When a hitter is on absolute fire, the old baseball cliché “they can’t get him out” usually gets brought out of mothballs. That well-worn sports saying was almost certainly uttered by Cal State Dominguez Hills over the weekend, as Chico State second baseman Jeffrey Ray was literally unstoppable in the Wildcats’ four-game series with the Toros. The Lompoc product produced multi-hit games in each contest, boosting his season batting average a jaw-dropping 42 points. His offensive domination at the dish makes Ray the latest Wildcat of the Week.
Ray produced 10 hits in the four-game set and a sizzling .769 batting average, while reaching base 13 times and scoring three runs to help Chico State earn a series split with Dominguez Hills. If those numbers aren’t impressive enough, Ray also posted an .824 on-base percentage and a 1.000 slugging percentage versus the Toros.
Ray began the series Thursday with a 3-for-3 performance, two walks and two runs scored in an 8-2 Wildcats victory. Ray had two hits in each game of Friday’s doubleheader, then finished a homer shy of the cycle Saturday, going 3-for-4 as the ’Cats bested the Toros 4-3 in 10 innings.
Thanks to his big weekend, Ray currently ranks eighth among all California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) hitters with a .373 batting average, and is fifth in the conference in on-base percentage (.491).
Ray and the Chico State baseball team close out the 2023 season this Thursday through Saturday, when the Wildcats host Cal State LA in a four-game series at Nettleton Stadium.
