The Chico State baseball team was down, but Dustin Miller was up.
 
The rest of the Wildcats were as well after the junior sent a pitch out, sailing over the right-field wall for a go-ahead, three-run home run with two outs in the eighth inning as ninth-ranked Chico State nipped Northwest Nazarene 6-5 on Saturday at Nettleton Stadium.
 
The home run made a winner out of relief pitcher Andrew Lopez after Dan Beavers retired the Nighthawks in order in the ninth inning for his second save of the season.
 
The victory also allowed Chico State to take the series two games to one while improving to 4-2 on the season ahead of its California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) opener.
 
The loss dropped Northwest Nazarene's record to 2-4 on the season.

 

Miller had two hits, as did Luke Hussung. Alex DeVito drove in two runs, the first with an RBI groundout in the first inning that sent Hussung home. DeVito then added an RBI single in the seventh, scoring Tyler Stofiel as the Wildcats climbed within 5-3.
 
That came after a three-run seventh for Northwest Nazarene when the Nighthawks took a 5-2 lead.
 
Casey Henderson's RBI triple in the third inning scored DeVito after he walked as the Wildcats took a 2-1 advantage.
 
Hilario Tovar struck out nine batters without a walk, continuing Chico State's impressive run of starting pitching. In six starts, Wildcats pitchers have struck out 46 batters and walked three in 30.2 innings while going 2-0 with a 2.45 earned runs average.
 
Tovar exited after four innings with the game tied at 2. He allowed six hits in his outing.
 
Anthony Baleto, Lopez (1-0) and Beavers took care of the final three innings, each providing a scoreless frame.  
 
The decisive outburst in the eighth inning started when pinch-hitter Myles Moran walked with one out. With two outs, Stofiel was hit by a pitch for the second inning in a row.
 
The first time he would score on DeVito's two-out base hit. The second time Stofiel had company at home thanks to Miller bringing himself in along with pinch-runner Brian Pozos on the first Wildcat home run of the season.
 
Chico State next opens CCAA play with a four-game series with Stanislaus State. The first two games will be played in Turlock on Friday and Saturday. The series opener is at 5 p.m. on Friday while Saturday's game is set for a noon start. The final two games will be played as a doubleheader back in Chico at Nettleton Stadium with the twin bill beginning at 1 p.m.