ROHNERT PARK – With the pitching staff a bit on the beat-up side, the Chico State baseball team went into this weekend’s big conference showdown with Sonoma State knowing it needed nothing short of quality innings from any and all available arms. The Wildcats got just they were looking for in Friday’s series opener at Seawolf Diamond – after spotting the hosts three first inning runs, Kagen Hopkins, Morgan Yee and Mike Botelho combined to shut out Sonoma State for 13 innings, and the ’Cats took advantage of a pair of two-out errors to score twice in the top of the 14th and edge the Seawolves, 5-3.
With the win, Chico State improves to 27-12 on the season, and takes over sole possession of third place in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) with a 17-12 conference mark. Sonoma State dropped to 18-19 overall and 16-13 in CCAA play.
The Wildcat offense scratched out nine hits during the marathon contest; T.J. Yasuhara posted a 3-for-6 day at the plate, while Eric Angerer and Cody Foster contributed two hits apiece.
Sonoma State wasted little time getting on the scoreboard, jumping on Hopkins in the bottom of the first inning – four straight hits, climaxed by a two-run double by Joel Thys, gave the Seawolves an early 3-0 lead. The Wildcats got one back in the top of the second when Angerer ripped his second homer of the year over the left field wall.
Though the Seawolves piled up eight hits in the first four innings and the Chico State offense remained relatively quiet, it was still a 3-1 game until the Wildcats tied things up in the top of the fifth inning on Cody Foster’s two-out, two-run single. The ’Cats dodged a bullet in the bottom of the sixth when Devon Zenn roped a one-out double and went to third when Hopkins’ pickoff throw to second base sailed into center field…but Hopkins promptly struck out Garrett Schwartz and got Thys to ground out to Cody Webber at second to end the inning and the Seawolves’ scoring threat.
Hopkins finished with a flourish, retiring 14 of the final 16 Sonoma State hitters he faced in his eight innings of work. The Wildcats couldn’t capitalize offensively, though, and Yee to toss a shutout inning in the bottom of the ninth to send the game to extra frames with the score still knotted up at three apiece.
Neither team could score in the 10th inning, then in the bottom of the 11th Chico State dodged a cannonball – Zenn reached on a two-out error and advanced to third on a double by Schwartz. But with the winning run 90 feet away, Yee retired Thys on a long fly ball to center to send the game to the 12th inning.
The Wildcats and Seawolves traded zeroes until the top of the 14th inning, when Chico State grabbed its first lead of the game. Angerer led off the frame with a single and moved to third on a pair of groundouts. Yasuhara then sent a soft liner to second that was misplayed by Jackson Stogner, allowing Angerer to come home and snap the tie. Pierson Jeremiah followed with a double down the right field line, and thanks to a throwing error on the play, Yasuhara scored all the way from first to put the Wildcats up 5-3. Sonoma State was able to get the potential tying run to the plate in the bottom of the 14th, but closer Mike Botelho recorded the final three outs needed for the ’Cats to come away with the series-opening victory, snapping their three game losing streak and handing the Seawolves their ninth straight loss.
Yee (1-0) allowed just three hits and struck out eight in his five innings of relief to pick up the win, with Botelho registering his seventh save of the season. Sonoma State reliever Michael Garber (2-3) allowed the two unearned runs in the 14th inning and was tagged with the hard-luck loss.
BOX SCORE
Chico State and Sonoma State resume the four-game set Saturday with a doubleheader starting at 11 a.m. The series concludes Sunday at 1 p.m. with the first “Capital City Clash” at Sacramento’s Raley Field.
