LOS ANGELES – The drought is over. The Chico State baseball team is hitting home runs once again. The Wildcats battered Cal State L.A. pitching with five home runs – two off the bat of Johnny Hay and one each from Jordan Larson, Michael Murphy, and Jackson Evans – in a doubleheader split Saturday. Hay homered twice and Larson went yard for the first time in his Chico State career in the opener, but the Wildcats’ come-from-behind effort was thwarted by the double-play ball in an 11-9 loss in the opener. Murphy led off the second game with a solo shot and Evans added a two-run blast later in the inning to set the stage for a 9-6 win in the nightcap
The Wildcats, now 25-12 overall and 20-11 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA), remain a half game ahead of Cal State San Bernardino for third place in the conference standings. Cal State Dominguez Hills, which swept a doubleheader from Cal State Monterey Bay for its 11th and 12th straight wins, stretched its advantage over the Wildcats in the race for second place to two-and-a-half games. The Wildcats and Toros will face off in a crucial four-game series next weekend at Nettleton Stadium.
And the Wildcats hope to bring their re-born power stroke back to Chico. The Wildcats were on pace to break the school’s single-season home run record with 34 round trippers in their first 26 games. Then suddenly, they stopped hitting the ball over the fence, going homerless for nine straight games until Saturday.
Hay broke the seal with a blast over the right-centerfield wall leading off the fourth inning. Unfortunately, the Wildcats trailed 5-2 before the blast and got unusually poor outings from starter Scott Greene and reliever Kevin Brahney. Greene lasted just two innings, allowing five runs (four earned) on six hits. He took the loss, falling to 2-3. Brahney retired six of the first eight batters he faced – four via strikeout – before the wheels suddenly came off. He gave up four hits in a row to lead off that inning, and by the time it was over, was on the hook for five runs on seven hits in three innings of work and the Wildcats trailed 10-4.
Chico State rallied for five runs in the seventh to get right back in the game. After Kyle Leon was hit by a pitch, Larson drilled a ball just inside the foul pole down the right field line for his first home run in nearly 400 at-bats in a Chico State uniform. That got he Chico State dugout back into the game, and three batters later, Hay smashed a three-run homer to left field to make it 10-9.
The Golden Eagles (16-19 overall, 14-12 CCAA) got an unearned insurance run in the bottom of the seventh to make it 11-9.
That lead was in serious danger in each of Chico State’s final two at-bats, but Larson grounded into a double play with runners on the corners to finish the eighth. And with Murphy on first following a leadoff walk in the ninth, Adam Arakawa grounded into a double play. Kevin Seaver gave them one last gasp with his two-out double that brought Hay to the plate, but Hay’s deep drive to right-centerfield was caught at the wall to end the game.
Hay, Murphy and Evans banged out two hits apiece for the Wildcats.
Murphy got the offense rolling again with his home run leading off the second game that stretched his team season-long hitting streak to 11 games. Larson later singled and scored on Arakawa’s two-out knock to make it 2-0, and Evans put them in firm control with a two-run no-doubter to right-centerfield.
That was all the support Wildcats starter Casey Edelbrock needed. He carved up the Golden Eagles lineup for six innings allowing just one run on four hits to earn the win and improve to 4-2.
Hay stayed hot with a two-run single in the fourth to stretch Chico State’s lead to 6-1, and he followed Seaver’s run-scoring single with another two-run single in the sixth to make it 9-1.
Cal State L.A. rallied for five runs in the ninth, but Sheldon Lechuga got designated hitter Sam Wiley to fly out to end the game with the potential tying run on deck.
Larson finished the second game 3-for-3 with a sacrifice bunt, while Hay, Murphy, and Evans notched two hits apiece.
The series concludes Sunday with a single game at Reeder Field on the campus of Cal State L.A. beginning at noon. A win would guarantee the Wildcats their 16th straight winning record in conference action and give Head Coach Dave Taylor his 150th win at the helm of the program.
GAME 1 BOX SCORE
GAME 2 BOX SCORE
