CHICO – Friday’s 12-0 victory against Cal State East Bay had Chico State baseball fans assuming an easy four-game sweep was in the offing. They got the four-game sweep they were looking for, but there was nothing easy about the last three wins, which all came in come-from-behind fashion. Deven Braden was the hero Sunday, smashing a grand slam that gave Chico State the lead for good in a nail-biting 10-9 win at Nettleton Stadium.
Braden, who did not hit a home run in 120 at-bats last season, went deep for the second straight game with two down in the bottom of the seventh inning to give the Wildcats a 9-6 lead. Cal State East Bay rallied with the help of two Chico State errors in the ninth, but Levi Josewski flew out to the warning track in right field with runners on second and third to end the game.
Chico State is now 4-0 overall and in the California Collegiate Athletic Association. Cal State East Bay dropped to 2-5 overall and 0-4 in the CCAA.
Scott Newberry collected his first collegiate win in two-and-a-third innings of relief for the Wildcats. Josh Rush’s two-out solo shot in the seventh was the only blemish on his record. He struck out two.
Aaron Hannigan took the loss in his first action of the season for Cal State East Bay, allowing seven runs on eight hits in six-and-two-thirds innings. But the big blow came against reliever Zachary Wong, who relieved Hannigan with two out and runners on the corners in the fateful seventh inning. Wong hit Johnny Hay with a pitch to load the bases, and on a full count, delivered a pitch that Braden clubbed well beyond the left field wall.
Braden finished 2-for-4 and also stole a base. Hay was 2-for-2 with three RBI, was twice hit by pitches, and scored a run. Michael Murphy was also hit twice, went 1-for-3 with a double – his fourth extra-base hit of the season – and scored a run. Kevin Seaver was 2-for-4 with two doubles, two RBI, and a sacrifice bunt that helped set up the winning rally in the seventh. Jackson Evans and Adrian Bringas also drove in runs for the Wildcats.
Chico State will travel to face UC San Diego in a four-game series next weekend in La Jolla. The Tritons, off to a 9-1 start, are heavy favorites to win the conference title this season according to a preseason coaches’ poll, and currently ranked No. 1 in the Nation by Ping!baseball and No. 3 in two other national polls. The Wildcats are ranked No. 22 in the nation and were picked to finish third in the CCAA.
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