SEASIDE, Calif. -- The Cal State East Bay softball team handed No. 8 ranked Cal State Monterey Bay just its sixth loss of the season on Saturday afternoon to split the series-opening doubleheader between the two teams. 
The Otters (31-6, 19-5 CCAA) won the first game by a final of 2-0, but the Pioneer bats finally broke out in game two as East Bay won 11-7 to improve its record to 23-17 overall and 15-13 in CCAA play.
Freshman 
Abby Greer gave the Pioneers an excellent effort in game one, allowing just two runs in a six-inning complete game. Unfortunately, the CSUEB offense could muster any scoring against CSUMB's Hayley Fein, who tossed a three-hit shutout in just an hour and forty minutes to earn her CCAA-leading 18th victory.
The second game was an entirely different story, as the teams combined for 18 runs on 16 hits in a three-hour marathon. After falling behind 2-0 in the second, the Pioneers finally exploded with a six-run inning in the top of the third.
East Bay sent 11 batters to the plate in the third. 
Courtney Leyba, 
Marisa Lerma, and 
Tanya Galvan all got hits in the inning, and they took advantage of four walks, a hit-by-pitch, and an Otter defensive error.
The resilient Monterey Bay lineup answered back with three runs in the third to pull within one. Then in the top of the fourth, 
Jennifer Palmares ripped a two-out opposite field single to plate Lerma and made it 7-5.
But the Otters once again responded, staging a two-out rally in the bottom of the fifth to bring two runs home and tie the game 7-7.
The Pioneers returned the favor in the very next inning. With two outs and 
Sarah Fukushima on second base, 
Ali Cerminara, Galvan, and Palmares notched three straight singles, and 
Belle Placencia capped off the rally with a double to left to give CSUEB an 11-7 lead.
All three East Bay pitchers contributed to the game two victory. 
Olivia McWhorter pitched the first 2.1 frames, then 
Bailee Glover worked the next 2.2 innings and earned her fifth win as the pitcher of record in the sixth. Greer closed it out with two scoreless innings, quelling any Monterey Bay hopes of a comeback. 
Four Pioneers had multiple hits in the win, led by Lerma who went 3-for-4 with two runs. Palmares finished 2-for-2 with a team-high three RBI.