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Box Score 2 CHICO – For the Chico State baseball team, losing four straight last weekend to Sonoma State and dropping Friday’s series opener to Cal State L.A. has officially been banished to the rearview mirror. Despite some recent struggles at Nettleton Stadium, the Wildcats on Saturday reverted back to the style of play that makes them so hard to beat at home. With the stadium’s namesake, Steve Nettleton, in attendance, the ’Cats put on a show that recalled vintage Chico State baseball, taking both ends of their doubleheader with the visiting Golden Eagles. The Wildcat prevailed in the opener 7-4, then came back from seven runs down to post an 11-8 victory in the nightcap.
The two wins Saturday pushed Chico State’s overall record to 34-13 and moved the Wildcats into a second place tie with Cal State L.A. in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) standings. With conference leader Cal State Monterey Bay splitting its Saturday twinbill with UC San Diego, the ’Cats could grab a share of the CCAA’s regular season title with a win Sunday over the Golden Eagles and an Otters loss. The same scenario holds true for Cal State L.A., which fell to 30-19 on the year and 27-12 in CCAA play.
The Wildcats pounded out a combined 25 hits Saturday, with Cody Slater posting back-to-back three hit efforts. Austin Prott and Jon Peters collected four hits apiece, while Blake Gibbs chipped in with three safeties, including his ninth home run of the year.
The first game of Saturday’s twinbill was scoreless until the bottom of the fourth inning, when, with Pierson Jeremiah aboard, Gibbs connected for a bomb well over the left field fence. Two batters later, it was Peters’ turn to go big fly as he launched a solo homer to left to put the Wildcats up 3-0.
Cal State L.A. plated a pair of runs in the top of the sixth, but Chico State matched them with two in the bottom of the inning on RBI singles by Slader and Roger Boulden, giving the ’Cats a 5-2 advantage. The Golden Eagles scored in the top of the seventh to pull to within two, but in the bottom of the eighth Slader’s base hit to center plated Eric Angerer and Ronnie Galosic to make the score 7-3. Chris Rodriguez came on in relief in the ninth, and despite giving up a run got the final three outs the Wildcats needed to lock down the 7-4 victory.
Troy Neiman pitched the first six innings for the Wildcats, earning the win to improve to 8-3 on the year. Neiman allowed just two runs while striking out seven.
It was all Cal State L.A. early in Saturday’s seven-inning nightcap, knocking out Chico State starter Mike Botelho by scoring three runs in the first and four more in the second. Luke Barker was called in from the bullpen, and after allowing an RBI double to make the score 7-0, he kept the Wildcats in the game with four solid innings of shutout relief.
Chico State got on the board in the bottom of the second inning when Ben Manlove’s bases-loaded double cleared the bags and made the score 7-3. The Wildcats plated two more in the fourth inning (Prott and Peters scoring on a two-out Golden Eagles error) and tied the game in the fifth on a Cody Webber RBI groundout and a base hit by Peters.
The ’Cats took full control of the contest in the sixth, jumping on Cal State L.A. reliever Cedar Morgan for four runs. Jeremiah and Ryne Clark put Chico State out in front with back-to-back RBI doubles, then later in the frame Webber and Peters provided run-scoring singles to give the Wildcats an 11-7 lead. The Golden Eagles did score a run in the top of the seventh and get the potential tying run to the plate, but Rodriguez, on again in relief, got pinch-hitter Matt Sanchez to fly out to center to end it, giving Chico State the 11-8 victory and the much-needed doubleheader sweep.
Barker got credit for the win, striking out five in his relief stint to improve to 3-0 on the season.
Chico State concludes the weekend series and the regular season Sunday with a single game scheduled for 11 a.m. It’s also Senior Day, so fans are encouraged to get to Nettleton Stadium early to salute the 17 Wildcat seniors who will be honored in a special ceremony prior to the contest.
Fans unable to make the game in person can follow the action via Live Stats through the Wildcat Athletics website.
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