The Chico State baseball team played perhaps its most complete game of the season in a 7-1 win against Cal State East Bay Monday at Nettleton Stadium to complete a four-game series sweep of the Pioneers. The 12th-ranked Wildcats racked up 15 hits, played flawless defense, and didn’t allow a run after the first frame.
Wildcats cleanup hitter Blake Gibbs reached base five times, going 4-for-4 with three RBI. Pierson Jeremiah and Myles Dempsey were each 3-for-5. Jeremiah scored twice and Dempsey drove in a pair of runs. Cody Foster went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBI.
Sophomore starter Nick Baker (3-0) collected the win, allowing one run on nine hits in seven and two-thirds innings. He struck out three and did not walk
a batter. Baker, last season’s CCAA Freshman of the Year, settled in nicely after allowing a run on three hits in the first and retired 12 of the last 14 hitters he faced. Jeremy Perez struck out the only batter he faced and Morgan Yee mowed down the Pioneers in order in the ninth.
Chico State’s defense was outstanding as well, putting together a clean sheet (no errors) for the 13th time this season. Roger Boulden threw out a runner trying to score from second on a single to left to end the first frame. Jeremiah made an outstanding diving stop behind first and throw from shallow right field to keep the leadoff hitter from reaching in the fourth. And Ian McKay put the squeeze on the final out with a diving catch in foul territory down the right field line.
The win marked the end of Chico State’s 22-game home stand in which they went 17-5. The Wildcats improved to 23-7 overall and 13-7 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA). They’re alone in second place, two games behind conference leader Sonoma State and a game ahead of Cal State Stanislaus and UC San Diego.
Cal State East Bay scored in the first for the fourth straight game Monday, but Boulden’s throw to catcher Ben Manlove easily beat the second runner trying to score. Manlove held on despite contact in front of the plate.
The Wildcats’ offense quickly answered in the bottom half of the inning when TJ Yasuhara drew a leadoff walk, went to second on a wild pitch, to third on Jeremiah’s grounder to first, and came home on Foster’s base hit.
Chico State took the lead for good in the third. Jeremiah’s two-out single got things started. Foster’s base hit put him in scoring position for Gibbs, who slashed an RBI-single up the middle. Dempsey’s single to center drove in Foster for a 3-1 lead.
The Wildcats put up another crooked number in the fourth to take complete control of the game. Again, the rally started with two down and nobody on. Yasuhara coaxed a walk, Jeremiah bunted for a hit, and Foster walked to load the bases. Gibbs drove in two runs with a laser to left field and Dempsey tacked on another with an RBI-single to make it 6-1.
The Wildcats got one last run in the seventh when Manlove, Yasuhara and Jeremiah hit consecutive singles to load the bases and Foster plated a run with a ground ball.
The Wildcats are now 21-5 at Nettleton Stadium, but will play 12 straight and 16 of their last 20 regular-season games on the road beginning with this weekend’s four-game series at Cal State L.A.
That series starts Friday night at 6 p.m. Every Chico State baseball game can be heard locally on Fox Sports 101.7 FM and 1340 AM. The broadcasts are also accessible via streaming audio by clicking on the Wildcat Webcast link on the right side of this page.
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