ROHNERT PARK – One phenomenal inning ended an otherwise frustrating day for the Chico State baseball team Saturday, lifting the Wildcats to a 3-2 win in the second of two games against rival Sonoma State. The Wildcats lost the opener 7-1 and trailed 2-1 heading into their final at-bat of the day. But Cody Webber drew a leadoff walk to start the game-winning rally, which was helped along by TJ Yasuhara’s sacrifice bunt and Pierson Jeremiah’s gritty nine-pitch at bat, and capped by Cody Foster’s RBI-grounder and Blake Gibbs’ go-ahead RBI-single.
With the win, the Wildcats took a 2-1 edge in this weekend’s four-game series, which will conclude Sunday at 1 p.m. with the Capital City Clash at Raley Field, home of the Triple-A Sacramento River Cats. Chico State also took over sole possession of third place in a jam-packed race for a top-four finish in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) and the postseason berth that goes along with it.
The Wildcats enter Sunday’s showdown a half game behind second-place Cal State San Bernardino, a game up on three teams tied for fourth – Sonoma State, Cal State Stanislaus, and Cal State L.A. – and also a game up on seventh-place Cal Poly Pomona, which is just percentage points behind that trio.
The Wildcats stranded seven runners through the first six frustrating frames in the nightcap, squandering a strong spot start by Sean Martin. But they got him off the hook in the seventh. Webber drew a leadoff walk and moved to second as the tying run on Yasuhara’s sacrifice bunt. Jeremiah then fouled off three two-strike pitches during a nine-pitch at bat before reaching on an error on a grounder that moved Webber over to third. Jeremiah stole second on the first pitch to Cody Foster, who then brought home Webber with a game-tying ground ball. Blake Gibbs’ base hit on an 0-2 count plated Jeremiah to give the Wildcats the lead. And Mike Botelho pitched a scoreless ninth for his eighth save.
Gibbs finished 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI and two stolen bases while Foster went 2-for-4 with a ground-rule double. Jeremy Perez, who came on with a runner on second and one out in the sixth, but kept that key insurance run from scoring with a pair of ground outs, earned his first win as a Wildcat, improving to 1-1.
The Wildcats took a 1-0 lead in the second inning of the opener. Matt Anderson laced a two-out single that was followed by Ian McKay’s RBI-double.
But Sonoma State rallied for a pair of runs in the third against Austin Alva (2-1), who took the loss in his first start of the season. They added two more in the fourth and again in the fifth and never looked back on the way to a runaway win.
Foster, Anderson, McKay, and Roger Boulden notched two hits apiece for the Wildcats.
GAME 1 BOX
GAME 2 BOX
