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Box Score 2 CHICO – Sometimes you win in spite of yourself. After turning in a nearly flawless performance in a 5-0 victory during Saturday’s doubleheader opener against Cal State East Bay, the Chico State softball team committed five errors in the nightcap, handing the Pioneers three gift runs and a two-run lead going into the bottom of the seventh inning. But the Wildcats would succeed in snatching victory out of the jaws of defeat, scoring two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning and the game-winner in the eighth, topping East Bay 5-4 to sweep the twinbill and the four-game series at University Softball Field.
Chico State improves to 15-10 on the season with its 10th win in 12 tries at home, and climbs into a tie for third place with UC San Diego in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) with a 13-7 conference record. Cal State East Bay saw its losing streak extend to five games as the Pioneers dropped to 7-19 overall and 5-15 in CCAA play.
Alex Molina enjoyed an extremely productive Saturday, tossing a two-hit shutout in the first game of the doubleheader, as well as collecting four hits on the offensive end. Emily McEnaney, who knocked in the game-winning run in the nightcap, had three hits on the day, while Alli Cook contributed three hits and a pair of stolen bases as Chico State posted its first series sweep of the season.
The opener of Saturday’s double dip saw the Wildcats grab a first inning lead when two East Bay errors and a Marlee Rettig RBI single put Chico State on top 2-0. In the bottom of the second the ’Cats scored again when McEnaney’s single knocked in Kelli Keefe, then in the bottom of the fourth went up 5-0 as Gonzalez doubled home Keefe and scored on a Kayla Barber single.
That would be all Molina would need, as she set down the final 13 East Bay batters she faced, and the Wildcats rolled to the 5-0 victory. Molina (9-3) registered her ninth complete game and second shutout of the season; Barber and Rettig led Chico State’s nine-hit attack with two knocks apiece.
The Pioneers drew first blood in the nightcap on an RBI single by Sara Holdridge in the top of the first inning, but in the bottom of the second the Wildcats went up 2-1 on run scoring singles by Brynn Lesovsky and Amanda Cordeiro. Though Chico State starter Kayla McConnell allowed seven hits over her first five innings of work, the Wildcats were still in the lead before the defense melted down in the top of the sixth, as three errors led to three unearned runs and a sudden 4-2 East Bay lead.
Chico State was down, but not out – in the bottom of the seventh inning Gonzalez knotted up the score when she roped a double down the left field line to plate Keefe and Cook. After McConnell tossed a scoreless top of the eighth, the Wildcats won it in their half of the inning as McEnaney delivered a two-out single to center, chasing home Cordeiro to give Chico State the 5-4 victory and the sweep of both the doubleheader and the series.
McConnell (3-5) went the distance for the fifth time this season to earn the win. The Wildcats cranked out 13 hits in the nightcap, with Molina going 3-for-4 and Cook, McEnaney, Lesovsky and Cordeiro picking up two hits each.
The ’Cats take next week off before returning to action Mar. 29-30, hosting Cal State Monterey Bay in a four-game series at University Softball Field.
