The rain outside forced the Chico State baseball team inside Thursday. The Wildcats spent some time playing knockout in the gym in honor of the start of March Madness. Perhaps part of the coaching staff's rationale was to remind the team that, like the University motto states: Today Decides Tomorrow.
If the Wildcats want to be playing deep into the month of May, when the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Tournament and NCAA Championship Tournament take place, they need to rack up more wins to earn a postseason berth.
That quest continues on Saturday at 4 p.m. when the Wildcats begin a four-game home series against Cal State East Bay. The series, originally scheduled to begin Friday before being reshuffled due to the aforementioned rain, continues with a doubleheader Saturday at noon before concluding with a single game Monday at noon.
Chico State enters the series with an overall record of 13-7 and conference mark of 9-5. The Wildcats are percentage points behind first-place Cal State Monterey Bay (8-4) in the race for conference lead. The Otters took three of four at home against Chico State last weekend in a tightly-contested series. UC San Diego (10-6), Cal State LA (7-5), Cal State San Bernardino (7-5), and Stanislaus State (8-6) are also within a game of first.
Out of that group, Chico State has played the fewest home games. That will change soon. The Wildcats are scheduled to play their next eight and 12 of their next 16 at home.
Cal State East Bay is 7-11 overall and 4-8 in the CCAA. The Pioneers have lost six of their last seven despite boasting a team batting average of .300, good for second in the conference. The Pioneers are ninth in the CCAA with a 5.93 ERA and eighth in fielding percentage at .955.
Chico State is in the middle of the pack in team batting at .286. Alex DeVito leads the team, hitting a cool .400. RJ Hassey (.383) has been the Wildcats' hottest hitter of late, boasting a 10-game hitting streak. Cameron Santos (.333) and Casey Henderson (.310) are also off to good starts.
Santos' next hit will tie him with Ryan Wulfert for third on the program's all-time hits list. He enters the series with 180 career hits. Santos is five runs and two doubles shy of breaking into the school's career top 10 in those categories. He needs five more RBIs to pass Steve Newson for ninth.
Chico State's .965 fielding percentage ranks sixth in the conference.
The Wildcats' pitching has been mostly exceptional. They rank second in the CCAA with a team ERA of 3.04. The bullpen has been special, posted a 2.47 ERA in 62 innings of work. Jae Wagner has surrendered just one earned run in 10 appearances spanning 12.1 innings. Anthony Baleto has saved three games while allowing just one run in 10.1 frames. Dan Beavers has racked up a team-high four saves.
The starting pitching has been strong as well. In fact, the Wildcats have 10 hurlers with an ERA below 4.0. Meanwhile, Cal State East Bay boasts just one pitcher, starter RJ Hanson, with a sub-four ERA.
The first three games of the series will be broadcast locally on AM-1290 KPAY. Links to streaming video, streaming audio, and live stats are available on the top-left corner of this advance, in the calendar section on the homepage, and on the baseball schedule page.
