Nettleton Stadium has been the site of some spectacular days for the Chico State baseball program. At least as far as the regular season goes, this one has to rank right up with the best. The Wildcats completed a series sweep of UC San Diego with wins of 7-6 (via Braxton Phillips' walkoff RBI-single in the bottom of the ninth) and 7-2.
 

In between, Chico State's Student Athlete Advisory Committee teamed up with Make-A-Wish® of Northeastern California and Northern Nevada to grant the wish of a local four-year-old girl. CLICK HERE for photos, a video and a story about the brave little girl, Davan, who is going to Walt Disney World!
 
When the dust had settled and the giddy fans and Davan's family were long gone, the orange and pink pastel-painted sky that settled over the stadium seemed to enjoy keeping the smile alive.
 
Chico State broke into the national rankings earlier this week, and this weekend, the Wildcats played like they plan to keep climbing.
 
Coming off Friday night's 7-0 shutout, the 27^th-ranked Wildcats came from three runs down to beat #23 UC San Diego in Saturday's opener. They jumped out to a 5-1 lead in the nightcap and cruised to their sixth straight win, stretching their lead atop the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) North Division standings to a game-and-a-half.
 
Chico State improved to 20-6 overall and 10-4 in the CCAA. UC San Diego, ranked as high as No. 14 entering the weekend in the various national polls, fell to 20-11 overall and 10-9 in the CCAA.
 
The Tritons started the weekend in first place in the South Division and ended it in third.
 
Ben Gamba drove in two runs in the first game and three in the second. But he was just one of many contributors to the sweep.
 
Sonny Cortez and Cody Bistline had two hits apiece in the opener, and Stuart Bradley threw three scoreless innings to earn the win in relief.
 
But Phillips and Cody Snider will be remembered as the heroes of the day.
 
With a runner on third and one down in a 6-6 game in the top of the ninth, Snider circled under a fly ball to medium-deep left field and then fired a one-hop strike to nail the runner at the plate and end the inning.
 
Leading off the bottom half of the frame, Snider sparked the game-winning rally when he was hit by a pitch. He then beat the throw on Josh Falco's sacrifice bunt before eventually scoring on Phillips' pinch-hit, one-hop smash off the pitcher's leg.
 
The Wildcats trailed 5-2 early in the game but scored single runs in the fourth, fifth, sixth, eighth, and ninth to complete the comeback. Cortez, Andru Cardenas and Gamba had two-out RBI-hits in the fourth, fifth, and sixth, respectively. That trimmed the lead to 6-5.
 

In the eighth, Gamba hit a deep fly ball to left with the bases loaded for the game-tying sacrifice fly.
 
Dallas Porter and Casey Bennett provided important sacrifice bunts during the comeback.
 
The second game wasn't as dramatic, thanks to early offense and the pitching of starter Dalton Erb. The 6-foot-8 junior dominated the Tritons, allowing just one run on six hits in seven innings, while striking out seven. Erb, who walked just one and only surrendered one extra-base hit, improved to 5-1with the win.
 
Falco was 4-for-4 with a triple, Gamba 3-for-5 with three RBI, and Cortez and Cameron Santos had two hits apiece.
 
The Wildcats scored four in the bottom of the fourth to break a 1-1 tie. Snider singled, Falco tripled, and Jerrett Maas singled, and the Wildcats had scored twice three hitters into the frame. They tacked on two more runs on a throwing error to make it 5-1.
 
UC San Diego scored a run in the top of the eighth in an effort to get back into the game. But Gamba threw water on that idea with a two-run double to left in the bottom-half of the inning.
 
Steven Baker pitched in a scoreless ninth in relief.
 
Cortez and Snider have now hits safely in 10 straight games. Cortez has also reached base in each of the last 21 games. Gamba has an eight-game hitting streak going and has reached base in 13 in a row.
 
The Wildcats are back in action next weekend with a three-game series at Cal State San Marcos. Saturday's series-opening doubleheader will start a stretch of eight-plus games in nine days for Chico State. After wrapping up the series at San Marcos Sunday, the Wildcats will complete a halted game at Cal State East Bay Tuesday before playing a doubleheader against the Pioneers. Cal State Dominguez then comes to Nettleton Stadium for a three-game series the following Saturday and Sunday.

Thanks to the Chico Enterprise-Record and photographer Dan Reidel for the photos! Check out the entire photo gallery of today's action HERE.