SACRAMENTO – There would be no 2015 version of Rally at Raley Sunday. Not with AJ Epstein and Ryan O'Shea combining for five no-hit innings of relief for the Chico State baseball team.
 
Chico State rallied from seven runs down to win the 2012 Capital City Clash. Sonoma State returned the favor last season, erasing a four-run deficit.
 
Sunday, the Wildcats jumped out to a 6-0 lead and rode the arms of Epstein and O'Shea to a 7-2 victory over rival Sonoma State.
 

Epstein entered the game with nobody out and the bases loaded in the fifth with the Wildcats clinging to a 6-1 lead. He immediately got a double-play grounder and then struck out three-hitter Adam Manzer to end the frame.
 
Epstein threw four no-hit innings in all, striking out four and walking one to improve to 2-0. O'Shea, making his first appearance since 2013, struck out the side in the ninth to seal the win.
 
Chico State, ranked No. 16 in the nation, improved to 6-4 overall and 5-2 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association. Sonoma State fell to 5-9 and 2-6 in the CCAA.
 
Andrew Carrillo went 4-for-5 to lead the offense, while Cody Slader was 3-for-4 and Connor Huesers 2-for-4. Seven different Wildcats drove in a run.
 
Chico State jumped ahead with three runs in the first and never looked back. Peter Miller drove in the first run with an RBI-double, Tyler Madrid followed with an RBI-groundout and Huesers hit a single to center field to make it 3-0.
 
Danny Miller drove in Sean Smith with a ground-rule double to right field in the fourth to stretch the lead to 4-0.
 
They tacked on two more runs in the fourth. Slader doubled home a run with one out and Carrillo traded places with him with a liner down the left field line.
 

Starter Clayton Gelfand gave the Wildcats four strong innings in his first collegiate start. But he allowed a walk and a single to start the fifth, signaling the end of his afternoon.
 
Reliever Derek Sesma struggled, allowing a walk and a hit, before Epstein saved the day.
 
Gelfand went four innings, allowing two runs on four hits.
 
The Wildcats answered with an insurance run in the fifth on Dylan Garcia's sacrifice fly.
 
The Wildcats return to action next weekend when the travel to UC San Diego for a four-ga