HAYWARD (April 29, 2017) — CSUSB punched its ticket to the CCAA Tournament for just the second time in school history, sweeping Cal State East Bay 3-1 in nine innings and 4-0 in the regular-season finale Saturday.
CSUSB (37-17, 27-13 CCAA) secured second place in conference standings and will play Humboldt State in the opening round Friday afternoon in Stockton. Cal State Monterey Bay won the regular season title and Chico State finished fourth.
Game 1: Coyotes 3, Pioneers 1
Cassandra Williams went the distance and earned her school-record 22
nd victory on the season. She struck out five, walked three and scattered just six hits.
Tied at 1-1 entering the 10
th inning, CSUSB scored a run on a double-play with the bases loaded.
Morgan Ratliff, who was on second, kept on running after a 1-2-3 double play and CSUSB led 2-1. Then, freshman
Isabel Frias singled up the middle to score
Kaylee Gemmell, who reached on an error.
That was enough for Williams, who retired the Pioneers in order.
Designated player
Brooke Thomas went 3-for-3, and
Taylor Ancona,
Jessica Angulo and
Monica Maddox all had two hits.
Game 2: Coyotes 4, Pioneers 0
Sophomore
Amanda Ramirez clinched the tournament berth in style, throwing a 3-hit shutout with two strikeouts.
CSUSB scored all four of its runs in the third.
Jessica Brown singled, and then scored on Ratliff's triple down the right-field line. Angulo followed with an RBI-single to left center.
Two batters later, Gemmell laid down a sac bunt that scored Angulo, and Ancona also scored on the play, due to a throwing error.
That was enough for Ramirez, who improved to 15-7.
Brown had two hits.
NOTES: The CCAA tourney berth is CSUSB's first since the 2008 season … The 37 victories are the most in the program since the 1998 squad went 41-21 — a span of 19 years … CSUSB finished the season winning 19 of its last 21 games — a better run over a 21-game span in school history. … The second-place regular-season effort and 27-13 CCAA record (.675 winning percentage) are the best by a Coyote program.
