CHICO – The unseasonably warm weather gave way to cold temperatures, brisk winds and a hint of rain Sunday at Nettleton Stadium, but it didn’t keep the Chico State baseball team from putting the final touches on a weekend sweep of visiting Academy of Art. The Wildcats braved the winter-like conditions to bang out 10 hits and take advantage of four Urban Knights errors to post a 13-5 non-conference win and earn their fifth straight victory.
Chico State ran its overall record to 17-5 with Sunday’s win, with the Wildcats picking up their 15th win in 18 tries at Nettleton Stadium so far this season. Academy of Art slipped to 0-19 overall. The ’Cats scored a total of 52 runs over the four-game series.
Nick Baker started on the mound for the ’Cats on a day where the bullpen was scheduled to get in some work. As a result, Baker went four innings but still received credit for the win, moving his record to 2-0 on the season. Baker struck out three while allowing three runs on seven hits; relievers Morgan Yee, Will Enos, Sean Martin and Mike Botelho combined to hold Academy of Art to just two runs and three hits over the final five frames.
Catcher Roger Boulden was the Wildcats’ hitting star Sunday, going 3-for-4 with a triple and four RBI. Chico State catchers, in fact, combined for a very productive weekend against the Urban Knights – Boulden, Ben Manlove and Tony Olguin combined to go 9-for-15 with 10 runs scored and eight runs batted in. Shane Kroker chipped in with a pair of hits Sunday and knocked in a run.
Academy of Art kicked off the series finale with a pair of first inning runs, but Chico State answered with three in its half of the frame – Cody Foster tied the contest with an RBI double and then scored on a sacrifice fly by Cody Webber to put the Wildcats up 3-2. The Urban Knights tied the game in the top of the second on a Zach Babitt RBI single, but the ’Cats went ahead 5-3 in the bottom of the inning, scoring on an Academy of Art error and a base hit by Boulden.
Chico State upped its advantage to 7-3 with two runs in the bottom of the third inning, courtesy of another Urban Knights error and Boulden’s fielder’s choice grounder. Academy of Art plated a pair off Yee in the top of the fifth to close to within 7-5, but Boulden’s two-run triple and an RBI double by T.J. Yasuhara in the bottom of the inning provided the Wildcats with a 10-5 cushion.
The ’Cats plated single runs in each of the next three innings – Kroker collecting an RBI single in the seventh and Abel Alcantar doubling home Eric Angerer in the eighth – to finish out the scoring, and Chico State cruised to the 13-5 victory.
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Chico State returns to California Collegiate Athletic Association play next weekend, as the Wildcats host Cal State Monterey Bay in a four-game set at Nettleton Stadium. Friday’s series opener gets underway at 6 p.m.
