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Cal State Monterey Bay overcame an eight-run deficit to bring the 2023 CCAA Baseball Tournament trophy to Seaside for the first time in program history. CSUMB trailed 8-0 after three innings, but the Otters went to Ryan Sleeman out of the pen, and he held the line to allow the Otters to come back and take the winner-take-all game, 13-9. (May 13).
 
Sleeman was already Cal State Monterey Bay's third pitcher of the game when he entered with two out, a runner on base, and trailing by eight. He struck the first batter he faced to end the threat and then put up zeroes in five of the next six innings.
 
With the Yotes' offense slowed down, CSUMB started to chip away at the lead. A two-run homer by Bailey Bordas put the Otters' first runs on the board in the fourth. A single run in the fifth made it 8-3, but CSUSB got that run back on an RBI groundout in the sixth.
 
In their half of the sixth, the Otters batted around, scoring four runs to cut the deficit to two (9-7). Drew Williams had a two-run RBI single to left before the fog became a factor on two more balls that found the grass in the outfield.
 
It was JJ Engman who delivered the go-ahead home run, which coach Walt White will be telling his team about for years. With two runners on and down two, Engman connected on his fifth home run of the season, launching the ball beyond the left field fence to give CSUMB its first lead. They would rally for three insurance runs in the bottom of the eighth, but Sleeman did not need them.

Your 2023 CCAA Baseball Tournament Champions, the Cal State Monterey Bay Otters! @OtterAthletics #GoCCAA pic.twitter.com/puyZqehUr9

— CCAA (@goccaa) May 14, 2023

He faced the minimum number of batters in the final three innings. He struck out three in this stretch and induced a double play. The sophomore lefty finished with 6.1 innings pitched, five hits, and one earned run. He walked one and struck out six.
 
Drew Williams was named the tournament MVP after hitting .474 with 10 RBI. Engman went 2-for-5 with a home run and five RBI in the clinching tournament game, and he joined Williams on the all-tournament team. Kyle Guerra scored three runs. Cole Murchison and Bordas also knocked in a pair of runs.
 
CSUSB's Deshawn Johnson closed out a great tournament with two more hits. He had 10 hits, including three home run, and 10 RBI over the five games. Giovanni Del Negro had three hits in the game to finish the tournament hitting .500.
 
Cal State Monterey Bay earned the CCAA's automatic bid to the NCAA West Regional. The Otters were the No. 1 team in the latest regional rankings. Cal State San Bernardino was the second-ranked team in the regional rankings and they are expected to receive an at-large bid to next week's regional.