SAN BERNARDINO – The Chico State softball team began an eight game road stretch in fine style Friday, using several big innings to take both ends of a doubleheader against Cal State San Bernardino. The Wildcats pounded out 10 hits en route to an 8-2 victory in the opener, then erased a 4-2 deficit with a four run fifth inning and held on to win the nightcap 6-5 at Coyote Field.
Chico State, winners of five straight, not only improved to 14-5 on the season, but moved back into first place in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) with an 11-3 conference mark. Cal State San Bernardino has now lost nine of its last 10 contests to fall to 12-12 overall and 8-10 in CCAA play.
The Wildcats employed a balanced offensive attack in both games, with several players enjoying productive days at the plate – Britt Wright, Sam Quadt, Diana Payan and Hailey Stockman each collected four hits, with Payan extending her current hitting streak to seven games.
In game one of the double dip, Chico State took a 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning when Sam Baker plated Payan with a single to left-center field. The Wildcats went up 4-0 in the top of the third when Quadt delivered a bases-loaded double to chase home Payan, Baker and Stockman. San Bernardino scored an unearned run in the bottom of the third to trim the deficit to three, but in the top of the fifth the ’Cats blew the game open – Stockman led off the inning with her fourth home run of the season; later in the frame, a Coyotes error allowed two Chico State baserunners to score; and Jessie Minch’s infield single knocked in Jackie Munoz to make it an 8-1 game. San Bernardino got a run back in the bottom of the fifth, but Baker tossed a scoreless sixth and seventh inning to bring home the 8-2 victory. Baker struck out six en route to her ninth complete game of the year, improving to 10-2 on the season; Coyotes starter Cassidy Lee (4-5) was charged with the loss.
BOX SCORE - Game One
The second game of the twinbill saw San Bernardino jump out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning, but in the top of the second Chico State cut the lead in half as Baker scored from third when Kelly Head was caught in a rundown between first and second base. The Coyotes went up 3-1 in the bottom of the second on a two-out RBI single by Priscilla Curiel, only to have the Wildcats answer in the top of the third when Payan drove in Quadt with a base hit to left field. A Britney Butler double chased home Jamie Roland in the bottom of the fourth inning to give San Bernardino a 4-2 lead, but in the top of the fifth Chico State came through with what proved to be the winning rally – three straight doubles to start the inning by Quadt, Payan and Stockman, and an RBI single by Rachel Failla tied the score at four apiece; Stockman would later come home on a throwing error, and Failla crossed the plate on Head’s two-out single to left, giving the Wildcats a 6-4 lead.
The Coyotes kept it interesting, though – in the bottom of the sixth inning Baker came in to relieve Kacie McCarthy and promptly gave up a run-scoring single to Felicia Cervantes to make it a 6-5 game, but Baker squashed any hopes of a San Bernardino comeback by retiring the final two hitters in the sixth and setting the Coyotes down in order in the seventh to give Chico State the 6-5 victory. McCarthy pitched four-and-two-thirds innings to pick up her first win of the season for the Wildcats, with Baker getting credit for the save; Brianne Godfredson (1-3) took the loss for Cal State San Bernardino.
BOX SCORE - Game Two
The ’Cats and Coyotes wrap up the four-game series Saturday with a doubleheader beginning at 11 a.m.
