RIVERSIDE – The cupboard was virtually bare for the Chico State baseball program following last season. There was some Tapatio here, a Moon Pie there. But Head Coach Dave Taylor knew he needed to restock.
 
He certainly did.
 
The Wildcats' season came to an end with a 12-3 loss to California Baptist on the second day of the NCAA Championship Tournament West Regional Friday on the CBU campus. But the team has some sweet memories to look back on, including the California Collegiate Athletic Association Championship Tournament title, and the program is trending in aan encouraging direction.
 
"It was a great year for us from where we were this time last year," Taylor said. "Like I told them after the game, they exceeded expectations. With 25 new guys my goal was to get them in a playoff environment and we did that. And we won (the CCAA Championship). I told them we were good enough to be here but we're still not good enough to compete at this type of tournament, against the best in the West, which is okay. That's part of the process when you have so many new guys."
 
"Hot sauce!" became the team's mantra during the team's run to the CCAA Championship Tournament title. Senior pitcher Peter Lecce wore a rally bottle of hot sauce around his neck whenever the team needed some runs. On one end of the dugout someone would shot "Hot!" From the other end, the answer would come: "Sauce!"
 
It was a tight bunch of players and they were all on the same page. Taylor clearly grew fond of them and was prone to delivering Little Debbie Snack Cakes or something similar to each player during bed check.
 
"It's just a close group of guys and a great environment to be a part of," Taylor said. "It stings. You hate to get punched and beaten up as bad as we did the last couple days. It will take us a couple days. But I'm proud of these guys."
 
Chico State fell behind 3-0 in the first and trailed 8-1 heading to the bottom of the fourth. Ben Gamba's two-run single in the bottom of the fourth cut the lead to 8-3, but even the rally hot sauce couldn't get the Wildcats all the way back in it. They threatened to put up crooked numbers on a number of other occasions. Their most promising rally ended when Dillon Kelley's deep drive to center field was caught at the warning track with two runners on. The wind, which had been steadily blowing out and had aided the flight of a number of balls, had suddenly stopped.
 
In the end, the Wildcats stranded 10 runners and hit into three double plays, killing any chances for a comeback.
 
Gamba finished 3-for-5 and his two RBI brought his season total to West Region-leading 64. That's the fifth most in Chico State single-season history.
 
"I couldn't have asked for a better year," Gamba said. "Yeah, it would have been nice to win a few more games here. But to come out with a conference championship is quite a way for me to end my career."
 
Andru Cardenas went 2-for-4 and scored a run. And leadoff hitter Sonny Cortez went 1-for-3 with two walks and scored a run. Cortez finished the season with 67 runs scored, which leads the West Region and is tied for the sixth most by a Wildcat.
 
Chico State starting pitcher Hunter Haworth absorbed his first loss of the season, falling to 5-1. But Dalton Erb, making his first relief appearance of the season, gave the Wildcats a chance to get back into the game. Erb pitched four shutout innings, allowing just two hits, and struck out four. 
 
Following the game, the players held their heads high. They hugged, looked at one another in the eyes, and smiled… even if their feelings were bittersweet.
 
Chico State, which made its 16^th NCAA Championship appearance in the past 21 seasons, finished with a record of 35-22.
 
"I told them that we're going to work hard next fall and remember kind of getting it handed to us for two days, and what that felt like, and what we need to do next year and come back here and compete," Taylor said. "These guys had a great year. They won the championship. You don't like to finish this way. That's going to sting for a few days. But we'll take that whipping and learn from it. We'll be back here next year and I'll have a better team. I'm going to make sure that happens."