CHICO – Freshly minted as the fourth and final team to qualify for the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Championship Tournament, the Chico State softball team can now concentrate on tightening up various aspects of its game during the final six contests of the regular season. The Wildcats face an immediate challenge Wednesday, hitting the road to take on another postseason-bound team, Cal State Monterey Bay, in doubleheader action beginning at noon. The twinbill will conclude a four-game set that began back on March 23; the second day’s scheduled action was rained out after the ’Cats and Otters split the first two games of the series.
Chico State, ranked 19th in the nation and No. 3 among West Region teams, clinched its third trip to postseason play in as many years last weekend with Saturday’s doubleheader sweep of Cal State San Bernardino. The Wildcats, 29-13 overall and in fourth place in the CCAA with a 20-8 record, have a chance to move up the conference standings and strength their regional ranking with wins over the Otters (No. 8 nationally, No. 2 West Region) Wednesday and Cal State East Bay (No. 8 West Region) Friday and Saturday to close out the regular season.
After dropping four out of five games Mar. 21-30, the ’Cats appear to be back on track, winning four of their last six contests. Chico State enters play this week as the No. 3 hitting team in the CCAA (a collective .303 batting average), averaging over five runs and eight hits a game. The Wildcats have already scored more runs this season than any Chico State team in the last 16 years, and are just one victory shy of recording 30 wins for the third straight a season – a first in the program’s 44-year history. The Wildcats pitching staff is fifth in the conference in team earned run average (2.68) and third in strikeouts (239).
Individually, Sam Quadt (.406) is second and Britt Wright (.396) fifth in the CCAA batting race, while Hailey Stockman continues to provide the power numbers for the ’Cats, ranking second in the conference in runs batted in (a Chico State record 47), seventh in home runs (nine, tying her own Wildcat single-season record) and slugging percentage (.661). Sam Baker continues to shine in the pitcher’s circle, winning her last five decisions and allowing just three runs over her last five starts to improve to 14-5 on the season. Baker ranks sixth in the CCAA in wins, fourth in strikeouts (137) and sixth in earned run average (.190), while opposing teams are hitting just .190 against her – the third-stingiest among conference pitchers.
Cal State Monterey Bay heads into Wednesday’s twinbill with the Wildcats 37-9 overall and in second place in the CCAA with a 22-6 conference mark. The Otters have won seven straight (including a four-game sweep of San Francisco State last weekend) and 14 of their last 15 contests to reach postseason play for the fourth time in the last five seasons.
Monterey Bay ranks at or near the top of nearly all the CCAA team statistical categories. The Otters lead the conference with a collective .335 batting average, averaging a CCAA-best 6.7 runs and 8.7 hits per game. Monterey Bay’s pitching staff is fourth in the conference in ERA (2.48) and fifth in strikeouts (192).
The Otters boast two of the top four hitters in the CCAA, and both are batting over .400 on the season. Freshman infielder Nina Villanueva (.445) leads the conference, with senior infielder Jackie Serna, the reigning CCAA Player of the Week, fourth among CCAA hitters with a .402 average to go along with nine home runs and 45 runs batted in. Villanueva is Monterey Bay’s top power threat, with 25 extra-base hits – including 14 home runs – and leads the conference with 63 RBI.
The Otters have a deep pitching staff, headed up by freshman righthander Cori Reinhardt (17-3, 1.63 ERA) and sophomore righty Kylie Linnane (11-2, 2.31 ERA). Reinhardt has won her last five decisions to rank fifth in the CCAA in victories and third in ERA.
Monterey Bay won the first meeting of the year, using home runs from Serna and Jamie Moon to beat Chico State 7-0 in game one of the March 23 doubleheader. The Wildcats came back in the nightcap to score a nine-innng, 8-7 victory to even up the rain-shortened series. All-time, the ’Cats hold a slim 16-15 edge over the Otters.
Fans can follow action online via Live Stats.
CLICK HERE TO BE CONNECTED TO LIVE STATS.
