LOS ANGELES – There’s no special statistical category, nor a notation (an asterisk for instance), for the super save. But Jeremy Perez surely earned a super save in the Chico State baseball team’s 6-4 win at Cal State L.A. Sunday. No matter how many saves Perez finishes this season with, each and every one of his teammates will know that his first was extra special, though on paper it will look count the same as every other save this season.
 
Perez entered the game with a runner on every base, including second, where the potential tying run danced off the bag. Usual Wildcats closer Mike Botelho worked the team out of a huge jam in the eighth, but had allowed four straight runners to reach leading off the ninth.
 
The Wildcats’ once bloated five-run lead had almost completely evaporated. Just keeping the Golden Eagles from walking off with the win would be a formidable challenge for Perez. The day, the series, and perhaps even the season (we’ll never know), was hanging in the balance.
 
Chico State had been soundly beaten in each of the first two games of the series but bounced back to win the third game. The Wildcats seemed well on their way to a series split on the road – usually a solid weekend in the challenging California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) – leading 5-0 heading to the seventh inning. A loss Sunday may have had crushing implications on the Wildcats’ season.
 
Instead, Perez crushed the Golden Eagles’ comeback hopes and sent the Wildcats on their way back home feeling very good about their split. The left-handed junior transfer from Chaffey Community College fed the drama, going to a full count on each of the three batters he faced. It was almost as if he wanted to bring every Golden Eagles fan to the far edge of their seat, only to withhold from them the satisfaction of ever actually getting to rise and celebrate. It was like 11:59 on New Year’s day for three straight minutes.
 
Pinch hitter David Compton went down swinging. Then Brian Compton popped out to Perez. And Perez finished the job by getting Scott Masik to ground out to second base.
 
It all added up to a save as improbable and as impressive as they come.
 
Perez saved the game not only for the Chico State team, but also for starting pitcher Nick Baker, who improved to 4-0. The sophomore shut out Cal State L.A. through six innings as the Wildcats built a 5-0 lead. He allowed the first two batters in the seventh to reach base. Both eventually scored, giving Baker a final line of two runs on 10 hits in six innings. He struck out three and walked just one while improving to 13-2 in 19 career collegiate starts for the Wildcats.
 
Chico State staked Baker to a 2-0 lead in the second when Austin Prott was hit by a pitch, Ian McKay drew a two-out walk, and TJ Yasuhara brought them both around to score with a double to right field.
 
The game stayed close until Chico State tacked on three more runs in the sixth. Cody Webber’s one-out double started the rally and he promptly came around to score on Myles Dempsey’s base hit. Prott followed with a single, and when Roger Boulden got hit by a pitch, the bases were loaded. McKay mashed a line-drive single to center to bring Dempsey home, and Prott scored as well after an errant throw by the center fielder, making it 5-0.
 
Cal State L.A. trimmed the lead to 5-2 in the seventh. But the Wildcats responded with an insurance run in the eighth when Pierson Jeremiah brought home McKay with a base hit through the left side.
 
Cal State L.A. again cut into the lead in the bottom-half of the inning, The Golden Eagles loaded the bases against Sean Martin with just one out, and then an RBI-grounder made it a 6-3 game. The tying run stood on second when Botelho entered the game and he coaxed a harmless ground ball to shortstop to end the threat.
 
At least momentarily. His teammate Perez would end it for good a few minutes later.
 
The 12^th-ranked Wildcats improved to 25-9 overall and 15-9 in the CCAA with the win, while Cal State L.A. fell to 13-13 overall and 9-11 in the CCAA.
 
Jeremiah finished 3-for-3 and walked in his other two plate appearances. Dempsey finished 3-for-5 with a run and RBI. Prott was 1-for-2 with a walk, was hit by a pitch, and swiped two bases. And McKay finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored and an RBI.
 
The Wildcats will only be home for a few days before turning back around and heading back to Southern California for a four-game series at Cal State San Bernardino. The series begins Thursday at 3 p.m., continues with a doubleheader Friday beginning at noon, and concludes with a single game Saturday at 11 a.m. The Coyotes are currently in fourth place, two games behind the Wildcats in the CCAA standings.

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