Box Score CARY, N.C. – The Chico State baseball team traveled to the 2014 Division II College World Series hoping to make memories that would last a lifetime. They'll travel home following Monday's 14-6 loss to Tampa at the USA Baseball National Training Complex hoping to forget about the results.
Tampa pounded Chico State pitching for more hits (19) and runs than the Wildcats had allowed all season.
"We made good pitches at times that Tampa got barrel on," said Wildcats Head Coach Dave Taylor. "We made bad pitches at times that Tampa got more barrel
on."
The top-ranked Spartans (52-3) raised their team batting average to .333 and have now scored 450 runs in 55 games. They also benefitted from Chico State's season-high four errors.
Chico State finished its season 43-15. The Wildcats won their ninth West Region title in 18 seasons by playing the kind of baseball it takes to win at the College World Series. Too often it seemed they left that brand of ball behind in California.
"At the end of the day our goal is to get here," said Taylor. "We need to get better as a coaching staff to be make sure we play better when when we do get here."
Tyler Madrid had three hits, including a two-run moon-shot over the wall in right field in the first inning. Ryne Clark, Ruben Padilla, Danny Miller and Cody Slader stacked up two hits apiece.
"I saw them swinging it. I wanted to swing it too. He threw me a fastball and I jumped on it," said Madrid, who drove in four of the Wildcats' 10 runs in the tournament. "We can swing it too. We just came up a couple hits short."
After falling behind 10-2 Chico State had a chance to get right back into the game in the sixth. They cut the lead to 10-6 on Clark's two-run single and then had runners on second and third with one out. Tampa called upon All-America closer Kevin McNorton to save the game early. He did, retiring Madrid and Ryan McClellan to end the Wildcats' last real threat.
"I was proud of the way our guys came back," said Taylor. "To climb back into that game was impressive. They were just a little too good today for us to get it done."
Tampa scored in all but two innings. Jesse Silva got the Wildcats out a jam in a scoreless sixth and Robert Hook pitched a scoreless ninth.
Baker allowed career highs of eight runs and 12 hits in three and two-thirds innings. He'll have much fonder memories to look back on, having won 32 career games and a team full of friends.
"It's been awesome spending every day on and off the field with these great guys," said Baker. "I'll remember being a part of this team forever."
The season was undoubtedly a huge success for the Wildcats. They posted the sixth best winning percentage in the last 60 years of Chico State baseball while setting program records in fielding percentage (.977), shutouts (10), sacrifice hits (75) and tying the record for sacrifice flies.
Eric Angerer broke the school's postseason stolen-base record with six and tied the hit-by-pitch record with seven. The team stole a postseason record 13 bases.
Those are memories worth holding onto.
