CHICO – The Chico State – Western Oregon baseball series has become one of the most anticipated matchups in the West Region over the years. This season’s four-game series has even more drama and intrigue to offer as the teams face off with the postseason just around the corner and hopes for an NCAA Championship berth hanging in the balance. Chico State enters the weekend ranked No. 4 in the West and Western Oregon is No. 6. The winner of the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Championship Tournament and three at-large teams from the region will earn a spot in the NCAA Championship Tournament.
The series kicks off with a single game Friday under the lights at Nettleton Stadium at 6 p.m., continues with a doubleheader Saturday at noon, and concludes with a single game Sunday at noon. The games will be broadcast locally on ESPN Radio 101.7 FM and 1340 AM, as well as on the Chico State Athletics Web site’s Wildcat webcast link.
When the Wildcats were up this season, Western Oregon was down. Chico State jumped out to a 13-2 start and was ranked as high as No. 7 in the nation. Western Oregon, on the other hand, lost its first seven games en route to a 10-11 start.
But the tides have turned since then. The Wildcats are just 14-13 since then and dropped three of four games to Cal State Dominguez Hills, the region’s second-ranked team, last weekend. Meanwhile, Western Oregon has won 16 straight, including a four-game sweep at Montana State-Billings last weekend in which they outscored the Yellowjackets by a combined 53-10.
Western Oregon’s run through the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) has been a common theme. The Wolves have won all eighth conference titles since the conference’s creation in 2002 and are well on their way to their ninth, leading second-place Northwest Nazarene by six-and-a-half games with eight to play.
The Wolves have also made four trips to the NCAA Championship Tournament in the last five years. But they’ll need to make a big impression on the selection committee down the stretch of this season to get back there again. Their best chance to do so comes this weekend since they dropped seven of nine games to CCAA teams to open the season and the top four teams in the West are all currently from the CCAA.
Chico State, meanwhile, could go a long way toward solidifying their chances to get back into the NCAA Championship Tournament for the 12th time in 15 years this weekend. The Wildcats, who need just one win against Cal State Monterey Bay next weekend to clinch a spot in the CCAA Championship Tournament, could tighten their grip on one of the region’s top four spots and put an end to Western Oregon’s postseason hopes at the same time.
If history is any indicator, the Wolves have quite a hill to climb. The Wildcats have won 50 of 57 all-time meetings between the teams, including 10 of 12 in the Wolves’ three visits to Nettleton Stadium over the past three years.
