CARSON, Calif. – Lechuga means lettuce in Spanish. And so far this season it’s meant lights out for the Chico State baseball team’s opposition. Sheldon Lechuga entered a tie game and pitched three flawless frames and TJ Yasuhara drove in the go-ahead run in the eighth as the Wildcats beat Cal State Dominguez Hills 6-2 Sunday to salvage a split of their four-game series in Carson.
Justin Manci went 3-for-5 with two doubles and three runs batted in and Jackson Evans went 3-for-4 and also walked as the Wildcats improved to 18-5 overall and 12-4 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association.
They also severely damaged Cal State Dominguez Hills’ hopes of making the postseason. The Toros, who beat Chico State twice last postseason will not likely have the chance to do it again, having dropped to 15-20 and 11-17 in the CCAA.
Lechuga improved to 2-0 on the season and has four saves. Sunday may have been his best day yet,
however. The southpaw struck out five in three innings of work, including the side in the ninth. Only one batter reached base, on an error, and Lechuga picked him off.
Wildcats starter Nick Baker allowed just two runs, one of which was earned, in six frames. The true freshman scattered seven hits, walked two, and struck out four.
Chico State got on the board first with Manci’s RBI-double in the second. The Toros answered with a run of their own in the bottom half of the inning, however.
Shane Kroker’s sixth inning RBI single put the Wildcats back ahead, but the Toros got an unearned run in the bottom half of the frame to draw even once again.
The go-ahead rally started with Michael Schultz’s full-count walk. He stole second and then scored on Yasuhara’s grounder through the left side of the infield.
The Wildcats broke it open in the ninth. Evans reached on a bunt single leading off the inning and Adrian Bringas lined a single to left. They were still on first and second with two down when Manci muscled a double to the gap in left center to drive them both in for a 5-2 lead. Ben Manlove traded with Manci on the first pitch he saw to add a bit of insurance.
Lechuga liked it, but didn’t need it. Fourteen pitches later, three straight Toros had turned and headed back to the dugout down on strikes.
After 16 straight conference road games to start the season, the Wildcats will be back home for the first time since Feb. 28 this Tuesday when they host San Francisco State for a doubleheader beginning at 2 PM.
Despite playing those first 16 conference games on the road, the 12-4 Wildcats enter Tuesday’s action in first place with a lead of 100 percentage points on second-place Sonoma State (13-7). Cal State L.A. is in third (15-9) and UC San Diego is in fourth (14-10). The top four teams by percentage points at the end of the season will earn berths in the CCAA Championship Tournament.
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