CHICO – There was plenty of excitement Sunday afternoon at Nettleton Stadium – not the least of which provided by a giant swarm of bees congregating at the left field fence, halting play in the ninth inning and sending outfielder Michael Schultz and the entire Chico State bullpen scrambling for safety. For visiting Cal State L.A., it was another set of “B’s” – namely Nick Baker and Adrian Bringas – that made a lasting impression. Baker tossed six solid innings and Bringas rapped out four hits to lead a 16-hit attack as the No. 10 Wildcats downed the Golden Eagles 8-2 for their third win of the four-game weekend set.
With the victory, Chico State has won four of its last five games to improve to 25-8 on the season while maintaining their lead in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) with a 19-7 conference mark. Cal State L.A. dipped to 23-17 overall with Sunday’s loss, and slipped into a fourth place tie with Cal Poly Pomona in the CCAA standings with a 18-14 conference record.
The 16 Wildcat hits were evenly distributed, with four players – Bringas, Jackson Evans, Shane Kroker and Justin Manci – enjoying a multi-hit outing. Bringas, who collected five hits in Friday’s series opener, finished the four-game set 10-for-17 to raise his season batting average to a CCAA-best .405.
Chico State wasted little time in staking Baker to a lead – in the bottom of the first inning, Cody Foster singled and was promptly doubled home by Evans. An infield single by Bringas put runners at the corners, then Matt Anderson slapped a single down the right field line to plate Evans to make it a 2-0 game. Cal State L.A. starting pitcher Nathan Pickett walked Kroker to load the bases, then Manci and Ben Manlove delivered back-to-back RBI singles to extend the ’Cats’ lead to 4-0.
The Golden Eagles got on the board in the top of the second inning, as Baker surrendered an unearned run; then in the top of the fifth Cal State L.A. made it a 4-2 contest when, with two aboard, Manny Acosta scored from third on a sacrifice fly to left field by Chad Nacapoy that came within a few feet of being a game-tying home run. Baker buckled down to retire the final six hitters he faced, and Chico State stretched its lead to 5-2 in the bottom of the fifth when Bringas knocked in Evans with a booming double to center.
While Wildcat relievers Brian Buckham and Stephen Thompson kept the Golden Eagles off the scoreboard over the final three frames, Chico State pulled away with a run in the bottom of the seventh (Kroker singling home Bringas) and two more in the eighth (Foster scoring on a throwing error and Evans coming home on a Bringas RBI single) to put the Wildcats up by a half-dozen. Thompson proceeded to get the final three outs without incident (well, except for the bees in left field) in the top of the ninth, nailing down Chico State’s 8-2 win.
Baker struck out six and allowed just one earned run on four hits in six innings of work to earn the victory and improve to 7-0 on the season. Pickett lasted just one inning for Cal State L.A. and was tagged with the loss to fall to 1-4 overall.
BOX SCORE
The Wildcats hit the road next week, heading to Hayward to take on Cal State East Bay. The series begins with a single game Thursday at 3 p.m., followed by a single game Friday at 3 p.m. and a Saturday doubleheader at 11 a.m.
