The day was dominated by pitching and clutch hits were hard to come by. But Chico State's Eddie Zavala came through with a ground single up the middle with two strikes and two outs in the bottom of the eighth to give the Wildcats a 3-2 win against Cal State East Bay to open a four-game series at Nettleton Stadium Friday afternoon.
Chico State improved to 10-5 overall and 6-3 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association, while Cal State East Bay, which entered the weekend in a tie for first place in the CCAA standings, slipped to 10-3 and 6-3.
The visiting Pioneers were 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position. Their only hit was an infield single that did not plate a run. Chico State was 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position—Adam Muñoz's slash single in the fourth plated the game's first run—when Zavala came to the plate with Turner Olson on first base.
JT Navarro doubled to open the inning in a 2-2 game, giving the Wildcats a prime opportunity to take the lead. But he was erased at third on Olson's attempted sacrifice bunt. And with two out, Olson was still at first. He read a two-strike pitch in the dirt nicely to advance to second. And on the next pitch, Zavala skipped a single up the middle for his second hit of the day. Olson scored easily and the Wildcats had the lead.
The hit made a winner out of reliever Daniel Foret, who walked the first two hitters he faced in the top of the eighth before committing a throwing error on a failed pickoff attempt that left runners on second and third with nobody out. But Foret found a way out of the mess, notching a pair of strikeouts sandwiched around a shallow fly ball.
Kristian Scott came on in the ninth to notch his fourth save in as many tries. But that did not come easily either. Following a one-out double and an intentional walk with two down, Scott hit a batter to load the bases. But he got Jordan Macias to fly out to right to end the game.
Chico State starter Grant Larson logged another strong outing, surrendering only one earned run on six hits in seven innings of work. Larson got out of a few jams himself. His nifty off-balanced throw got the lead runner at third on a chopper in front of home plate in the third.
The Wildcats grabbed a 2-0 lead in the bottom half of the inning. Zavala led off with a line single and Aidan Rasmusson followed suit. With the first baseman right on top of Muñoz as he squared to bunt, he pulled the bat back and ripped a grounder down the right field line. Rasmusson scored later in the inning on a throwing error on an attempted pickoff at third.
That 2-0 lead was in serious danger after the Wildcats committed a two-base error in the fifth, leaving runners on second and third with nobody out. An RBI grounder plated one run and moved the other to third with one out. But Larson got a pop-out and strikeout to preserve the lead.
The Pioneers threatened to take the lead again in the seventh but Larson again minimized the damage. An infield single with two on and one out loaded the bases. The tying run scored on a fielders' choice and error to make it 2-2 before Larson induced a double-play grounder to end the frame and keep the game tied.
Muñoz and Zavala (who entered the weekend leading the CCAA in hitting at .467 and is now batting .479) each finished 2-for-3.
The series continues with a doubleheader Saturday at noon and concludes with a single game Sunday at 11 a.m.
