Dalton Erb set the tone. Sonny Cortez set the table. Ben Gamba and Cameron Santos cleared it. Chico State's fans, who for the last two decades have grown accustomed to the high-level baseball they witnessed Sunday, ate it up.
 
The Wildcats' striking 6-3 win against Cal State Monterey Bay Sunday gave them a four-game series split to open California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) play.
 

Chico State improved to 12-4 overall. Cal State Monterey Bay, ranked No. 16 in the nation entering the weekend, fell to 13-3.
 
The Wildcats pitched at a high level, played strong defense, and took advantage of nearly every scoring chance. It was simply a beautiful Sunday afternoon of baseball from Chico State's standpoint.
 
Erb silenced Cal State Monterey Bay's potent offense, allowing just a run on four singles in seven strong innings, improving to 3-1 with the win. The Otters entered the day leading the CCAA in runs, home runs and extra-base hits.
 
Meanwhile, Chico State's offense manufactured single runs in the first, second and third on a day in which they scored in five of eight frames.
 
Cortez got aboard leading off the first and third and scored both times. Gamba slapped a run-scoring single to right in the first and had a sacrifice fly in the third. In between, Josh Falco drew a walk, stole second, and scored on Jimbo Pernetti's single to center in the second.
 
The Wildcats' lead was five after Santos smacked a two-run single in the sixth. Jerrett Maas got the rally rolling with a leadoff single.
 
Meanwhile Erb retired 19 of the first 22 hitters he faced and didn't allow an Otters baserunner to reach second base until the seventh. A walk and two singles provided Cal State Monterey Bay's first run, but Erb got a fly-out on his final pitch of the day to end the seventh.
 
Chico State got the run back in the bottom half of the inning. Pernetti drew a leadoff walk, and after pinch runner Andru Cardenas advanced to second on a wild pitch, Casey Bennett bunted him over to third. This time Cortez drove in the run with a sacrifice fly to deep center.
 
Cal State Monterey Bay threatened in the ninth, plating a pair of runs to get the potential tying run to the plate. But AJ Epstein came out of the bullpen to get a ground ball for the final out and his first save as a Wildcat.
 
The speedy leadoff man Cortez – who has now reached base leading off an inning 18 times in 32 chances – also stole his eighth base of the season. Santos and Falco also stole bases and the Wildcats had two sacrifice bunts that led to runs and two sacrifice flies that brought runs home.
 
Chico State will continue conference play next weekend with a four-game series at Cal State East Bay beginning Friday at 2 p.m.