CARSON—Chico State Baseball Coach Dave Taylor believed he had a special bullpen arm in Daniel Foret. But he turned to Foret when he needed another starting pitcher and the junior transfer has become one of the Wildcats most reliable starters.
 
Foret, 4-1 on the season, has started and won a game in three straight series, including Saturday's 4-3 victory at Cal State Dominguez Hills, helping give the Wildcats a chance at a series split in Sunday's finale. The host Toros won Saturday's first game 7-3.
 
The Wildcats finished the day 18-15 overall and 14-14 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association. Cal State Dominguez Hills is 14-23 overall and 13-22 in the CCAA.
 
Chico State pitchers had surrendered 17 runs on 24 hits, 12 walks, and four hit batters during the first two games of the series. Foret slowed the Toros offense considerably Saturday afternoon, firing five scoreless frames to start the game. He did not allow a free pass of any kind until the fifth. And then, he promptly got a double-play grounder to end the inning.

 
Foret ran into trouble in the sixth but Alex Kent worked out of the jam to earn the five-out save. Kent now has four saves on the season.
 
Foret's early success allowed Chico State to grab its first lead of the season and hold onto it. They took that lead in the top of the first. After two-out singles by Kristian Scott and Eddie Zavala, Turner Olson was hit by a pitch to load the bases. JT Navarro provided the important two-out knock, muscling a two-run single into right center.
 
Griffin Hennessey's leadoff double in the fourth set another two-run rally in motion. Tyler Stofiel reached on a sacrifice bunt and throwing error to put runners on the corners ahead of Dustin Miller's RBI-single to right that sent Stofiel to third. Scott later plated him with an RBI grounder to make it 4-0.
 
Foret surrendered a one-out double in the sixth and then hit consecutive batters to load the bases. Kent was asked to save the game for the Wildcats. He allowed a walk and a base hit to start his outing, but then settled in to get the final two outs of the inning while preserving the Wildcats lead at 4-3. He retired the Toros in order in the ninth.
 
Zavala had two hits to lead the Wildcats while Alex DeVito's 11-game hitting streak and 28-game reached-base streak came to an end with an 0-for-4 afternoon.
 
In the opening game, Myles Moran's two-run homer in the second inning cut Chico State's deficit to 4-2 and Brandon Hernandez's RBI-grounder in the fourth made it a 4-3 game. However, the Toros relief corps retired 14 Wildcats in a row down the stretch to seal the victory.
 
Wildcats starter William Curless took the loss, falling to 2-3. Curless allowed five runs on eight hits in six innings of work. He struck out six.
 
Seven different Wildcats had a hit in the game.
 
The series concludes with a single game Sunday at 11 a.m. and will be broadcast locally on AM-1290 and FM-102.9 KPAY. Links to streaming audio and live stats are available at www.chicowildcats.com.
 
The Wildcats will play eight of nine at home following Sunday's game and then wrap up the regular season with four straight on the road.