SAN BERNARDINO—For his 800^th time in a Wildcats uniform, Dave Taylor stepped out of the dugout a winner Friday night at Fiscalini Field in San Bernardino.
 
Chico State's 7-5 victory against Cal State San Bernardino was Taylor's 800^th as the team's pitching coach or head coach. Part of 352 victories as the team's pitching from 1997–2004, Taylor has added 448 wins as the team's head coach since 2007.
 
This one came thanks to a big early lead, tough pitching from reigning National Pitcher of the Year Grant Larson, and shutdown relief from Kenton Carruthers and Alex Kent, who fired a scoreless inning apiece.
 
The Wildcats went 6-for-9 with runners in scoring position over the first three frames in which they racked up 11 hits and a 7-2 lead.  

Larson did not have the A-plus stuff he showcased over his last three outings, but completed seven innings, surrendering five runs (three earned) on eight hits and striking out four. He did not issue a walk in improving to 4-0 on the season.
 

Carruthers set the Coyotes down in order in the eighth and has now thrown seven consecutive scoreless innings spanning three appearances over the past six days. Kent threw a scoreless ninth to collect his first save as a Wildcat.
 
Dustin Miller, Alex DeVito, Turner Olson, and Eddie Zavala—Chico State's 3-4-5-6 hitters—banged out two hits apiece, combining to go 8-for-15 with two doubles, a triple, six RBI, and six runs scored.
 
The Wildcats raced to a 3-0 lead in the first on five hits. Olson's base hit—the third consecutive two-out hit of the inning—plated the game's first run in the form of Miller. Zavala followed with a two-run double, plating DeVito and Olson before being cut down a third trying to stretch it to a triple.
 
Cal State San Bernardino plated two unearned runs in the second on a hit and two errors, but Chico State answered with four in the third.
 
Brandon Hernandez reached on an error leading off the inning and Miller brought him home with a double to deep right center. Olson's triple with one out plated Miller. Zavala singled up the middle to plate another run, and Myles Moran's single to left brought Zavala home to make it 7-2.
 
The Coyotes chipped away at the lead, cutting their deficit to 7-5 with a run in the fourth and two more in the seventh.
 
But the red-hot Carruthers retired Cal State San Bernardino in order in the eighth. And Kent slammed the door in the ninth, working around a 1-out walk and striking out a pair.
 
Hernandez's sixth-inning double stretched his hitting streak to 10 games. Miller and DeVito have each hit safely in seven games in a row. Olson has nine hits in his last 15 at-bats, including a double, triple, and home run, and has driven in nine.
 
The series continues Saturday with a 1 p.m. doubleheader and concludes with a single game Sunday at 11 a.m. All three games will be broadcast locally on Newstalk AM-1290 and FM-102.9 KPAY. Links to streaming audio and live stats are also available at www.chicowildcats.com.