Chico State pitcher Grant Larson was unable to attend Thursday night's series opener—a game he was scheduled to start—due to a high fever. The Wildcats weren't feeling too hot as a group after dropping two of the first three against Cal Poly Pomona in a series with huge postseason implications.
 
The only prescription was Grant Larson.
 
After allowing an unearned first-inning run, Larson pounded the strike zone incessantly (like Will Ferrell banging a cowbell) on the way to a complete-game four-hitter in Chico State's critical 4-1 victory Saturday at Nettleton Stadium.
 
The junior lefthander retired 13 straight bridging the second inning to the sixth, struck out nine in the game, and did not walk or hit a batter on the way to his third complete game of the season. He's now 5-3 on the season.
 
Catcher Myles Moran made sure Larson's effort was rewarded with his strong work behind the dish and a big day at the plate.
 
Moran threw out the only runner that attempted to steal against him, doubled off the wall and scored the tying run in the second, and then singled to center field to drive in the game-winning run in the third. Moran's 3-for-4 effort included a missile up the middle that was snared for an out.
 
Chico State leapfrogged the Broncos and Sonoma State into fifth place in the California Collegiate Athletic Association with the win, improving to 21-17 overall and 17-16 in the CCAA. Cal Poly Pomona fell to 22-24 overall and 20-20 in the CCAA. The six teams with the highest win percentage in the CCAA standings at the end of the regular season will advance to the CCAA Tournament.
 

Chico State, which has nine games remaining, will play a makeup game on the road at Cal State East Bay Tuesday before returning home to host Sonoma State in a critical four-game series beginning Friday night at 6 p.m.
 
Prior to and during Saturday's doubleheader the community is invited to join us in celebrating the life and generosity of Steve Nettleton, for whom the Stadium is named. Nettleton, who donated the money to help Chico State build one of the nicest college baseball stadiums in the nation, passed away in January. That ceremony is scheduled to begin at 11:30 a.m. with first pitch at noon.
 
Sunday, the Wildcats' eight seniors will be honored prior to their final home game, beginning at 11:30 a.m.
 
Larson's lone wild pitch of the day came on a strikeout to the first batter he faced, which allowed him to reach safely and eventually score on an RBI grounder. He and Moran got a strike-'em-out-throw-'em-out double play to end the frame. That was the 146^th strikeout of Larson's career, moving him past Steve Copeland (1974–75) into eight in Chico State program history. His fourth strikeout of the day ended the third and moved him past former teammate and current Red Sox farmhand Hunter Haworth (2015–17) into seventh.
 
Moran led off the second inning with a shot to left that would have left the yard on most days, but with the wind blowing in from left to right, it slammed off the top of the wall. JT Navarro drove him in with a two-out double down the left-field line to even the score.
 
Moran drove in the run that gave the Wildcats the lead for good with a two-out bloop single to center an inning later.
 
The Wildcats, who left 14 on base Saturday, stranded multiple runners in the third, fourth, and sixth before finally scratching across insurance runs in the seventh and eighth.
 
Moran's two-out single in the seventh helped spur a rally aided by three walks. The third, to Griffin Hennessey, forced in a run. Turner Olson's two-out RBI single in the eighth made it 4-1.