SEASIDE, Calif. – The CSUSB baseball team defeated Cal State Monterey Bay on Saturday afternoon, advancing to their first DII College World Series in program history. After not having a winning season in 11 years, the 2023 Yotes overcame all odds and are now headed to the big dance in just their first year ever making the NCAA Tournament at the Division II level. The Yotes swept both their regional and the super regionals, remaining a perfect 5-0 in the NCAA Tournament. Including the CCAA Tournament, they are now 8-2 in the postseason.
Record Breakers
The 2023 team has already cemented themselves as the most successful team in program history, doing significant damage in nearly every corner of the record book. The Yotes broke three more records in Saturday's win.
In the third inning,
DeShawn Johnson scored his 128
th career run, becoming the all-time CSUSB runs scored leader. He passed Chris McAllen (2001-04), who previously owned the record at 127. Johnson's 79 runs this season is also a program record, shattering the previous record of 60.
On the same swing that scored Johnson in the third inning,
Giovanni Del Negro broke the single-season RBI record with his 63
rd of the season. This passed Shawn Romprey (1997) and Jason Klug (2008), who were tied in first with 62 in their respective seasons.
In that same third inning,
Jake Borst was hit by a pitch on an 0-1 count. This was the Yotes' 84
th hit by pitch of the season, marking the most in a season in program history. CSUSB would go on to be hit four more times in the game, contributing to the 15 free passes given up by the Otters. In fact, the Yotes were hit 20 times by CSUMB on the season in just nine games, averaging more than two a game and accounting for 23 percent of all their hit by pitches on the season.
The Game
Dylan O'Connor started the game on the mound for the Yotes, throwing 6.0 quality innings to pick up his eighth win of the season. The junior allowed three earned runs on 102 pitches, escaping multiple jams against a potent Monterey Bay offense.
Andres Quinones followed that with 2.0 innings from the pen, keeping the damage to just two runs to maintain a healthy lead in the game.
John Pfeffer collected the final three outs of the game, sending the Yotes to Cary, North Carolina.
The bats proved they were the best in the West Region on Saturday, driving in 14 runs on 12 hits.
Daryl Ruiz and Del Negro had back-to-back RBI singles in the first, giving CSUSB an early lead. After CSUMB rallied back to make the score 3-2 in the third inning, Del Negro stepped back up to the plate. On the fourth pitch of the at-bat, he smoked a ball over the fence in left center field for a three-run home run, giving the Yotes a 5-3 lead. As mentioned earlier, this swing broke both the single-season RBI record for Del Negro and the all-time runs scored record for Johnson.
The Yotes showed no mercy in the bottom of the sixth, scoring seven runs on three hits to take a commanding 12-3 lead and silencing the home crowd. They would score a pair of runs in the seventh, ultimately winning by a score of 14-8.
Up Next
The College World Series.
(More details to come)
