Box Score SAN BERNARDINO – The Chico State baseball team is coming home in first place. The Wildcats beat Cal State San Bernardino 11-4 Saturday to win their fourth straight road series and strengthen their grip on the conference lead with only eight games to go.
 
Robert Hook (4-0) earned the win in his first start of the season. He allowed three runs (two earned) on six hits and a walk while striking out three in six innings.
 Ryan McClellan went 4-for-5, Peter Miller, Blake Walker and Ryne Clark drove in two runs apiece and Tyler Madrid hit a solo shot as Chico State improved to 33-8 overall and 25-7 in the CCAA.
 
Eric Angerer and Ruben Padilla also had two hits apiece for the Wildcats, ranked No. 8 in the nation entering the weekend.
 
Chico State leads second-place Sonoma State by percentage points. The Wildcats host fourth-place Cal Poly Pomona and Sonoma State takes on last-place Cal State Stanislaus next weekend. The following weekend (May 2-4) those teams will finish the regular season with a four-game series. The first three games will be in Rohnert Park and the last will be the Capital City Clash at Raley Field in Sacramento.
 
Angerer's second-inning sac fly and Madrid's third-inning home run gave the Wildcats a 2-0 edge. They broke it open with a five-run fourth in which 11 hitters came to the plate. Miller drove in two runs with a base hit and McClellan and Clark a run apiece to make it 7-0.
 
Cal State San Bernardino got back to runs in the bottom half of the inning, but Clayton Gelfand had an RBI-single for his fifth pinch hit of the season in the fifth. Then Walker plated two more runs with a single in the sixth to make it 11-1.
 
Jesse Silva pitched two shutout innings in relief of Hook and then Luke Barker pitched the ninth.