Perhaps no one has been more valuable to the Chico State baseball team over the past few weeks than relief pitcher Robert Hook. The junior transfer from College of the Desert threw three spotless innings to earn the win in Saturday’s 4-2 win against Cal Poly Pomona in the second game of a doubleheader.
Hook, 5-0 on the season with a 2.10 ERA, is 3-0 over the Wildcats’ past three series, having allowed only two earned runs in 16 innings. But his best performance of the season came Saturday. Hook entered the game with the bases loaded and nobody out in a 2-1 game and got out of the jam, allowing only a sacrifice fly. He then retired the Broncos in order in the seventh and eighth.
Hook has even helped the Wildcats out on the basepaths. Called upon as a pinch runner in the 11th inning of a tie game on April 13th against Cal State Dominguez Hills, he scored the winning run on Blake Walker’s base hit.
Hook and the Wildcats hope to bring home the regular season California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) title next weekend. They need three wins in a four-game series against Sonoma State to do it. The first three games are in Rohnert Park. The last one, Sunday, is the Capital City Clash III at Raley Field – home of the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats.
