TURLOCK — Unable to string hits together at the right time, the Cal State Stanislaus baseball team fell in the hands, and feet, of Cal State Monterey Bay as the Otters took both ends of the conference doubleheader on Saturday.
Early scoring led to Cal State Monterey Bay's 9-5 win in game one and Ryan Boydstun pitched a seven-inning 2-0 shutout in the nightcap as the Otters improved to 16-7 overall and 12-3 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association.
The Warriors continue to struggle at the plate and the lack of run production has led to their fifth straight loss as they fell to 6-14 overall and 1-9 in conference play. Cal State Stanislaus is also just 1-9 in its last 10 games.
The Warriors pitching got off to a rough start with the hot bats of the Otters in game one. CSUMB pushed across four runs in the first inning on four hits, including two doubles.
Trailing 5-0, Stanislaus did rally back to support starter
Nick Voumard. A five-run second inning that included five consecutive hits tied the game at 5-5.
Scott Stetson doubled in two runs and
Marcus Mastrobuoni drove in two more runs to highlight the inning.
However, CSUMB responded with four more runs in the fourth inning en route to the win.
The Stanislaus bullpen held CSUMB in check, allowing just three hits in the final five innings. Those relief appearances included the collegiate debut of
Blake Wilson and head coach
Kenny Leonesio also got more innings out of
Gabriel CornielSkippy Ferreria and
Nick Molina each also had three hits in the 11-hit parade in the opener.
In the nightcap, each team managed six hits but the Otters were the ones able to manufacture runs for the 2-0 win.
Chris Senn, making his first appearance, pitched five decent innings and gave up just one run on four hits while
Aaron Godinez came out of the bullpen to keep the game close. However, the Warriors were not able to put together enough hits to score as only three Warriors reached second base in the game.
The only time the Warriors had two base runners on base in the same inning was in the second. With two on and one out, Boystun got a strikeout and a groundout to end the Stanislaus rally.
Stetson has provided most of the offense lately as he extended his hitting streak to nine games. In these nine games, he's gone 16 for 35 for a .457 average and a .571 slugging percentage. Ferreria, too, seems to have came out of his early-season hitting slump. He's batted .379 (11 for 29) in the last nine games.
The series finale is in Seaside on Sunday at 1 p.m.