After putting together perhaps its best all-around performance of the season to win the opener 15-2, Chico State's defense dropped the ball in a 4-1 loss in the second game of Friday's doubleheader at Nettleton Stadium.
Five different Wildcats had multiple hits in the opener. They put the game away with an eight-run eighth, punctuated by Alex DeVito's grand slam. Daniel Foret (5-1) allowed two runs in five frames to collect the win and Connor Sealey shut the door with four shutout frames to pick up his second save.
Normally a strong defensive team, the 'Cats kicked the ball around in game two, committing six errors, which matches the most by the Wildcats in a game since the 2005 campaign. All four of the Broncos runs were unearned.
Meanwhile, the Wildcats' offense stranded at least one runner in scoring position in each of the first four frames. Despite touching up Broncos starter Drew Atherton for six hits and a walk in three-and-a-third innings, they could only muster one run on Brandon Hernandez's two-out RBI single in the third.
Connor Sealey spun four shutout innings to earn the save in the opener.
Broncos reliever Ben Mora was a different story, retiring all 11 Wildcats he faced—four via strikeout—to earn the win and improve to 2-3.
Wildcats starter Andrew Lopez allowed four unearned runs while scattering five hits over six innings. He did not walk a hitter while striking out four and lowering his ERA to 1.43.
Kyle Pineda and Griffin Hennessey paced Chico State's offense with two hits apiece.
Pineda and Hennessey were also among the Wildcats' offensive catalysts in the opener. Pineda went 3-for-4 with a double and triple while scoring three runs and driving in a pair. Hennessey was 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBI. Eddie Zavala also had a three-hit game, scored twice, and drove in a run. JT Navarro (2-for-4 with a run and RBI), Myles Moran (2-for-4 with a run and RBI), and Turner Olson (1-for-3 with two runs and two RBI) also had big games.
Chico State is now 20-17 overall and 16-16 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) and remains a half-game behind the Broncos (22-23, 20-19) in the race for the sixth and final CCAA Tournament berth. The series is set to conclude with a single game Saturday morning at 11. The Wildcats are a game behind five-place Sonoma State, who they'll welcome into town for a four-game series next weekend.
Griffin Hennessey went 5-for-7 at the plate in Friday's doubleheader.
