In case a California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Championship banner is not enough, the Chico State baseball team received some added incentive for the CCAA Championship Tournament, which begins Thursday. The All-CCAA honors and West Regional Rankings were released Tuesday, and both could spur on the Wildcats when they open the CCAA Championship Tournament at 7 PM against Sonoma State at Stockton’s Klein Family Field on the campus of the University of Pacific.

Additional motivation probably isn’t necessary after the Seawolves won three of four games from the Wildcats last season. But in case it is…

There’s this: The Wildcats, who finished the CCAA schedule in third place, had just one player selected First Team All-Conference (third baseman Adrian Bringas) and not a single Wildcat was named Second Team. Meanwhile, six teams had at least three players selected to the First and Second Team. Instead, five Wildcats received honorable mention: Starting pitcher Nick Baker, catcher Ben Manlove, outfielder Cody Foster, relief pitcher Juan Guerra, and second baseman Jackson Evans. Baker was also named the CCAA’s Freshman of the Year. CLICK HERE to view the 2011 All-CCAA selections.

And this: The Wildcats dropped a spot to No. 4 in the West Region rankings, having been leapfrogged by new No. 3 Sonoma State, which was No. 6 last week. Also competing in this weekend’s double-elimination tournament will be West No. 1 UC San Diego and West No. 5 Cal Poly Pomona. The winner of the CCAA Championship Tournament and the other three highest ranked teams in the West will earn NCAA Championship Tournament berths. Thus, this weekend’s performance could determine what names are called during the selection show on NCAA.com Sunday at 7 PM.

The Wildcats enter Thursday’s game having lost eight of their last 10 games to fall to 29-18. The good news is that they showed during their 21-5 start that they have the capacity to play much better than they have of late.

Sonoma State is 33-17 and will likely send First Team All-CCAA starting pitcher Kenny Arnerich to the mound. Arnerich, who allowed just one run in eight innings of work in the Seawolves’ series-opening win against Chico State on Friday, is 7-1 with a 2.11 ERA.

Thursday’s game, and every Chico State postseason baseball game, will be broadcast locally on AM 1290 KPAY and will be available online via the Wildcat Webcast link at www.chicowildcats.com.

Live stats will also be available for every CCAA Championship Tournament game on the Tournament Central website.

UC San Diego and Cal Poly Pomona will kick off tournament action Thursday at 3 PM. The losers of Thursday’s games will square off in an elimination game Friday at 11 AM. The winners will play Friday at 3 PM with the winner advancing to Saturday’s championship game and needing just one more victory to claim the title. A second elimination game will take place Friday at 7 PM.

Saturday’s championship game is scheduled for 2 PM and a second game, if necessary, is scheduled to begin 30 minutes after the first game’s completion.

The Wildcats are making their 12th CCAA Championship Tournament appearance in its 13-year history. They won the title in 2000, 2004 and 2006 and boast an all-time tournament record of 22-17.

2011 CCAA Championship Tournament Schedule
Thursday, May 12
3 PM – Game 1: #1 UC San Diego vs. #4 Cal Poly Pomona
7 PM – Game 2: #2 Sonoma State vs. #3 Chico State
Friday, May 13
11 AM – Game 3: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 (Loser eliminated)
3 PM – Game 4: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2
7 PM – Game 5: Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4 (Loser eliminated)
Saturday, May 14
2 PM – Game 6: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5
TBA – Game 7: If necessary, 30 minutes after Game 6