HAYWARD – Rain in the East Bay cut the Chico State baseball team's series at Cal State East Bay short this weekend.
 
After winning the first game of the series Thursday, the Wildcats (13-4, 3-2 California Collegiate Athletic Association) trailed 5-4 in the bottom of the eighth in the first game of a scheduled doubleheader Friday before it was halted due to rain.
 
The teams attempted to resume the series Saturday, but they were prevented by the slip-and-slide conditions at Pioneer field with more rain coming and little relief in sight.
 
The second game of the series will be completed and the other two games contested at a date yet to be determined.  
 
The Wildcats trailed 4-1 early in Friday's game before Dillon Kelley's sixth-inning solo home run and a two-run seventh (Dallas Porter and Ben Gamba drove in runs in the frame) got the Wildcats to within 5-4.
 
Braxton Phillips' two-out, pinch-hit single in the eighth looked as though it would tie the game, but Jerrett Mass slipped in the wet conditions rounding third and was caught between home and third to end the threat.
 
Cameron Santos was 2-for-4 in the game had Gamba had driven in a pair of runs.
 
Chico State starter Steven Baker, forced to pitch through four Chico State errors, is on the hook for the loss unless the Wildcats can rally. He allowed five runs (three earned) on eight hits in five innings.
 
Noah Villegas got the Wildcats out of a first-and-third with nobody out jam in the sixth, limiting the rally to just one run. He pitched two innings in relief, allowing just a walk while striking out two.

The Cal State East Bay Livestats link will take fans to the current box score HERE until the page is updated.