McEwen Big Fly Clinches CCAA Tournament Berth as Toros Split at Sonoma State

Toros clinch fourth spot in CCAA tournament after Chico State defeats CS Monterey Bay in nightcap

ROHNERT PARK -- Reigning CCAA Player of the Year Emiley McEwen showed why she is the league's best, belting a 3-run blast as part of a 4-run seventh inning to give Cal State Dominguez Hills a dramatic 5-3 come-from-behind victory over host Sonoma State in game one of this afternoon's double-header, before the Seawolves regrouped with a 7-0 win in the nightcap.

The game-one win, coupled with Chico State defeating Cal State Monterey Bay in the nightcap of their series, wraps up the fourth and final seed in next weekend's CCAA Championship Tournament against an opponent to be determined.

This will be the second-straight CCAA postseason tournament appearance for the Toros, who reached last year's championship round only to fall to Sonoma State in the title game.

Things looked bleak in the opener after the Seawolves took a 3-1 lead with two runs in the fourth inning, courtesy of an RBI single and a suicide squeeze.

That all changed in CSUDH's final at-bat, however, as five hits contributed to four runs in the huge win.

After a leadoff single by Jessica Hall and a Cassandra Snodgrass double, an RBI single by Jessica Amador one out later cut the lead to 3-2 and set the stage for McEwen, who turned on a 1-2 offering from SSU starter Samantha Lipperd and deposited it over the left-center field fence to turn the tide in CSUDH's favor.

Toro reliever Stephanie Jimenez made that score stand up after entering for starter Lauren Harper in the fourth, retiring the final 11 batter she faced to pick up the win, allowing just one hit while fanning four as McEwen led the offense with three hits, followed by a 2-4 performance by freshman Veronica Vazquez.

With its seniors about to play their final game at Seawolf Field, it was all Sonoma State in the 7-0 nightcap win as Lippered picked up the win after 5.0 innings of work with 4 strikeouts.

McEwen and Brittany Brenner notched the lone hits for the Toros as SSU scored three times in the 2nd inning to open the scoring, and twice in the six to put the game away.

The Toros, now 27-22, 17-15 CCAA, will await its fate as the other teams in contention for seeding duke it out on the final weekend of CCAA play. Stay tuned to www.GoToros.com later for more information as it becomes available.

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