Thanks to an 8-0 start, the Chico State baseball team recently rose to fifth in the national rankings, just in time for the home fans to come out and catch the 2013 home opener Wednesday at Nettleton Stadium.

The Wildcats host Northwest Nazarene University Wednesday at 2:30, welcome the Crusaders back for a doubleheader Thursday at noon, and then conclude the series with a single game Friday at 2:30. All four games will be aired locally on FOX Sports Radio 101.7 FM and 1340 AM and streamed online via the Wildcat Webcast link HERE.

Chico State is coming off a four-game sweep at Cal State Dominguez Hills over the weekend that vaulted the Wildcats into a tie for first atop the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) standings.

Northwest Nazarene of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference comes to town at 5-4 overall after dropping the last three of a five-game series at Hawaii Pacific. The Crusaders received one first-place vote and were picked to finish third in the GNAC this season.

The Wildcats’ final scheduled non-conference series of the season will give Head Coach Dave Taylor (who collected his 350th career coaching win last Saturday) a chance to show off what he calls his deepest pitching staff ever. By Friday, the Wildcats will have played eight games in eight days.

That pitching staff has held opponents to just 18 runs over the first eight games and a batting-average-against of just .195.

Offensively, 10 different Wildcats have driven in four runs or more and the team boasts an on-base percentage of .440.

Chico State and Northwest Nazarene have squared off only twice before, in a doubleheader last Feb. 21 at Nettleton Stadium. The Wildcats won the first game 8-5 behind Blake Gibbs’ two home runs. He also tripled in the Wildcats’ 6-1 win in the nightcap in which Sean Martin, Chris Rodriguez, Austin Alva, and Mike Botelho combined on a six-hitter. Botelho collected saves in each game. Myles Dempsey had four hits on the day and Jordan Beck and Ben Manlove had three apiece.

The Wildcats are 62-5 in regular-season non-conference games under Taylor’s watch, and 81-10 overall. They’ve now won 18 straight regular-season non-conference games at home and 15 straight overall.