CHICO, Calif. – Pete Mickartz blew out 22 candles in celebration of his birthday after Friday night’s game. He practiced by blowing away visiting Grand Canyon, allowing just two hits and striking out eight through the first eight innings of the Chico State baseball team’s 7-3 win at Nettleton Stadium.
Mickartz’s complete game was the second of his season and the sixth of his career. He improved to 6-3 with the win, and his eight strikeouts brought his career total to 154, tying him with Ivan Hernandez (2002-03) for third on Chico State’s career list.
Chico State, ranked No. 4 in the West Region, improved to 25-19 overall with the non-conference win. Grand Canyon, 13-26, finally got to Mickartz in the ninth. They pieced together three of their five hits in the final frame, including Taylor McGregor’s three-run homer.
Mickartz and the Wildcats got a gift from California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) rival UC San Diego Friday. The Tritons beat Cal State Dominguez Hills and Chico State moved to within one game of the fourth-place Toros. Just one game now separates four teams in the race for that fourth and final spot in the CCAA Championship Tournament. Chico State, in a three-way tie for sixth with Cal State San Bernardino and Cal Poly Pomona, resumes conference play with a four-game home series against fifth-place Cal State Stanislaus, which they trail by a half-game, next weekend.
Friday, Adam Arakawa drove in three runs to pace the Chico State offense. Jordan Larson contributed three hits and scored two runs. Kyle Eveland, Cody Dee, Bret Ringer, and Bryan Willson joined Arakawa with two hits.
Chico State got the scoring started in the first when Cody Dee doubled and came around to score on Bret Ringer’s base hit. Arakawa and Dee recorded RBI-singles in the third to make it 3-0.
The Wildcats continued to build on their lead with Josh Meagher’s RBI-single in the fourth, and made it 7-0 with three more runs in the sixth. Ringer and Willson hit consecutive singles to lead off the inning, and after they advanced a base on a balk, Larson drove in a run with a base hit to right field. Arakawa’s two-out, two-run single later in the inning made it 7-0.
Mickartz, meanwhile, cruised through the first eight frames. Thanks to those eight strikeouts and a trio of double-play grounders, he faced the minimum through seven-and-two-thirds innings. He didn’t walk a batter until two were down in the eighth.
Jay Green and Joey Bristyan notched the third and fourth hits of the game for the Coyotes in the ninth before McGregor launched one over the wall in left field to get Grand Canyon on the board. Matt Fox had Grand Canyon’s other two hits, the first leading off the second and the second leading off the fifth.
The series continues with a doubleheader Saturday and will wrap up with a single game Sunday at noon.
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