Clayton Gelfand delivered the best pitching performance of his career and the 27^th-ranked Chico State baseball team played one of its best games of the season in a 7-0 shellacking of No. 23 UC San Diego to open a three-game series at Nettleton Stadium Friday night.
 
Gelfand gave up just two hits and struck out eight in eight innings of work, improving to 5-2 and lowering his ERA to 1.27.
 

The Wildcats improved to 18-6 overall and took over the lead in the California Collegiate Athletic Association North Division standings at 8-4. They entered the game with a percentage-point lead over Sonoma State and Cal State Monterey Bay after the Otters were swept by Cal State Dominguez Hills.
 
The Tritons, 20-9 overall, began the evening atop the CCAA's South Division standings, but fell into second at 10-7 in conference play with their loss, couple with Cal Poly Pomona's win earlier in the afternoon.
 
Gelfand allowed a sharp single to right in the second inning and a pop single to left that was misplayed into a hit in the eighth. The junior ace walked three and hit a two batters, but was dominant for much of the night. He retired eight in a row after the second-inning hit and nine of 10 after plunking the first two batters in the fifth.
 
The two hit batters set up perhaps the play of the night.
 
Chico State led 2-0 at the time and Tyler Howsley attempted to lay down a bunt to put the tying run in scoring position. Instead, he popped it up. Gelfand sprinted in and toward the first base line, made a headlong dive, and snared the ball before it hit the turf. He got up and doubled Steven Coe off of first base. The West Linn, Oregon, product then struck out Brandon Shirley to end what turned out to be the Tritons' biggest threat of the night.
 
They got two runners on with one out in the eighth before Gelfand got consecutive fly balls, the second on his final pitch of the game.
 
Gelfand's scoreless inning streak is now at 15 innings. He's allowed just seven hits and struck out 19 over that stretch. In Gelfand's nine starts, the Wildcats have posted five shutouts.
 
Chico State's offense was nearly as hot as its starting pitcher.
 
Cameron Santos led the way for the 'Cats with two hits, including a double, two runs, and two RBI. Cody Snider was 2-for-4 with two RBI singles. Sonny Cortez went 2-for-4 with a stolen base, a walk, and two runs to stretch his on-base streak to 19 games. Third baseman Andru Cardenas also got in on the act, collecting two hits, a walk, and a stolen base in his fourth start of the season.
 
During the Wildcats' last five games, they've produced 50 runs.
 
Friday's fun started with a walk, a bruise and a bloop in the bottom of the first. Cortez drew the walk, Santos was hit by a pitch, and then Ben Gamba blooped a single down the left-field line. Dillon Kelley drove in a run with a grounder to second. Snider then smacked an RBI-single to right for a 2-0 lead.
 
The Wildcats tagged UC San Diego starter Jack Rupe for four more runs in the fifth. Rupe allowed six runs on eight hits and five innings while falling to 3-2.
 

Cortez singled and stole second with one out in the fifth. Santos' team-leading 24^th RBI came on a double to right-center that plated Cortez. After Kelley drew a walk, Snider singled to center to plate Santos. Kelley aggressively took third on the play and later scored on a wild pitch. Josh Falco drilled an RBI-double down the left field line for a 6-0 lead.
 
Cardenas scored the final run of the night when he led off the sixth with a walk, stole second, moved to third on Cortez's bunt hit, and scored on Santos' line single to right. 
 
Snider, Falco and Cortez have all hit safely in eight straight games.
 
Noah Villegas pitched around a one-out bloop single in a scoreless ninth.
 
The series concludes Saturday with a doubleheader set for noon.
 
Both teams will be involved in a special ceremony between games. For the third time in five years, the Chico State Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) will be helping make the wishes of a local child come true.
 
This Saturday, March 26, between games of the Chico State-UC San Diego baseball doubleheader, SAAC members and representatives from the Make-A-Wish® Northeastern California and Northern Nevada, will be welcoming a local 4-year-old and her family and friends to Nettleton Stadium for a very special day.  Davan (Pronounced DAVV-in. Rhymes with Gavin.) has bravely battled a life-threatening illness since birth. She loves all things pink, dogs and butterflies, but mostly, she loves princesses. Her wish is to meet as many real life princesses as she can!
 
Davan's parents, Leanne Jones and Arica Stiliha, are especially touched by the fact that Chico State's student-athletes are granting this wish. They are both Chico State alumna, and Jones played softball for the Wildcats in 1992 and 1993.
 
Davan will be the third local child adopted by the Chico State SAAC, which consists of representatives from each of the Wildcats 13 teams. Fundraising events throughout the year have previously enabled SAAC to help make the wishes of two young boys in Chico come true.
 
In 2011, SAAC, working in partnership with Make-A-Wish and NCAA Division II, sent nine-year old Mason Fontana and his parents to Hollywood so that Mason could appear on his favorite TV show, "Yo-Gabba-Gabba."  In 2014, SAAC helped 15-year old Marcus Tice pursue his wish to go to college by donating $5,000 to start a 529 College Savings plan.
 
About the NCAA Division II/Make-A-Wish partnership:
NCAA Division II has been a sponsor of Make-A-Wish since 2003 raising more than $4 million dollars since the alliance's inception. The alliance consists of Division II student-athletes who conduct predetermined fundraisers and volunteer their time to benefit Make-A-Wish. The mission of the NCAA Division II Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) is to enhance the student-athlete experience by promoting opportunities for all student-athletes, protecting student-athlete welfare, and fostering a positive student-athlete image.

The student-athlete advisory committee is made up of student-athletes assembled to provide insight on the student-athlete experience. The committee also offers input on the policies that affect student-athletes lives on NCAA member institution campuses.
Division II prides itself on being the only division thus far to sponsor a division-wide community service campaign with Make-A-Wish®.
 
Make-A-Wish® of Northeastern California and Northern Nevada was established in 1983 as one of the early local chapters of Make-A-Wish® America, which is the leading wish-granting organization in the country.  Since then, it has granted more than 5,600 wishes to children within its 37-county service area. The mission of Make-A-Wish® is to grant wishes to children, age 2 ½ to 18, with life-threatening medical conditions to enrich the human experience with hope, strength, and joy.
 
For more information about Make-A-Wish® Northeastern California and Northern Nevada, call 916.437.0206 or visit www.necannv.wish.org