After taking top honors in last weekend's Tournament of Champions, the Chico State softball team gets back to conference business this week, as the No. 3 Wildcats host California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) rival Cal State Dominguez Hills at University Softball Field. The four-game series gets underway Thursday with a doubleheader beginning at 1 p.m., followed by a Friday twin bill starting at 11 a.m.
Fans unable to make the games in person can follow the action on the Internet with Live Stats, available through the Wildcat Athletics website. Live streaming video will also be available online.
The Wildcats raised their season record to 31-3 with the five Tournament of Champions victories. Chico State batted a collective .406 during the three-day tournament, and outscored its opponents 32-4.
The 'Cats begin the week sitting atop the CCAA standings with a 21-3 conference record. Chico State is five games in front of second place Sonoma State, and six games up on third place UC San Diego.
The Wildcats enter the four-game set with Dominguez Hills a perfect 12-0 at home this season.
Chico State currently ranks second among the 11 CCAA teams with a .320 team batting average, racking up over five runs and eight hits a game. The Wildcats' pitching staff leads the conference (and ranks No. 5 in the nation) with an impressive 1.50 team earned run average, and their 15 shutouts is second among all Division II teams in the country. The Wildcats' lead the CCAA with 34 home runs as a team.
The Wildcats feature several players among the conference leaders in nearly offensive and pitching category:
- Haley Gilham leads all CCAA pitchers in wins (15), complete games (15), shutouts (9), strikeouts (100) and opponent batting averaging (.175), while ranking second only to Wildcats teammate Sam Mulock in earned run average (1.40).
- Naomi Monahan is third in the conference in wins (12), third in ERA (1.70), fourth in opponent batting average (.229) and sixth in strikeouts (50).
- Karli Skowrup leads the CCAA with 31 runs batted in and is third in the conference in home runs (7).
- Bailey Akins is tied for the CCAA lead with 10 home runs and ranks third in both walks (20) and slugging percentage (.686).
- Wendy Cardinali leads the conference in runs scored (39), walks (31) and on-base percentage (.538), is second in extra-base hits (16), tied for fourth in doubles (9), fifth in slugging percentage (.653) and tied for fifth in home runs (5).
- Ari Marsh shares the CCAA lead in hits (41) and is tied for third in RBI (29).
- Claire Wayne is tied for third in the CCAA in walks (20) and tied for fifth in home runs (5).
- Cyrena Taylor, currently riding a nine-game hitting streak, is tied for fourth in the CCAA in doubles (9).
- Amanda Flores ranks ninth in the CCAA with a .389 batting average.
Cal State Dominguez Hills comes to Chico with an overall record of 11-19, and sits in ninth place in the CCAA with a 7-13 conference record. The Toros have lost seven of their last nine contests, and were 2-3 in last weekend's Tournament of Champions. Dominguez Hills wrapped up tournament play Sunday with a convincing 11-3 win over Holy Names.
The Toros are 7-11 on the road this season.
Dominguez Hills sports a productive offense, batting a combined .293 while averaging 4.1 runs and 7.6 hits a game. The Toros' pitching staff has scuffled at times this season, and are ranked near the bottom of the CCAA with a 4.88 team ERA.
Senior outfielder Kayla Lock (.358) and junior infielder Jazmine Guzman (.345, .457 on-base percentage) are the Toros' top hitters, while senior right-hander Alyssa Valinches (5-8, 4.01 ERA, third-most strikeouts in the CCAA with 76) heads up the Dominguez Hills' pitching corps.
Last season, Chico State swept a four-game series from Dominguez Hills in Carson, and have beaten the Toros 15 straight times dating back to 2014. Since 1983, the Wildcats have won 53 of 95 decisions between the two teams.
