AZUSA—All good things come to an end. For the Chico State baseball team, the past three years have been great, and the Wildcats bid goodbye to a group of seniors who have done so much while contributing to so much of that.
 
A 17-3 setback to host Azusa Pacific on Friday ended Chico State's third straight trip to the NCAA Tournament West Regional, but that didn't deter Head Coach Dave Taylor from assessing the group that battled its way to the postseason.
 
"I'm proud of these guys. They exceeded expectations. We lost some guys early in the season," Taylor said. "I thought if we could just keep these guys together, we'd have a winning season. Sure enough, we did that. Thirty wins. Conference tournament. Trip to the West Regionals. A great year for a lot of programs."
 
For the Wildcats, not only was this their third straight time reaching the regional but their 18th trip in the past 23 seasons that they have represented the West as one of its top-six teams—a consistent winner that keeps coming back for more.
 
This year's group had to battle their way back to the postseason. A difficult March took a turn with a defeat at Monterey Bay in 15 innings, the longest game in program history. But after dropping two games to Cal State LA that left the Wildcats at .500 in California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) play, they won 14 of the final 20 conference contests, surging to third place for a return trip to the postseason for the two-time defending CCAA champions.

 

Friday's defeat that began with the Cougars scoring seven runs in the top of the first inning left Chico State at 31-24 overall in 2018.  

"As far as the group, just buying in," Taylor said. "They rose to the challenge. I'm proud of them for hanging in there and getting this far."
 
There were a couple of moments to look upon as Chico State bid adieu to 12 seniors—Anthony Baleto, Dan Beavers, Kyle Blakeman, Casey Costello, Casey Henderson, RJ Hassey, Brian Pozos, Cameron Santos, Andrew Schantz, Trevor Steinman, Hilario Tovar, and Jae Wagner.
 
Hassey, the CCAA's regular-season leader in on-base percentage and hit by pitches, belted his first home run as a Wildcat, a solo shot in the second inning. Of course, he was twice hit by pitches, too.
 
Hassey finished his senior season with a .495 on-base percentage with 23 hit by pitches and 22 walks while striking out just six times. He batted .347.
 
"Those are fantasy baseball numbers that big leaguers can't even get," Taylor said.
 
Of course, the biggest numbers come with the captain—Santos. The program's only three-time captain, Santos put his name a little more prominently in the team's record book. A double gave him 300 total bases to become only the second Wildcat to reach that plateau along with the 318 of Kevin Miller (1987-90).
 
The double was Santos' 36th as a Wildcat, matching Ryan Wulfert (2001-04) for sixth on the all-time list.
 

The program leader in triples and walks while finishing second in hits, stolen bases, total bases and at-bats along with being third in runs scored and sacrifice bunts, Santos' impact goes beyond numbers.
  
"He's the only guy that will ever lead this program as a captain for three years. I guarantee you it'll never happen again," Taylor said. "For him to do that, to take three teams to the West Region, that's pretty good stuff." 
 
Santos endeared himself to Taylor and the team early on in his time, returning the feeling he got from being a Wildcat.
 
"It's a beautiful place to play. Chico State really offers a lot," Santos said. "I've said that from year one, and I'll continue to say that as alumni now."
 
Sitting next to Taylor in a postgame press conference, Hassey had similar sentiments.
 
"I fell in love with Chico State. This guy to my right, I've trusted him since day one," Hassey said. "The Chico State mentality, and I fell in love with that."
 
The CCAA and West Region Player of the Year in 2017, Santos added: "There's not much else to say. Nothing but grateful for the opportunities that this program has presented to me."
 
GAME NOTES—Hassey's 23 hit-by-pitches this season tied him for third for most in a single season by a Wildcat. Jerin Harper had 23 in 2006. Robby Poole tallied 28 in 2002 while Eric Angerer is No. 1 with 29 in 2013. Hassey's 29 career hit-by-pitches leave him tied for sixth on the all-time list with Casey Glynn (1998-99). … Alex DeVito's two-run single in the bottom of the ninth gave the designated hitter something to remember as he heads into next season after garnering multiple awards for his junior campaign. He led the Wildcats with 47 runs batted in this season. …Azusa Pacific (40-10) is ranked second in the nation by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) poll but were seeded only second in the West, which uses different criteria to rank teams. The Cougars came "as advertised offensively," Taylor said. Azusa Pacific batted around twice in the game including sending 11 hitters to the plate in the first inning. They finished with 23 hits. ... One of the relievers who had served as part of a standout bullpen this season, Baleto came into the first and tossed 4.1 innings while yielding just two runs, giving the Wildcats a chance to mount a rally with so much of the game left to play after the early deficit.

        
2018 NCAA Championship Tournament | West Region
Cougar Baseball Complex | Azusa
Double-elimination
Thursday, May 17
Game 2: No. 5 California Baptist 7, No. 2 Azusa Pacific 4 (15 innings)
Game 1: No. 1 Cal State Monterey Bay 10, No. 6 Chico State 7
Game 3: No. 3 UC San Diego 22, No. 4 Point Loma 2

Friday, May 18
Game 4: Azusa Pacific 17, Chico State 3 (elimination game)
Game 5: Point Loma 13, Cal State Monterey Bay 12
Game 6: California Baptist vs. UC San Diego (n)

Saturday, May 19
Game 7: Teams TBD, 11 a.m.
Game 8: Teams TBD, 3 p.m.
Game 9: Teams TBD, 7 p.m.

Monday, May 21
Game 10: Teams TBD, noon
Game 11: Teams TBD, if necessary