CHICO, Calif. – Kevin Seaver continued his charge at the Chico State single-season batting average record and the team’s run at the University’s single-season team batting average record, while helping ensure that the Academy of Art would finish the season with a record the Urban Knights never hoped to reach. Seaver went 3-for-4 with a home run to raise his batting average to .429, leading a 16-hit charge that raised the Wildcats’ team batting average to .349 in a 15-4 win that completed the Academy of Art’s season at 0-30 Tuesday night at Nettleton Stadium.
Seaver, who scored a game-high three runs, is now 45-for-105 on the season. He shares the team batting average lead with Nick Victor, who is also batting .429 (21-for-49) after going 3-for-4 with two runs, two doubles, and four RBI Tuesday. Unfortunately, Victor is not on pace to reach the 100 at-bat minimum to qualify for the record. Steve Gotowala holds the Chico State season batting average record of .422, set in 1997.
Gotowala’s 1997 team holds the season team batting average record of .344, which is clearly in danger thanks to the work of Seaver, Victor, and seven other Wildcats hitting .345 or better – Adam Arakawa (.387), Kyle Eveland (.373), Josh Meagher (.368), Jordan Larson (.358), Cody Dee (.353), Bryan Willson (.348), and Eric Stephens (.345).
That potent Chico State lineup jumped on the Urban Knights’ pitching staff early and added on throughout the game. The Wildcats took a 5-0 lead in the second inning thanks to Seaver’s solo home run, RBI-singles from Victor and Larson, and sacrifice flies from Eveland and Willson.
Stephens led off the third inning with a bunt single and eventually came around to score on a wild pitch that made it 6-0. Academy of Art broke through with two runs (one earned) in the fourth to trim the lead to 6-2, but Chico State added on three runs in the fifth, two more in the sixth, and four in the eighth to win going away.
Run-scoring hits by Stephens, Bret Ringer, and Dee in the fifth made it 9-2. Cameron Softli smacked an RBI-double and Victor was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the sixth to make it 11-2. In the eighth, Robert Mills lined an RBI-single up the middle and Victor smashed a two-run double to center field before later scoring on an error to build the lead to 15-4.
Academy of Art notched a pair of unearned runs in the ninth on two hits and two errors.
Starter Jordan Lindebaum, on a strict 50-pitch count, earned the win for the Wildcats to improve to 4-4. He
gave up just one earned run (two overall) on five hits and a walk in four innings of work. He struck out three. But Michael Gleason did the most impressive work on the mound for the Wildcats, tossing three innings of one-hit scoreless relief. He struck out five and walked one. Scott Newberry pitched the final two innings, allowing just one hit and two unearned runs.
The Wildcats will wrap up their 2009 home campaign this weekend when they host Cal State Stanislaus for a four-game series beginning Friday at 6 p.m. They’re currently one-half game behind the Warriors in the conference standings. Games two and three will take place beginning Saturday at noon, and the series finale and Senior Day festivities will take place Sunday. First pitch is at noon and the Senior Day celebration will take place beginning at approximately 11:45.
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