CHICO – Being staked to an early lead is something a pitcher always hopes for – besides obviously decreasing the stress level, it provides the hurler with enough of a margin of error that doesn’t necessarily make it imperative to throw up a zero every inning. The Chico State softball team made Sam Baker and Jessica McDermott’s jobs easier by jumping out to a big lead not once, but twice Wednesday against Cal State East Bay, as the Wildcats took both ends of a doubleheader from the Pioneers 6-2 and 4-2 at University Softball Field. The victories helped the ’Cats win three of the four series games against the Pioneers.
With Wednesday’s wins, Chico State improved to 12-5 on the season and 9-3 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA). Cal State East Bay slipped to 8-12 overall and 5-11 in conference play.
In the first game of Wednesday’s double dip, Chico State broke the seal in the bottom of the first inning, as Hailey Stockman knocked in Britt Wright and Taylor Hanamaikai with a triple off the base of the left field fence, and in the second Wright’s single up the middle chased home Jackie Munoz to make it a 3-0 ballgame. Cal State East Bay answered with two runs off Baker in the top of the third inning – Mishka Hamor came through with an RBI single and scored on a double by Emily Montanez to cut the Wildcat lead to one. Baker got one of the runs back herself for the Wildcats, blasting a homer to dead center field to lead off the bottom of the fourth inning to make the score 4-2.
The ’Cats salted the game away in the sixth inning when Munoz roped an RBI double down the left field line, plating Baker and Sam Quadt to put Chico State up by four; Baker allowed a pair of Pioneer baserunners in the top of the seventh but got the final three outs without incident to cement the Wildcats’ 6-2 victory. Baker struck out seven in tossing her eighth complete game of the season and raising her record to 9-2; East Bay starter Kelly Lowe (3-4) took the loss. Chico State posted a dozen hits in the game, with five Wildcats – Wright, Hanamaikai, Stockman, Baker and Munoz – collecting two safeties apiece.
BOX SCORE - Game One
The Pioneers struck first in the nightcap, as Kassy Winger scored on a two-out single by Taylor Neumann in the top of the first inning, but the Wildcats, on a Stockman fielder’s choice grounder and an RBI single by Keri Piluso, came right back to take a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the first. Chico State made it 4-1 with two runs off East Bay starter Heidi McAllister in the bottom of the second inning – Diana Payan providing the big blow with a double to right field to drive home Wright and Kelly Head.
The Pioneers trimmed the deficit to two in the top of the fourth inning when Devon Mercurio’s sacrifice fly plated Nikki Freiberg, but Wildcat starter Jessica McDermott made sure East Bay would get no closer. The Pioneers put the tying runs in scoring position in the top of the sixth inning, but McDermott fanned Winger looking to end the threat. Then, in the top of the seventh East Bay got the tying run to the plate, but McDermott once again stiffened, striking out Montanez, inducing a fielder’s choice grounder and getting Sarah Velasquez to fly out to center field to end it, giving the ’Cats the 4-2 win and the doubleheader sweep. McDermott went the distance for the third time this year, picking up the victory to improve her record to 3-1; McAllister (0-2) was tagged for four runs in just an inning-and-two-thirds and was saddled with the loss for the Pioneers. Payan and Quadt combined for four of the six Chico State hits in the game.
BOX SCORE - Game Two
The Wildcats hit the road this weekend, traveling to southern California to take on Cal State San Bernardino in a pair of doubleheaders. Both Friday and Saturday twinbills begin at 11:00 a.m.
