday at Seawolf Diamond (one that was originally scheduled for March 3 but was canceled due to rain), and will then travel to Turlock to play in Cal State Stanislaus’ Tournament of Champions. Their Next CCAA game will be a doubleheader on April 17 against CSU San Bernardino in Rohnert Park.