HAYWARD—The day started beautifully. The sun was out—a rare occurrence thus far this baseball season—and the Wildcats stayed hot. It ended beautifully as well. Three wins will brighten any day.
 
Grant Larson started the morning on the mound as Chico State and Cal State East Bay set out to play three Monday in Hayward. The Wildcats led 8-5 in the seventh when the thrice-suspended series opener was halted by a thunderstorm Sunday afternoon. Larson immediately go the Wildcats out of a jam by getting the final out of the frame, and then Tyler Stofiel smashed a solo home run leading off the eighth.
 
The Wildcats were just getting started. They won the suspended game 10-5, took the first game of the scheduled doubleheader 6-2, and then won the seven-inning finale 13-3 to stretch their winning streak to five.
 
The finale of the scheduled four-game series will take place at a date yet to be determined.
 
Chico State has now won five straight, improving to 9-7 overall and 5-6 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association. The Wildcats are 5-0 away from home. Cal State East Bay dropped to 9-12 overall and 6-9 in the CCAA.
 
Kenton Carruthers earned wins in relief in the first and third games for the Wildcats, notching the first two victories of his collegiate career behind six scoreless frames.

 

Larson saved the first two games, allowing just one hit in three-and-two-thirds innings, to collect his first two collegiate saves.
 
Turner Olson, whose three-run homer broke a 5-5 tie on Sunday, drove in another run Monday morning and finished the game 3-for-4 with four RBI. JT Navarro went 2-for-4 with a double, three runs, and an RBI.
 
In the second game, Myles Moran cracked a three-run homer, Olson went 2-for-3 with a double and RBI, and Brandon Hernandez went 3-for-5 with a double.
 
Eddie Zavala and Alex DeVito were the offensive standouts in the nightcap. Zavala drove in four runs in the first two innings and DeVito delivered an RBI double and a three-run triple. Navarro, Hernandez, and Olson also had two knocks apiece. Navarro scored twice and Hernandez and Olson drove in two runs apiece.
 
Olson finished the series with seven hits and seven RBI and Hernandez ran his hitting streak to nine games.
 
Game One (completion of suspended game)
Larson took the mound with the Wildcats up 8-5 and an East Bay runner on second and needed just three pitches for the inning-ending strikeout.
 
The Wildcats tacked on two runs in the eighth on Stofiel's solo shot and Olson's RBI single. Larson retired the Pioneers in order in the eighth and worked around a leadoff single in the ninth thanks to a double-play grounder and game-ending grounder to collect his first collegiate save.
 
Carruthers earned his first collegiate win thanks to two-and-two-thirds innings of scoreless relief.
 
Olson finished 3-for-4 with a three-run homer and four RBI. Navarro, DeVito, and Dustin Miller finished with two hits and an RBI apiece.
 
Game Two
Starter Andrew Lopez (1-1) earned the win for Chico State, surrendering just one run on five hits in five innings of work. He struck out four. Alex Kent, Sid Lacy, and Larson all pitched well in relief. Larson retired the side in order in the ninth to collect his second save of the day and the second of his collegiate career.
 
Moran's two-run homer in the sixth busted the game open for the Wildcats, stretching their lead to 5-1. He had already singled in a run in the fourth after Olson broke a 1-1 tie with a base hit to center.
 
Hernandez went 3-for-5 with a double. Olson and Moran finished with two hits apiece.

 

Game Three
The Wildcats scored four in the first and five more in the second to take control of the game. Miller's RBI triple opened the scoring. Olson dropped down a bunt single to make it 2-0. And Zavala plated two more runs with a double to the left-center field gap.
 
Cal State East Bay roared back to score three times against Wildcats starter Dalton Smith in the bottom half of the inning before Carruthers came on to quell the rally with an inning-ending grounder. He pitched three-and-a-third scoreless frames, scattering three hits and striking out a career-high four, to earn his second collegiate win.
 
Navarro's double and Hernandez's two-run triple sparked a five-run rally in the second. DeVito fanned the flames with an RBI double and Zavala stroked a two-run homer to make it 9-3.
 
The Wildcats put the game away in the fifth. DeVito cracked a three-run triple high off the wall in left center and Olson drove him in with a line single to center.
 
The Wildcats will head back out on the road next weekend for a four-game series at Cal State San Bernardino beginning with a single game Friday at 6 p.m.