CHICO – The Chico State softball team may face an uphill climb to reach the postseason, but the Wildcats proved this weekend that they are not intimidated by the California Collegiate Athletic Association's (CCAA) top schools. The 'Cats, thanks to a Saturday doubleheader split with Cal State Monterey Bay, took the series against the No. 3-ranked Otters three games to one. Fresh off a doubleheader sweep on Friday, Chico State dropped Saturday's first game 5-1 before coming back to blank the Otters in the nightcap 2-0 at University Softball Field.
 
The Wildcats are now 16-8 overall, and currently sit alone in fourth place in the CCAA standings with a 13-7 conference record. Chico State's next three CCAA opponents are among the conference's best teams: fifth place UC San Diego (April 3-4), first place Sonoma State (April 10-11 in Rohnert Park) and third place Humboldt State (April 17-18).
 
With Saturday's doubleheader split, Cal State Monterey Bay slipped to 23-6 on the year and 14-6 in CCAA play.

 

Chico State was held to just eight hits on Saturday, but Brynn Lesovsky continued to swing a consistent stick, delivering a single and a double to extend her current hitting streak to 10 straight games.
 
The story of the day Saturday was clearly the pitching of both teams. Monterey Bay's Cori Reinhardt held the Wildcats to just three hits in the opener of the twinbill, while Haley Gilham twirled a three-hit shutout for the 'Cats in the nightcap.
 
In tossing back-to-back shutouts over the nationally-ranked Otters, Gilham has now pitched 27.2 consecutive scoreless innings, and has allowed just two earned runs in her last 39.2 innings of work. She has won six of her last seven decisions to push her season record to 7-4, and her 1.82 earned run average is third among CCAA hurlers.
 
The Wildcats got on the board first in game one of the double dip, as Kelli Keefe drove a two-out triple into the right field corner to plate Emily McEnaney. Chico State starter Brooke Langeloh made the slim lead stand up until Monterey Bay tied the contest with a run in the top of the fourth inning. In the sixth the Otters took control of the game, scoring four times to take the lead. That would prove to be too much for the 'Cats to overcome, as Reinhardt retired the last six batters she faced to lock down Monterey Bay's 5-1 win.
 
In the nightcap, Gilham pitched her way out of mini-jams in the first and second, as the Otters stranded runners at third in each inning. In between, Chico State went up 1-0 in the bottom of the first when McEnaney ripped a two-out RBI doubleinto the left-center field gap to chase home Alli Cook.
 
That would be more than enough for Gilham, who held Monterey Bay to just two hits the rest of the way while tying her career high with six strikeouts. The Wildcats added an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth inning when pinch runner Cailin Garmon scored from third on a McEnaney sacrifice fly to center. Gilham capped off her three-hit shutout by retiring 10 of the final 11 Otters she faced to nail down the 2-0 victory, earning the doubleheader split and the series victory.
 
Next weekend the Wildcats will be competing in the 26-team Tournament of Champions, taking place Friday through Sunday at Pedretti Park in Turlock. Chico State will play three games on Friday, taking on Central Washington at 9 a.m., Simon Fraser at 11:15 and Western Oregon at 5:45 p.m.