After enjoying an extremely successful weekend in Turlock at the Tournament of Champions, the Chico State softball team turns its attention back to California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) play this weekend. The Wildcats, in the thick of the battle for one of the four CCAA Championship Tournament berths and looking to strengthen their chances of an NCAA Championship Tournament bid, host Cal State Dominguez Hills this weekend at University Softball Field. The four-game set begins with a doubleheader Friday at 1 p.m., followed by a Saturday twin bill at 11 a.m.
The Wildcats are riding a season-best eight game winning streak and enter the weekend series 26-10 overall and 17-9 in the CCAA, good for second place in the conference standings. Thanks to a 6-0 run in the Tournament of Champions, Chico State moved up a notch to No. 24 in the latest National Fastpitch Coaches Association top 25 rankings.
With 12 conference games remaining and No. 3 Humboldt State holding a commanding five-game lead, the 'Cats are bunched up at the top of the CCAA standings with San Francisco State, Sonoma State, UC San Diego and Stanislaus State for the three remaining CCAA Championship Tournament slots. Only four games separate second from sixth place.
Chico State will need to continue to play well to punch its ticket to the postseason. Following this weekend's series with Dominguez Hills, the Wildcats travel to Hayward Apr. 16-17 to take on Cal State East Bay before returning home to wrap up the regular season with a huge four-game series against second place San Francisco State.
The Wildcats are seventh among the 11 CCAA teams in hitting, batting .287 while averaging 4.7 runs and 7.8 hits a game. The Chico State pitching staff ranks third in the conference in both team earned run average (2.13) and strikeouts (225).
The 'Cats have won eight of their 14 home games so far this season.
Cal State Dominguez Hills has had a rough 2016 campaign (13-28 overall, 10th place in the CCAA with a 6-22 conference record), but come to Chico suddenly playing their best softball of the season. After dropping their first two Tournament of Champions games last Friday – extending their losing streak to eight – the Toros swept through the rest of the weekend, winning four in a row and scoring a combined 26 runs Saturday and Sunday.
Dominguez Hills is batting a collective .264 (10th in the CCAA) while averaging 3.9 runs and 7.2 hits a game. In the pitcher's circle, the Toros rank last in the conference with a team ERA of 4.63.
Cal State Dominguez Hills has held its own on the road this season, with 11 of their 13 wins coming away from Toro Diamond in Carson.
Since 1983, the two teams have played pretty evenly, with Chico State winning 45 of 87 meetings. The Wildcats have had their way with the Toros the last couple of years, though, winning seven straight match-ups prior to this weekend.
Numbers watch...Pitcher Brooke Langeloh's first strikeout of the weekend will be the 300th of her Chico State career, and her fourth "K" will move her past Kristin Paese and into fifth place on the Wildcats' all-time strikeout list...She hasn't even finished her sophomore season, but Haley Gilham is just five wins shy of moving to fifth on the 'Cats' career victories list...Desiree' Gonzalez needs six two-baggers to become Chico State's all-time doubles leader...Alli Cook, the Wildcats' new career hits leader, is eight steals away from breaking her own single-season stolen base mark of 27 (shared with former Chico State standout Gwen Cox).
