This time of year in Northern California, the Chico State baseball team is often facing two foes: the opponents in the other dugout and the weather. This week is no exception, though the Wildcats have a plan in place to beat both.
 
Because of cloudy and sometimes rainy weather forecasted this weekend in Seaside, their four-game series at Cal State Monterey Bay has been adjusted. The teams are now scheduled to play a doubleheader Friday beginning at 11 a.m., following by single games Saturday at 11 a.m. and Sunday at noon.
 
The action Friday will be broadcast online HERE. The games on Saturday and Sunday will be carried locally on AM-1290 KPAY and streamed online. Links to live stats are also available HERE.
 
The Wildcats are off to a strong start in both areas, having gotten all but two games in so far. Those two games, against Stanislaus State, have already been rescheduled for May 4. On the field, Chico State is 12-4 overall and ranked No. 24 in the nation by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and No. 4 in the West Region by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association. The Wildcats are out to an early two-game lead in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) standings at 8-2.
 
Cal State Monterey Bay, ranked No. 29 in the nation and No. 3 in the West, is among four teams two games behind the front-running Wildcats. The Otters are 11-3 overall and 5-3 in the CCAA. After sweeping three-game series at Point Loma and at home against Western Oregon, they opened conference play with a series split at home against Cal State San Bernardino before taking three of four last weekend at Cal State LA.
 
Pitching has keyed Chico State's strong start. The Wildcats rank second in the CCAA in team ERA at 2.82 having walked a league-low 2.6 batters per nine innings.
 
Starters Casey Costello and Hilario Tovar rank first and fourth in the CCAA in innings pitched. Tovar is second in strikeouts while Grant Larson and Costello rank fifth and sixth.
 
On the other hand, the key to the Otters' success can be traced to their offense. Cal State Monterey Bay leads the CCAA in team batting average (.326), runs per game (8.0), slugging percentage (.468) and on-base percentage (.423).
 
Kyle Guerra leads the conference with a .481 batting average and .611 on-base percentage, while Jacob Tonascia paces the conference in slugging percentage (.887) and RBIs (25).
 
The Otters are in the middle of the pack in pitching with a team ERA of 4.84. They rank second in the CCAA with a fielding percentage of .977.
 
Chico State ranks sixth in the CCAA in batting average (.283) and fielding percentage (.962).