LA JOLLA—What a difference a day can make. Or an hour. Or a foot.
 
One day after collecting a series-opening shutout victory at 8^th-ranked UC San Diego, the Chico State baseball team appeared on its way to winning the first game of Saturday's double-dip. But the host Tritons rallied to win the opener 7-5 and took the nightcap 5-0 to sweep the doubleheader.
 
Chico State led the opener 4-0 through six innings and 4-2 through seven, but the Tritons took advantage of three consecutive walks to open the eighth with a go-ahead three-run triple to take the lead for good.
 
The Wildcats nearly put together their own rally in the ninth. TJ Navarro and Brandon Hernandez hit back-to-back singles to start the frame and Navarro scored on Dustin Miller's base hit to right center that cut the lead to 7-5. Alex DeVito then ripped a line drive that momentarily looked as though it might pull the Wildcats within a run with a runner in scoring position and still nobody out. Instead, Tritons third baseman Alex Eliopulos lunged to his left to spear the liner and then threw to second to double off Hernandez and kill the rally.
 
The loss snapped Chico State's 10-game road win streak. The Wildcats had won 10 of their last 11 prior to Saturday's sweep. They are now 15-10 overall and 11-9 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association.
 
UC San Diego improved to 19-5 overall and 14-5 in the CCAA.
 
Navarro went 3-for-4 and scored three runs in the opener to extend his hitting streak to 14 games. Hernandez, Miller, and DeVito had two hits apiece. Miller and DeVito each drove in a pair of runs.
 
Miller, DeVito, and Turner Olson each knocked in a run in the first inning as the Wildcats built a 3-0 lead. The Wildcats tacked on another run in the third on DeVito's RBI-single.
 
Wildcats starter Andrew Lopez made the lead stand up, shutting out the Tritons through six innings. They finally got to the Chico State senior in the seventh with a two-out, two-run home run.
 
Lopez's final line was a good one. He allowed only those two runs on six hits in six-and-two-thirds innings while striking out six.
 
There was little drama in the second game.
 
UC San Diego jumped on Chico State starter Grant Larson with a three-run homer in the first and never looked back. The Tritons tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the sixth.
 
Larson pitched well after the first and went six innings Sunday, allowing five runs—four earned—on six hits while striking out four.
 
The Wildcats mustered only five baserunners: three singles, a double, and a walk.
 
The series concludes Sunday with a single game at noon. The game will be broadcast on KPAY AM-1290 and FM-102.9.