CHICO – The Chico State baseball team, freshly minted as the 2012 NCAA West Region champions, head to Cary, N.C. this week with an even bigger prize in its sights – the program’s first national championship in 13 years. The Wildcats will take on Atlantic Regional champion West Chester (Pa.) Saturday at 10 a.m. PDT in the opening round of the NCAA Division II College World Series, taking place at the USA Baseball National Training Complex.
For Chico State, it marks the eighth trip to the College World Series in the last 16 years, and first since 2006. The Wildcats earned one of the eight national championship invitations with a 7-3 win over Dixie State Sunday in the West Region final in Keizer, Ore. The ’Cats, 40-17 on the season, head into the College World Series having won 13 of their last 17 games.
Chico State Head Coach Dave Taylor is no stranger to national championship play. This season will mark his sixth College World Series appearance with the Wildcats – and first as the team’s head coach. Taylor was Chico State’s pitching coach when the Wildcats reached the finals five times between 1997 and 2004, which included the program’s two NCAA titles in 1997 and 1999.
Chico State is batting a collective .288 on the year, averaging 6.4 runs and 9.4 hits a game. Blake Gibbs (.325) is one of four Wildcat starters hitting over .300, and the All-West Region selection leads the team with seven home runs and 44 runs batted in. Cody Foster is hitting .339, while Ian McKay – who hit a sizzling .438 during the West Regional – is batting .338 on the season.
The Wildcat pitching staff boasts a team earned run average of 3.89. Kagen Hopkins (8-3, 3.80 ERA) is Chico State’s top starter, with Sean Martin (6-3, 2.87 ERA), Mike Botelho (1-0, 13 saves, 1.52 ERA) and Morgan Yee (4-0, 4.45 ERA) anchoring the ’Cats’ bullpen.
West Chester, winners of the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) and ranked No. 13 in the latest Collegiate Baseball Newspaper poll, is 42-10 on the season and making its third trip to the College World Series. The Golden Rams earned their first national championship appearance since 2009 by sweeping through last week’s Atlantic Regional; in the four victories, West Chester pitchers tossed two shutouts and posted a combined 0.54 ERA. The Golden Eagles enter play this weekend having won eight straight and 14 of their last 16 contests.
West Chester is a solid offensive team, averaging 7.5 runs and 9.8 hits a game while batting a collective .317. The Golden Eagles are led by senior second baseman Joe Wendle – the PSAC East Player of the Year tops the team with a .400 batting average, 12 home runs and 57 RBI. Two other All-Region picks – junior designated hitter Jordan Wlodarczyk and senior outfielder Jack Provine – are batting .361 and .341, respectively (Provine hit an even .500 for West Chester during the Atlantic Regional).
West Chester owns a 3.34 team ERA, and is led by PSAC East Pitcher of the Year Joe Gunkel – the sophomore righthander is 8-1 on the season with a 2.61 ERA. Fred Breidenbach (8-2, 3.57 ERA) is the Golden Eagles’ No. 2 starter; sophomore righties Kyle Weary (2-0, five saves, 2.36 ERA) and Matt McAllister (5-0, 1.71 ERA) head up a talented West Chester bullpen.
The Chico State-West Chester winner will meet the winner of Saturday’s other first round game between No. 8 Minnesota State-Mankato (48-10) and No. 22 Southern New Hampshire (42-13) Monday at 2:00 p.m. PDT. The loser of both Saturday contests will meet Monday at 10 a.m. in the first College World Series elimination game.
All Chico State games will be broadcast live locally on 101.7 FM Fox Sports Radio and through the Wildcat Athletics website, with Mike Baca providing the play-by-play. Live video webcasts will be provided for all games at the College World Series and will be available at
www.ncaa.com.
Live Stats will also be available online at the
official NCAA Division II Baseball National Finals page.
The other national championship bracket, which begins play Sunday, features No. 3 St. Mary’s (Texas) (48-9) vs. No. 9 Delta State (Miss.) (46-13), and No. 15 Indianapolis (46-14) against No. 21 Catawba (N.C.) (43-15).
This is the fourth year the Division II College World Series has been held at the USA National Baseball Complex. The tournament was held in Sauget, Ill. In 2008 following a 23-year run in Montgomery, Ala.
