CHICO – The Chico State softball team, knowing it was about to embark on the toughest stretch of the 2015 schedule, more than rose to the challenge in Friday's series-opening doubleheader against Cal State Monterey Bay. The Wildcats took both ends of the twinbill from the No. 3-ranked Otters, gutting out a 6-3 victory in the opener at University Softball Field, then rode an Emily McEnaney home run and the four-hit pitching of Haley Gilham to win the nightcap 3-0.
 
Friday's two wins pushed the Wildcats' season record to 15-7 and moved Chico State into a tie for third place in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) with a 12-6 conference mark. Cal State Monterey Bay suffered back-to-back losses for the first time this season to slip to 22-5 overall and 13-5 in CCAA play.

 

Chico State featured a balanced offensive attack, with Ashley Huff, Kelli Keefe and Alli Cook each collecting three hits, with the trio combining to steal six bases on the day. McEnaney had two hits and drove in four runs, while Brynn Lesovsky and Tori Zimmermann each knocked in a pair.
 
Cal State Monterey Bay drew first blood in game one of Friday's doubleheader when Courtney Varela led off the game with a single, was sacrificed to second, reached third on a wild pitch and scored when Zimmermann's attempt to throw out Varela sailed into left field. The Wildcats answered in their half of the first inning when Huff scored on an infield single by McEnaney, followed by two-out, two-run double by Lesovsky to put Chico State on top 3-1.
 
The Otters plated scored a run in the third inning and another in the fifth to knot up the contest, but the 'Cats regained the lead in the bottom of the fifth when Huff led off with a triple and came home on Zimmermann's base hit to right field. Two batters later Desiree' Gonzalez delivered an RBI single to make the score 5-3, then in the sixth Chico State added a big insurance run when Zimmermann's sacrifice fly to right chased home Keefe. Monterey Bay got the tying run to the plate in the top of the seventh inning, but Wildcats starting pitcher Brooke Langeloh got Anneliese Lopez to fly out to end it, giving Chico State the 6-3 win.
 
Langeloh allowed just one earned run and struck out five in notching her fifth complete game of the year and improving her season record to 8-4.
 
Game two of the double dip featured an old-fashioned pitcher's duel between Gilham and Otters starter Lindsey Clarkson. Chico State missed a chance to score in the bottom of the first inning when Cook was stranded at third, but took advantage of a Monterey Bay miscue to score all of its runs in the third – with Cook and Keefe aboard, McEnaney belted her sixth home run of the year, just clearing the center field fence to give the Wildcats a 3-0 lead.
 
Gilham, meanwhile, allowed just one baserunner through the first four innings, retiring 10 Otters in a row at one point. Back-to-back two-out singles in the top of the fifth gave Monterey Bay a chance to climb back into the contest, but Gilham snuffed out the would-be rally by getting Lauren Hammond to ground out. The Otters put two aboard in the top of the sixth, only to see Bianca Noriega's soft liner to shortstop turned into an inning-ending double play. Gilham set down Monterey Bay in order in the top of the seventh to lock down the Wildcats' 3-0 win and doubleheader sweep.
 
Gilham, who has now allowed just two earned runs in her last 33 innings of work, picked up her second shutout and seventh complete game of the season while striking out a career-high six batters. The win improved Gilham's overall season record to 6-4.
 
Chico State and Cal State Monterey Bay wrap up the four-game series Saturday with a doubleheader scheduled at noon at University Softball Field.