CHICO – The resurgance of the Chico State softball team has already yielded some pretty impressive results – just 14 games into the 2010 campaign, the Wildcats have matched last season’s number of home victories and conference wins, and are two games above the .500 mark thanks to Sunday’s doubleheader sweep of Cal State Dominguez Hills at University Softball Field. The ’Cats piled up a dozen hits to handily win the opener 9-1, then came from behind twice in the nightcap, finally topping the Toros 3-2 in 11 innings.
Chico State – 3-16 at home in 2009 and 6-26 last season in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) – improved to 8-6 on the year by taking both ends of Sunday’s doubleheader and three of four from the Toros in the weekend series. More importantly, the Wildcats evened their conference record at 6-6. Sunday’s two losses dropped Cal State Dominguez Hills to 10-8 overall and 5-7 in CCAA play.
Chico State wasted little time getting on the scoreboard in the opener of the twinbill, taking a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning on RBI singles by Rachel Failla and Jenna Wermes. In the bottom of the second, the Wildcats doubled their advantage when Sam Quadt and Bec Johnson delivered run-scoring singles. Dominguez Hills scored what turned out to be its only run in the top of the third against ’Cats starter Kacie McCarthy, but Chico State went up 6-1 with a pair in the bottom of the third, as Bec Johnson shot a two-out, two-run single down the left field line. Courtney Brock’s RBI double in the bottom of the fourth plated Maddi Hillier to extend the Wildcats’ lead to 7-1, then in the fifth the ’Cats put the game away when Quadt came home on a bases-loaded walk to Christina Wieck and Bec Johnson scored on a wild pitch to give Chico State the 9-1 win. McCarthy (4-5) notched the complete game victory, with Toros starter Lauren Harper (4-2) taking the loss. Brock and Bec Johnson each had three hits for the Wildcats, with Johnson finishing the game with three RBI.
BOX SCORE - Game One
Runs were a little harder to come by in the second game of the doubleheader, as Chico State’s Jessica McDermott and Stephanie Jimenez of Cal State Dominguez Hills locked horns in an entertaining pitcher’s duel. The Toros took a 1-0 lead in the top of the third when Michelle Miranda scored from third on a passed ball, and Jimenez held the Wildcats to just four hits through the first five frames until Chico State tied the score in the bottom of the sixth on a Charlotte Honciano triple and an RBI single by Quadt. After a scoreless seventh for both teams, the game went into extra innings, with Dominguez Hills taking a 2-1 lead in the top of the 10th – Emiley McEwen’s sacrifice fly off Wildcat reliever Caitlin Bryne plated Katie Garcia to briefly put the Toros on top. Chico State scrambled to tie the score in the bottom of the 10th with some baserunning razzle-dazzle, as Bec Johnson scored from third base on the front end of a double steal. In the bottom of the 11th the Wildcats pushed across the game winner as Honciano scored on Bec Johnson’s base hit to shallow right field, giving Chico State the 3-2 victory and the doubleheader sweep. Bryne (2-0) got credit for the win, with Jimenez (5-3) suffering the loss despite giving up just two earned runs in 10-and-a-third innings of work. Quadt had four of the Wildcats’ 10 hits in the nightcap, with Honciano finishing the contest with two hits in five at-bats.
BOX SCORE - Game Two
Chico State is back in action this Friday, hosting a non-conference doubleheader against Oregon Tech at University Softball Field. The first game of the twinbill is scheduled to start at noon.