CHICO – With 14 games left in the regular season, the Chico State softball team is right where it wants to be – namely, nationally-ranked, in the thick of the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) conference race, and in the mix for an NCAA Championship Tournament berth. Now it really gets interesting – the No. 15 Wildcats, in the midst of their first shaky stretch of the season, take on teams with a combined .648 winning percentage the rest of the way. Crunch time officially starts this weekend as the 10th-ranked and conference-leading Cal State Dominguez Hills Toros visit University Softball Field for a big four-game series, with doubleheaders slated for 1 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m. Saturday.
Chico State is currently 25-11 on the year, and in third place in the CCAA with a 16-6 conference mark. The Wildcats hope to enjoy some home cooking after dropping six of its last 10 on the road, including four of seven at last weekend’s Mizuno Tournament of Champions in Turlock. One factor that works in the ’Cats’ favor heading into this weekend’s series with Cal State Dominguez Hills – Chico State has played very effectively at home, winning eight of their 10 games this season at University Softball Field.
Cal State Dominguez Hills sports a season record of 36-8 and sits atop the CCAA standings with a 22-4 conference mark. The Toros won the Tournament of Champions’ Silver Bracket with five victories in seven tries last weekend. The Toros reeled off 17 consecutive victories earlier in the year to vault to first place in the CCAA standings; they’ve also enjoyed winning streaks of seven and eight games this season. After finishing out its home schedule with a perfect 24-0 record, Dominguez Hills plays all of its remaining regular season games on the road, where the Toros are 12-8 on the year.
At least on paper, Chico State appears to have a slight edge on Cal State Dominguez Hills offensively, while the Toros boast the superior pitching stats. The Wildcats are hitting .311 as a team – third-best in the CCAA – while averaging 5.3 runs and 8.5 hits a game. In the pitcher’s circle, the ’Cats’ staff is ranked fifth in the conference with a 2.91 team earned run average. Dominguez Hills is hitting .297 as a unit, averaging 5.2 runs and eight hits a contest, but the Toros top the CCAA pitching ranks with an impressive 1.69 team ERA. Defensively, both Chico State and Dominguez Hills rank among the top 10 teams in the nation.
As far as individual numbers, Sam Quadt continues to sport the Wildcats’ top batting average, hitting .425 to rank third in the CCAA; she is also third in the conference in on-base percentage (.507). Hailey Stockman is ranked third in the CCAA in runs batted in (42), seventh in slugging percentage (.679) and eighth in home runs (eight), while another key part of the Chico State offense, Bianca Lopez, leads the conference – and is fourth in the nation – in sacrifice bunts (17).
Sam Baker leads the Chico State pitching staff with an 11-5 record, ranking fourth in the CCAA in strikeouts (111) and sixth in ERA (2.13). Fellow righthanders Jessica McDermott and Kayla McConnell have combined to post 13 wins for the Wildcats this season.
For the ’Cats to shut down Dominguez Hills this weekend, they’ll need to keep junior Jessica Hall and sophomore Veronica Vazquez off the basepaths. The two Toros lead the CCAA in runs scored (37); Hall also leads the conference with 55 hits and is seventh in batting (.390). The top run producer for the Toros is junior Christina Chavez, who leads the Toros with six home runs and 43 RBI (second most in the CCAA).
Dominguez Hills has arguably the most effective pitching duo in the CCAA in juniors Lauren Parker and Stephanie Jimenez. Harper is one of the conference’s elite hurlers, ranking second in the CCAA in victories (18), ERA (1.41), strikeouts (172) and innings pitched (159.1). Jimenez is 17-2 on the year and ranks among the conference leaders in strikeouts (third, 134) and ERA (fifth, 1.94).
Dating back to 1983, the Toros hold a slim 36-35 lead over the Wildcats, but Chico State has won six of the last nine meetings – and the last three contests at University Softball Field – between the two teams. The ’Cats won three of five games against Dominguez Hills in 2011, but in their last meeting, the Toros knocked Chico State out of the CCAA Championship Tournament with a 9-5 victory April 30 in Stockton.
Fans unable to attend either of the two Chico State-Cal State Dominguez Hills doubleheaders this weekend can
follow the action online via Live Stats, available through the Wildcat Athletics website.
