SEASIDE – If Chico State Head Baseball Coach Dave Taylor doubled as the Sports Information Director, I imagine his lead following Friday’s 4-2 win at Cal State Monterey Bay would go something like: “Now that’s my kinda win!”
The Wildcats pitched well, threw strikes, executed offensively, and used clutch hitting to win in come-from-behind fashion to win the first of a four-game weekend series and put a big smile on their coaches’ face. The ninth-ranked Wildcats improved to 9-1 overall and 4-1 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) with their seventh win in a row.
Starting pitcher Brian Buckham earned his first win as a Wildcats with seven strong innings. He allowed two runs on five hits, walked just one, and struck out four to improve to 1-1. Juan Guerra got the final six outs for his fifth save, each coming during this current win streak.
Adrian Bringas went 3-for-3 and drove in two of the Wildcats’ runs. Ian McKay and Matt Anderson homered for the Wildcats. Anderson joined Bringas with three hits on the day.
The upstart Otters, still riding high from a four-game split against then-No. 1 UC San Diego last weekend, took a 2-0 lead with single runs in the second and third.
The Wildcats cut the lead in half in the sixth. Shane Kroker singled leading off the inning, moved to second on a wild pitch, and came around to score on Bringas’ two-out knock up the middle.
Anderson tied things up with a solo home run in the seventh. It was impressive drive that found a home in the breeze blowing off the Pacific Ocean and landed in the Cypress trees beyond the wall.
The Wildcats took the lead in the eighth. Jon Peters took a pitch off his upper arm with one out to set the table. Pinch runner Michael Schultz moved to second on a ground ball and scored on an exciting bang-bang play at the plate after Bringas lined a single into left field. That spelled the end if reigning CCAA Pitcher of the Week Scott Tully’s day. Tully pitched well, allowing just three runs in seven-and-two-thirds frames, but was saddled with the loss, falling to 1-1.
His replacement was Tony Hernandez, who played outfield for the Wildcats as a true freshman last season before deciding to transfer. Hernandez, a lefty who never pitched for the Wildcats, got out of the seventh but didn’t last long in the eighth.
Ian McKay mashed an insurance home run over the scoreboard in left field leading off the ninth and Hernandez’s day was done after Anderson followed with a single.
The series continues with a doubleheader Saturday at 11 AM and wraps up with a single game Sunday at 11.
