TURLOCK, Calif. – For the third time in the four-game CCAA series against Cal Sate Stanislaus, the ninth inning proved to be the nemesis for the Chico State baseball team. The Warriors broke a 4-4 tie with a two-out RBI single in the bottom of the ninth today for the 5-4 win over the Wildcats.
The No. 16 Wildcats drop to 13-7 overall, 6-5 in CCAA play. Stanislaus has now won 12 of its last 14 and improves to 17-5 overall, 10-2 in conference.
Things looked to be going the Wildcats’ way in the third inning when the team loaded the bases with two outs on a walk to Kyle Eveland, a hit by Joey Burke, and another walk to Bret Ringer. Josh Meagher landed the big blow, connecting on a grand slam to right field to give the Wildcats an early 4-0 lead. The home run was Meagher’s first of the year and extends his current hitting streak to six games.
Not to be outdone, Stanislaus’ Dennis Wolfe led off the third inning with a double and scored on a Kyle Loretelli home run to center field, cutting the deficit in half.
The Warriors tied the game in the fifth. Chase Perez led off with a single, followed by Wolfe’s third straight hit of the game, this one a triple to score Perez. Dante Palacios laid down a bunt to squeeze in Wolfe and tie the score at 4-4.
The winning run came in the ninth after Thomas Donnelly led off with a double, the Wildcats recorded two outs on a sacrifice bunt and a pop up to second. Hot-hitter Wolfe was intentionally walked and the next batter David Contreras drove in the run.
Stanislaus starter Eric Frederico (W, 2-1) basically shut down the Wildcat offense. Excluding the grand-slam inning, Frederico allowed just four hits and only three Wildcats were left on base, one in scoring position, over eight innings.
Kyle Gibson (L, 0-1) took the tough-luck loss, coming on in the fifth in relief of starter Kyle Woodruff. Gibson pitched four innings, allowing one run on three hits. He struck out two and walked two.
Next up for the Wildcats is a nonconference four-game series against Grand Canyon University in Phoenix.
Chico State Wildcats
#16 Chico State at #23 Cal State Stanislaus
Mar 09, 2008 at Turlock, Calif. (Warrior Field)
Chico State 4 (13-7,6-5 CCAA)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
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DODOS, Jimmy rf.......... 4 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 0
BURKE, Joey lf/cf........ 4 1 2 0 0 0 1 0 0
RINGER, Bret 3b.......... 2 1 1 0 1 0 0 3 0
MEAGHER, Josh dh......... 3 1 1 4 1 0 0 0 1
BITKER, Matt 1b.......... 4 0 1 0 0 0 11 0 1
DEE, Cody c.............. 4 0 1 0 0 0 7 1 1
BOSCARINO, Phil 2b....... 4 0 0 0 0 0 3 1 1
FARMER, Shane cf......... 3 0 0 0 0 1 3 0 0
DINGMAN, Nick ph........ 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
VICTOR, Nick lf......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
EVELAND, Kyle ss......... 2 1 0 0 1 0 1 1 0
WOODRUFF, Kyle p......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
GIBSON, Kyle p.......... 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Totals................... 31 4 7 4 3 1 26 8 4
Cal State Stanislaus 5 (17-5,10-2 CCAA)
Player AB R H RBI BB SO PO A LOB
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WOLFE cf................. 3 2 3 1 2 0 3 0 0
CONTRERAS 2b............. 5 0 1 1 0 0 1 2 0
PALACIOS dh.............. 2 0 0 2 0 1 0 0 1
LORETELLI lf............. 3 1 1 1 1 0 3 0 0
DONNELL 1b............... 4 0 1 0 0 1 15 1 2
OKETANI ss............... 4 0 1 0 0 0 2 6 0
DONNELLY rf.............. 4 1 1 0 0 3 1 0 0
HUGHES 3b................ 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 1
PEREZ c.................. 3 1 1 0 0 1 1 2 1
BELLOTTI ph............. 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
FEDERICO p............... 0 0 0 0 0 0 1 4 0
Totals................... 32 5 9 5 3 6 27 18 7
Score by Innings R H E
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Chico State......... 004 000 000 - 4 7 1
Cal State Stanislaus 002 020 001 - 5 9 0
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Note: 2 outs, 2 runners LOB when the game ended.
E - EVELAND. DP - Warriors 1. LOB - Wildcats 4; Warriors 7. 2B - WOLFE;
DONNELLY. 3B - WOLFE. HR - MEAGHER; LORETELLI. SH - RINGER; PALACIOS 2;
HUGHES. CS - DODOS; WOLFE.
Chico State IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP
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WOODRUFF, Kyle...... 4.2 6 4 4 1 4 18 21 -
GIBSON, Kyle........ 4.0 3 1 1 2 2 14 17 -
Cal State Stanislaus IP H R ER BB SO AB BF NP
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FEDERICO............ 9.0 7 4 4 3 1 31 35 -
Win - FEDERICO (2-1). Loss - GIBSON (0-1). Save - None.
Inherited runners/scored: None. Pitches/strikes: None.
Umpires - HP: Scott Letendre 1B: Gary DiFabio 2B: Greg Schmitz
Start: 12:01 pm Time: 2:21 Attendance: 143
