SEASIDE — The Stanislaus State baseball team's tough schedule continued Friday when it went on the road to nationally ranked and California Collegiate Athletic Association second-place team Cal State Monterey Bay. It was the Otters who took Friday's series opener, winning 9-1 at the CSUMB Baseball Field.
 
The Warriors' first five opponents in CCAA play are all currently among the CCAA's top-six – in position for a postseason CCAA Tournament berth. Two of them (Chico State, Cal State Monterey Bay) are nationally ranked, and four (Chico State, Cal State Monterey Bay, Cal State Dominguez Hills, Cal State San Bernardino) are ranked or receiving votes in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers' Association West Region poll.
 
Stan State (7-15, 5-12 CCAA) hasn't gone quietly in any of those series. It split with Cal State LA and Cal State Dominguez Hills at the end of February/beginning of March, won the opener on the road at Cal State San Bernardino on March 11 and led the March 13 series finale, and last weekend scored 26 runs on 45 base hits against first-place Chico State and held leads in three games.
 
So as the schedule continued to throw hurdles in front of the Warriors with a series opener in the form of a road game at 25th-ranked and second-place Cal State Monterey Bay, the team continued to grind.
 
Stanislaus State had seven hits in Friday's opener, led by a multi-hit game from Danny Murphy. Murphy has nine multi-hit games on the season, including seven in his last 12 games. The freshman catcher is hitting .390 with five doubles.
 
Cal State Monterey Bay (17-9, 12-5 CCAA) had four multi-hit performances in its lineup. The Otters scored multiple runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings to stake itself to a 7-0 lead, added another run in the sixth with an RBI single to make it 8-0, then got its final run in the eighth to go up 9-1.
 
The Warriors got on the board in the seventh on an Alex Solis RBI knock. Joseph Hauck led off the inning with a walk, moved to second on a single by Grant Bunker, then came home on Solis' two-out base hit, making it 8-1 at the time.
 
The series continues Saturday with a doubleheader scheduled for a 2 p.m. start. Fans can find all live coverage links on WarriorAthletics.com.