Tribune-Herald
Tribune-Herald
Cal State Monterey Bay’s Cori Reinhardt worked 10 innings in the circle Monday and unleashed 175 pitches.
Angelina Orozco came up with a pair of timely to make sure her hard work didn’t go for naught.
Orozco drove in the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning Monday in Seaside, Calif., and Otters beat the University of Hawaii 3-2 en route to a sweep of their softball doubleheader.
The Vulcans (5-5) had leads in both games but came away empty against their West Region rival to start an eight-game California road trip.
Monterey (5-4) followed a similar recipe to win the second game — strong pitching and timely hitting — riding Lindsey Clarkson’s arm to a 5-3 victory.
“I think this team has a lot of talent, a lot of potential,” UHH coach Jaime Wallin said. “We just need to dig down deeper and find some grit, some heart.
“We’re a young team and players aren’t used to the pressure situations. We’re looking for somebody to step up and say, “Today’s our day.”’
Vulcans sophomore third baseman Emily Greene hit her first home run of the season in the second game, a solo shot in the second inning, but UHH finished with only seven hits on the day.
The lack of offensive production turned Vanessa Salinas (3-2) into a tough-luck loser. In the opener, the junior right-hander pitched to contact, scattering nine hits without a walk and striking out a batter in 9 1/3 innings.
One of those hits came off the bat of Orozco in the fifth, a single to center that tied the game 2-2.
“Vanessa pitched a good game,” Wallin said. “Made a couple of mistakes and they took advantage.”
UHH had taken the lead on Kristina Victa’s RBI single in the second. The junior then came around to score on a passed ball.
Bianca Noriega finished 2 for 3 for the Otters, including an RBI double in the fourth that trimmed the lead to 2-1. Nikki Rodriguez was 2 for 4, and she started the winning rally in the 10th with a high hopper that eluded Salinas.
Reinhardt (2-3) yielded four hits and two runs — one earned — with five walks and six strikeouts.
“We left seven runners on base, and you can’t do that against a pitcher like (Reinhardt),” Wallin said.
Monterey rallied for four runs in the second inning of Game 2 against sophomore left-hander Ashley Nelson. Vanessa Avila had a RBI single, Skyler Valdivia (2 for 3) doubled in a run and Reinhardt added an two-run single to give the Otters a 4-1 lead.
In six innings, Nelson (1-2) allowed seven hits, five runs and five walks with two strikeouts for UHH, which scored a pair of unearned runs in the sixth.
Clarkson (2-0) struck out eight in a complete game. She yielded three hits and an earned run with three walks.
Game 1
UHH 020 000 000 0 —2 4 2
Monterey 000 110 000 1—3 9 0
Game 2
UHH 010 002 2 — 3 3 0
Monterey 040 001 x —5 7 2