It may only be Valentine's Day, but Chico State baseball fans have already started to fall in love with these Wildcats. JT Navarro slugged a solo home run leading off the bottom of the first to give Chico State the lead for good in an 8-4 California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA)-opening win against San Francisco State Friday afternoon at Nettleton Stadium.
 
Winners of five in a row, including their first four at home this season, the Wildcats improved to 5-2. San Francisco State suffered its first loss of the season, slipping to 6-1.
 
Chico State has now scored 45 runs in its first four home games of the campaign, posting at least one run in 16 of 32 innings at home, including two or more in 11 of those frames.
 
But the Wildcats' offense wasn't the lone provider of noteworthy performances. Relievers Alex Kent, Josh Verdon, Daniel Foret, and Kristian Scott combined on four-and-a-third shutout frames, allowing only two hits. Kent came on in relief of starter Grant Larson with two down in the fifth and struck out three in an inning and a third to earn the victory, improving to 1-0.
 
The Wildcats took control with a four-run rally in the second. Willie Lajoie's second of three hits on the day, a bases-loaded, two-run single, provided the big blow. Navarro's squeeze bunt drove in the first run of the inning and Cody Wissler's grounder plated the fourth.
 
Larson was rolling through four innings before getting into trouble in the fifth and a Gators grand slam trimmed the lead to 5-4. But for the seventh time out of the last 10 their opponents have scored, the Wildcats answered in the following frame.
 
Lajoie and Wissler singled to start the inning and came around to score on Adam Muñoz shot that skipped just inside the third base bag and down the line for a double and stretched the lead to 7-4.
 
Tyler Stofiel smashed a solo home run over the left-field wall in the eighth for the Wildcats' final run of the day.
 
Lajoie finished 3-for-4, raising his season average to .500, and has now hit safely in all seven games. Navarro, who had only hit one collegiate home run prior to this, his senior season, has now hit two in the Wildcats' last four games. He went 1-for-3 with two runs and two RBI. Wissler finished 1-for-4 with a run, RBI and stolen base.
 
The series continues with a doubleheader Saturday at noon and concludes with a single game Sunday at 11 a.m.
 
All three games will be broadcast locally on AM 1290 KPAY Sports. Links to streaming audio, streaming video and live stats are available at www.chicowildcats.com.