Chico State first baseman Willie Lajoie was locked in at the plate in his final regular season home series, banging out 10 hits in 15 at-bats and reaching base 14 times in 19 plate appearances. Lajoie hit .667 with a home run, slugged .867, and posted an on-base percentage of .737.
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The junior (athletically) who is set to graduate this month with his degree in social science started the series 6-for-6 with a walk and hit-by-pitch in his first eight plate appearances.
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He was 4-for-4 with a walk and two-run homer in the series opener and then reached base in his first three trips to the plate Saturday, two via base hit. That brought consecutive hits streak to eight and his consecutive reached-base streak to 12.
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Lajoie finished Saturday's first game 4-for-5 before going 0-for-2 with a walk in the nightcap. He was 2-for-4 with a walk, two runs and an RBI in the nightcap.
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With his effort over the weekend, Lajoie moved into second in the CCAA in batting average (.410), behind only teammate Kyle Dobson (.430). Lajoie also ranks among the CCAA's top five in slugging, on-base percentage, OPS, runs, hits and RBI.
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Lajoie is also closing in on an impressive Chico State record. His .410 career batting average is currently the highest in Chico State history. Steve Gotowala holds the record at .397. Lajoie currently ranks fourth in CCAA history behind only San Diego State's Art Preston (hit .431 from 1950-52), UC San Diego's Brandon Gregorich (hit .424 from 2009-10), and San Francisco State's Joe Perry (hit .419 from 2000-01).
