Good pitching, good defense, and an offense that consistently applies pressure. It is the formula that has Chico State Head Coach Dave Taylor closing in on 500 collegiate victories. Saturday, it got the Wildcats a 6–1 victory over Stanislaus State, and Taylor win number 486.
Starting pitcher Casey Costello and reliever Anthony Baleto combined on a four-hitter. They were both recipients of a flawless defensive performance. For the seventh time in 11 games, the Wildcats did not make an error.
Meanwhile, the Wildcats' offense pounded out 11 hits, manufactured three runs aided by bunts, and took advantage of the Warriors' one error by tacking on a pair of two-out RBI hits.
Chico State is now 9-4 overall and 2-0 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association after winning the first two games of the four-game series. Stanislaus State dipped to 10-3 overall and 0-2 in the CCAA.
The series concludes Sunday in Turlock with a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m. Both games will be broadcast locally on AM-1290 KPAY.
Costello, who improved to 3-0 in his first four Chico State starts, allowed just four hits in six-and-a-third innings while striking out a season-high seven. Baleto retired all eight Warriors he faced, striking out the last two, for his first NCAA save.
Josh Falco went 2-for-4 with a run and an RBI.
The Wildcats scores first for the 12
th time in 13 games, grabbing a 1–0 lead in the third. Tyler Stofiel led off with a double to left, advanced to third on Casey Henderson's bunt single, and came around to score on Sonny Cortez's looping single to left.
Stanislaus State scored its only run in the fourth on Austin Fitzpatrick's two-out solo home run to left.
Chico State took control of the game with a three-run fifth. Stofiel got things started once again. This time he was hit by a pitch leading off the inning. Henderson's sacrifice bunt moved him to second. With two on and two out following Cameron Santos' walk, Josh Falco hit a chopper up the middle that glanced off the glove of the shortstop and into center field, allowing Stofiel to come around to score his fourth run of the series.
The Wildcats, who took a 2–1 lead on the play, made the error hurt even more. Andrew Carrillo lined an RBI-single through the right side and then Dillon Kelley did the same, stretching the lead to 4–1.
The Wildcats have now outscored their opponents 44–10 over the first five innings.
Costello and Baleto made the lead stand up, and Chico State tacked on two more insurance runs.
Cortez tripled leading off the seventh and scored on Falco's single through the left side to make it 5–1.
In the eighth, a leadoff single by Kelley, Cody Snider's sacrifice bunt, and pinch runner Casey Bennett's heads-up base running resulted in another run. The shortstop smothered Stofiel's two-out grounder in the grass behind second base, but could not get a throw off. Bennett, meanwhile, motored around third and scored on the infield hit.
Cortez, Falco, Kelley, and Stofiel piled up two hits apiece. Seven different Wildcats had hits, five scored runs, and five drove in runs.
