SAN FRANCISCO—Andrew Lopez is the Chico State baseball team's brake assist. Just when it seems the Wildcats are careening toward disaster, Lopez steps in to stop the madness. He's done it again and again this season. Friday at San Francisco State, the Wildcats' senior put the finishing touches on one of the most impressive regular seasons by a starting pitcher in the program's history, allowing just one earned run on six hits in eight innings of work to help the Wildcats split a doubleheader at San Francisco State.
 
Chico State pitchers surrendered nine walks, a balk, hit two batters, and threw four wild pitches in a 12-4 loss in the opener. Lopez flipped the script in the second game, a 3-2 Chico State win, in his final start of the regular season.
 
Chico State is now 26-19 overall and 22-18 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association with two games to play in the regular season: a 1 p.m. doubleheader Saturday at Stanislaus State. The Wildcats clinched their 22^nd postseason berth in the last 24 seasons Thursday when Cal State East Bay lost to UC San Diego. They locked up no worse than the No. 5 seed with Friday's win.
 
After making 12 appearances—all in relief—last season, Lopez won a starting role in 2019 and has run with it. The senior transfer from Southwestern Community College is 5-2 and has not allowed more than four runs or three earned runs in any of his 15 appearances (12 starts) and sports an earned run average of 1.48.
 
That mark leads the CCAA, ranks fifth in the nation, and ranks fourth in the history of Chico State's program among those with at least 50 innings of work. Alex Carbajal (1.43) is the only Wildcat to finish a season with a sub-1.50 ERA since Lynn Sparks' 1.42 mark in 1967. And over the past 50 seasons, only Troy Neiman, Ivan Hernandez, and Hunter Haworth have allowed fewer hits per nine innings of work than Lopez's 6.78 mark.
 
Lopez and closer Alex Kent got all the run support they needed with Alex DeVito's two-run double in the first and Dustin Miller's sacrifice fly in the sixth. Lopez kept the Gators off the scoreboard for the first five frames, surrendering only two hits. In the sixth, a misjudged fly ball was scored a triple and led to the Gators' first run.
 
San Francisco State closed the gap to 3-2 with an unearned run in the eighth before Kent came on in the ninth to close the door. He struck out the first two hitters he faced and retired the side in order for his sixth save.
 
DeVito went 2-for-4 in the game and is now 13-for-27 in the Wildcats' last seven games. JT Navarro and Jorge Perez also notched two hits apiece. Catcher Myles Moran went 1-for-3 with a double and is now 15-for-31 with 10 RBIs in his last nine starts behind the dish.
 
The Gators built a four-run rally in the first inning of the opening game, seeded by two walks, a balk, and an error, and rolled to victory.
 
DeVito's sixth home run cut the Wildcats' deficit to 4-1 in the second, but San Francisco State tacked on two runs in the fourth, another in the fifth, and four more in the sixth to salt the game away. Navarro, Moran, and Griffin Hennessey had two hits apiece to lead Chico State's offense. Bryce Beauchamp brought in a run with a single up the middle in his only at bat after taking over for Moran behind the plate.
 
Starter Grant Larson (6-4) absorbed the loss for Chico State after issuing a career high five walks in four innings of work.
 
CCAA Tournament seeding is on the line Saturday when the Wildcats face Stanislaus State in Turlock. The Wildcats would pass the Warriors in the conference standings with a sweep. They could also pass San Francisco State with a sweep and two San Francisco State losses Saturday against Sonoma State or a split and three San Francisco State losses. The Gators trail a suspended game, to be completed Saturday morning, 14-5 in the eighth inning. The teams will then play a doubleheader.
 
Stanislaus State, 29-19, is third place in the conference standings at 25-17. Saturday's games will be broadcast locally on AM-1290 and FM-102.9 KPAY.