LA JOLLA, Calif. – The 5-1 loss at UC San Diego Sunday didn’t offer much in the way of positives for the Chico State baseball team. The postgame reaction does. The Wildcats left La Jolla aggravated about a series split on the road against the three-time defending California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Champions. They have high expectations. Simply splitting won’t suffice. So the team’s fans have much to be excited about.
First and foremost: The Wildcats are scheduled to play their next 22 games at Nettleton Stadium beginning with Tuesday’s 2 p.m. non-conference doubleheader against Northwest Nazarene and a four-game CCAA set against San Francisco State beginning Friday.
The 10th-ranked Wildcats fell to 6-2 overall and 2-2 in the CCAA. But as was the case in Saturday’s loss, they teamed up with the Tritons to doom their chances. Chico State stranded six runners over the first four frames in falling behind early.
They had runners on second and third with one down in the second after Blake Gibbs and Jordan Beck started the inning with singles. But Colton Hamill fouled out, and after Ben Manlove walked, TJ Yasuhara grounded out to first with the bases juiced.
Roger Boulden’s leadoff single in the third went for naught when, first Cody Foster popped up a sacrifice bunt attempt, and then Boulden mistimed his break for third and was caught attempting to steal.
The Wildcats tied the game in the fourth on Manlove’s RBI-singled that scored Beck following his second hit, but that accounted for their lone run on the day. They stranded three runners in scoring position in the final three frames.
Meanwhile, 2011 First Team All-West Region outfielder Danny Susdorf wreaked havoc on the Wildcats. Susdorf went 3-for-4 with a triple and three RBI as the Tritons improved to 4-8 overall and 2-2 in the CCAA.
Susdorf’s RBI-triple in the third staked UC San Diego to a 1-0 lead against Wildcats freshman starter Luke Barker. And after Jason Seigel homered leading off the fourth to give the Tritons the lead for good, Susdorf singled and scored in the fifth to make it 3-1.
Susdorf slammed the door on the Wildcats in the seventh with a two-run single off reliever Will Enos that pushed the Tritons’ lead to 5-1.
Barker pitched well through six in just his second collegiate start, allowing three runs on six hits and no walks while striking out six. He surrendered singles to two of the first three hitters the seventh, however, and both players scored on Susdorf’s single.
Foster’s 16-game hitting streak was snapped when he took an 0-for-3. He also had a 16-game hitting streak last season.
BOX SCORE
