Off to a hot start and coming off a series win to open California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) play, the Chico State baseball team will tackle what might be one of its biggest challenges of the entire regular season this weekend with a four-game set at Cal State Monterey Bay.
 
The series will begin with a single game Friday at 6 p.m., continue with a 1 p.m. doubleheader on Saturday, and conclude with a single game Sunday at 11 a.m. All four games will be broadcast on AM 1290 KPAY radio. Links to streaming audio and live stats are available via the links on the top-right corner of this release, on the baseball schedule page, and in the calendar section on our homepage. No streaming video will be available this weekend.
 
Chico State is 7-3 overall and tied for second in the CCAA standings at 3-1 after taking three of four against San Francisco State last weekend in Chico. The Wildcats rose three spots to No. 4 in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association West Region rankings this week.
 
Cal State Monterey Bay opened the season ranked No. 3 in the West, No. 39 in the nation, and picked to finish second in the CCAA by the conference's coaches.
 
The Otters are off to a bit of a slow start, however, at 4-6 overall and 1-3 in the CCAA (after losing three of four at Cal State LA last weekend). But they are 3-0 at home, having swept perennial power Azusa Pacific in a three-game set, and boast the CCAA's second-highest team batting average at .330.
 
Chico State, meanwhile, ranks fourth in the CCAA in fielding percentage (.972), fifth in batting average (.281), and sixth in team ERA (.390).
 
The Wildcats' Eddie Zavala paces the conference in hitting at .500 (15-for-30).
 
The Wildcats are 40-21 all-time against the Otters, including 16-8 in Seaside.