STOCKTON—It felt like the Chico State baseball team might be on the brink of a special win Wednesday night. The Wildcats had trimmed a five-run deficit to 8-6 with three innings to play in their California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Tournament opener. But as it had in the early innings, Stanislaus State used the long ball to break the game open once again on the way to an 11-6 victory at Banner Island Ballpark in Stockton.
The Warriors scored eight times in the first three frames against Wildcats ace Andrew Lopez—double the highest number he had allowed in his first 12 starts of the season.
But Chico State scratched and clawed to stay in a game that was threatening to get out of hand. Lopez and relievers Kenton Carruthers and Dalton Smith worked five combined scoreless innings after the early outburst to keep them close.
The offense pulled them back to within striking distance in the meantime, spurred by Cody Wissler's four-hit night and Myles Moran's three RBIs.
They just couldn't quite get over the mountain created by four Stanislaus State home runs—the most allowed by a Chico State pitching staff since the Wildcats' opening game of the 2017 CCAA Tournament.
"The difference was they were able to put up some crooked numbers and hit some home runs," Wildcats Head Coach Dave Taylor said. "When pitches were left up we didn't cash in like they did."
The Wildcats will now need to scratch and claw their way through the losers' bracket to claim their third conference tournament title in the past four seasons and the automatic NCAA Championship Tournament bid that goes along with it.
The Wildcats answered Stanislaus State's unearned run in the first with a three-spot in the bottom half of the frame. JT Navarro led off with a double inside the third-base bag, and with one out, scored on Dustin Miller's base hit to left. Alex DeVito's base hit put two runners on, and Wissler whacked a double to left that plated Miller and gave the Wildcats the lead.
Moran nearly made it 6-1, but his long fly ball to left was snared at the wall for a sacrifice fly, giving the Wildcats a 3-1 lead instead.
Stanislaus State answered back emphatically, plating four in the third thanks to home runs from their Nos. 8 and 9 hitters.
The Wildcats would not go away, however. Wissler moved DeVito to third with a double into right center and both came in to score on Moran's base hit to center field, cutting the deficit to 8-5.
Meanwhile, Lopez bravely battled on. He had not allowed more than four runs or three earned runs in any previous start this season. And he had only surrendered one home run before the Warriors went back to back in the third.
The senior ace was on the ropes, but hung in, giving the Wildcats five innings to keep them in the game and help preserve the bullpen. Lopez retired the last seven hitters he faced.
The 'Cats cut a run further into the Warriors' lead in the sixth on Eddie Zavala's run-scoring infield single after Miller and Moran drew walks.
All the work the Wildcats had done to close the gap was undone in the seventh when Stanislaus State homered twice and scored three runs.
"When we got it to 8-6 I really thought we had a chance," Taylor said.
The Wildcats banged out 13 hits and benefitted from three Stanislaus State errors, but stranded 11 on base.
Wissler finished 4-for-5 with a pair of doubles. Moran went 1-for-2 with three RBIs. JT Navarro and Kyle Pineda had two hits apiece. Navarro has hit safely in the last 11 games and is hitting .463 (19-for-41) during that stretch.
The Wildcats received some positive news Wednesday morning with the final NCAA Regional rankings release prior to Sunday's NCAA Championship Selection Show. On the heels of winning seven of their last eight regular-season games, Chico State debuted in the rankings at No. 7. Pacific West Conference regular-season champion Azusa Pacific and the winners of the CCAA and Great Northwest Athletic Conference postseason tournaments will receive automatic bids, leaving a trio of at-large berths.
So, while it looked as though the Wildcats would need to win the CCAA Tournament to have any chance of advancing to the NCAA Tournament, it now appears that a deep run in the tournament might be enough to at least put them in the discussion for an at-large bid. Of course, only the rankings committee knows.
That feels a long way off right now, however. The Wildcats now turn their focus to tomorrow's 3 p.m. game against Cal Poly Pomona, which knocked off No. 1 seed UC San Diego 3-2 in today's first game. If the Wildcats can win Thursday, they'll play a yet-to-be-determined opponent on Friday with a Championship Saturday spot on the line.
The Wildcats split a four-game series against Cal Poly Pomona in Chico on April 18–20.
CCAA Tournament results and schedule below:
2019 CCAA Baseball Tournament
Banner Island Ballpark | Stockton
Wednesday, May 8
Game 1 – 11 a.m. – No. 6 Cal Poly Pomona 3, No. 1 UC San Diego 2
Game 2 – 3 p.m. –No. 2 Cal State Monterey Bay 8, No. 5 San Francisco State 5
Game 3 – 7 p.m. – No. 4 Stanislaus State 11, No. 3 Chico State 6
Thursday, May 9
Game 4 – 11 a.m.: UC San Diego vs. San Francisco State (elimination game)
Game 5 – 3 p.m.: Cal Poly Pomona vs. Chico State (possible elimination)
Game 6 – 7 p.m.: Cal State Monterey Bay vs. Stanislaus State
Friday, May 10
(if 4 teams remain after game 6)
Game 7 – 11 a.m.: winner of Game 5 vs. winner of Game 6
Game 8 – 3 p.m.: winner of Game 4 vs. loser of Game 6 (elimination game)
Game 9 – 7 p.m.: loser of Game 7 vs. winner of Game 8 (elimination game)
(if 5 teams remain after game 6)
Game 7 – 11 a.m.: loser of Game 5 vs. loser of Game 6* (elimination game)
Game 8 – 3 p.m.: winner of Game 4 vs. winner of Game 5* (elimination game)
Game 9 – 7 p.m.: winner of Game 6 vs. winner of Game 7* (possible elimination)
Saturday, May 11
(if 2 teams remain after game 9)
Game 10 – 12 p.m.: winner of Game 7 vs. winner of Game 9
Game 11 – 4 p.m.: rematch, if necessary
(if 5 teams remain after Game 6 + 2 after Game 9)
Game 10 – 12 p.m.: winner of Game 8 vs. winner of Game 9
Game 11 – 4 p.m.: rematch, if necessary
(if 5 teams remain after Game 6 + 3 after Game 9)
Game 10 – 12 p.m.: winner of Game 8 vs. loser Game 9
Game 11 – 4 p.m.: winner of Game 9 vs. winner of Game 10
