CARSON, Calif. – The Chico State Wildcats entered their weekend series with Cal State Dominguez Hills leading the CCAA in home runs, and Friday the ’Cats were once again dialing long distance, adding four more bombs to their team total to highlight a 19-hit attack in a 10-3 victory over the Toros in the first of a four-game set at Toro Field.
Dominguez Hills opened the scoring in the bottom of the second inning as Andrew Baslow doubled home Paul Klingsberg to give the Toros a 1-0 lead. But in the top of the third Chico State tied the game on Josh Meagher’s RBI double; then later in the inning, with two aboard, Eric Stephens launched his sixth homer of the year to put the Wildcats up 4-1.
Chico State added a run in the fifth inning as Stephens doubled to right-center and scored on a single up the middle by Kevin Seaver…then in the sixth the ’Cats once again went to the long ball – with Deven Braden on second, Kyle Eveland cracked his third round-tripper of the season to extend the Wildcats lead to 7-1.
After Dominguez Hills scored a run off Chico State reliever Ian Waldron in the bottom of the seventh to make it 7-2, the Wildcats tagged Toros reliever Keith Chipman for a pair of solo homers in the eighth – Jimmy Dodos hit his third dinger of the year, then later in the frame Adam Arakawa went big fly for the sixth time this season to up the ‘Cats advantage to 9-2.
The Wildcats added a run in the ninth inning when Jordan Larson scored from third on a passed ball, making it a 10-2 ballgame. Dominguez Hills plated a run in the bottom of the ninth off ’Cats reliever Bryan Save, but it was far too little and far too late as Chico State closed it out and rolled to the 10-3 victory. Pete Mickartz (3-2) started and went the first six innings for the Wildcats, striking out six to earn the win; Toros starter Bret Montgomery (4-2) was saddled with the loss. Eight different Wildcats enjoyed a multi-hit game, with Meagher going 3-for-6 on the afternoon and Arakawa posting a 3-for-4 day at the plate.
Friday’s win improved Chico State’s overall record to 15-10 and 11-6 in the CCAA. Cal State Dominguez Hills dropped to 13-13 on the season and 8-9 in conference play.
The Wildcats and Toros square off again in doubleheader action Saturday; the opener of the twinbill is set to start at 11:00 a.m. Hear all the action live with Mitch Cox providing the play-by-play on ESPN Radio 101.7 FM locally and on the Internet via the Wildcat Athletics website.
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