Winners of 13 of its past 18, the Chico State baseball team is feeling good heading into the postseason for the 20^th time in 23 seasons after wrapping up a California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Tournament berth last weekend. But first, the Wildcats will wrap up the regular season with two critical home games against Stanislaus State Friday at Nettleton Stadium.
 
The first game will begin at 2 p.m. with the second, a seven-inning affair, starting approximately 40 minutes following the completion of the first.
 
The Wildcats start the final weekend of CCAA play in third place in the conference standings at 25-17. They are 29-19 overall and ranked No. 6 in the West Region. On Sunday, May 13, the six NCAA Championship Tournament berths from the West Region will be announced.
 
Chico State can wrap up no worse than the No. 3 seed for the CCAA Tournament with a pair of wins Friday, while solidifying their standing in the regional rankings.
 
Stanislaus State has been heading in the other direction, losing 12 of 13 while falling to 21-27 overall, 17-25 in the CCAA, and out of the postseason picture.
 
Both games will feature audio and video streams and live stats via links at www.chicowildcats.com on the baseball schedule page, in the calendar section on the homepage, and the top-left corner of this preview.
 
Chico State and Stanislaus State split a pair of games in Turlock to open CCAA play. The Wildcats won the opener 1-0 behind a combined five-hitter from Casey Costello and Dan Beavers and a manufactured run in the seventh sparked by Nick Tingirides' pinch hit single leading off the inning. In the process, the Wildcats handed Stanislaus State ace Joe Ryan (7-1, 1.68 ERA) his only loss of the season.
 
The Warriors won the second game 3-1 despite Hilario Tovar's strong six-plus innings of work in which he struck out 10. A crucial Chico State error led to the go-ahead runs in the seventh.
 
With every other team in action through Saturday, the Wildcats will likely have to wait until that dust settles to discover their seeding for the CCAA Tournament. They will open CCAA Tournament play Wednesday, which is the same day the final West Regional rankings will be released prior to selection Sunday.