Jae Wagner doesn't throw like your average collegiate pitcher. He has a funky sidearm delivery. Wagner is not tall and lanky like your average collegiate pitcher. He doesn't even get outs like your average college pitcher. He gets them at a much higher rate.
Wagner posted the latest and longest in a long line of scoreless outings Friday to help lead Chico State to a 9-8 victory in extra innings against Cal State San Bernardino to capture Wildcat of the Week honors.
The senior from Santa Rosa pitched the ninth, 10th, 11th, and 12th innings Friday, limiting Cal State San Bernardino to just two hits and one intentional walk in keeping them off the scoreboard for four frames. Wagner retired the side in order in the ninth and 11th and worked around a one-out single in the 10th, retiring nine of the first 10 hitters he faced. He came out for the 12th, signaling his longest collegiate outing, and though he got into a jam, he got out of it with a strikeout with two men on and a pop out with the bases loaded to end the inning.
In doing so, Wagner lowered his team-best ERA to 0.47. That leads all California Collegiate Athletic Association pitchers who have eclipsed five innings of work. He has picked up right where he left off last season. As a junior transfer from Solano Community College, Wagner surrendered just one earned run in 20-plus innings.
In 39-plus innings as a Wildcat, Wagner is 3-2 with five saves and a 0.45 ERA.
Wagner and the Wildcats will be back in action Thursday when they open a four-game series at Cal State LA at 6 p.m.
