Eight different Wildcats had a multi-hit game. Seven pitchers combined to strike out 19 and walk just three. Wednesday's doubleheader sweep of Simpson University was a satisfying one for the Chico State baseball team, which started slow before winning the first game 14-5 and the second one 12-2.
 
Ranked No. 16 in the first regular-season National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Poll earlier Wednesday afternoon, the Wildcats lived up to the billing, improving to 7-2 on the season, including 6-0 at home. Jack Murphy drove in the go-ahead run with a two-run double in the fifth inning of the opening game, and Grady Morgan slammed a two-run homer and drove in four. Gavin Kinney closed the door with three shutout innings, striking out five, for his second save in as many Chico State games. Starter Cody Gentry threw six frames and got the win.
 
In the nightcap, Zack Morris, Hunter Boylan, Kyle Dobson, Jordan Mello, and Andrew Renteria all started for just the first or second time this season, and all five produced a multi-hit game.   Relievers Josh Verdon, Kevin Lyons, Tyler Chivens, and Eric Hill combined to allow just one hit and strike out seven in five shutout frames. Verdon, the only one to throw two innings, earned the win to improve to 1-0. Starter Austin McFarlane went two innings and struck out three.
 
Chico State is now 11-2 all time against Simpson, including 10-1 at Nettleton Stadium. The Wildcats are off until the weekend of February 25–27 when they host rival Sonoma State for a four-game series to open California Collegiate Athletic Association play.
 
They trailed 5-3 early in the opener before taking control with a three-run fifth inning and a four-run sixth. Murphy's two-run double to right-center gave them a 6-5 advantage through five, and Morgan's two-run blast to the opposite field gap capped the scoring in the sixth, making it 10-5. Morgan added a two-run double down the left-field line in the seventh as the Wildcats pulled away. Leadoff hitter Jeffrey Ray went 2-for-4 with two walks, a stolen base, and three runs scored. Jacob Jablonski reached base four times (three walks and a hit-by-pitch) and scored twice.
 
Chico State fell behind early again in the nightcap, 2-0 after the first half inning, but the pitching staff and defense shut Simpson down from there. Meanwhile, Chico State's offense posted multiple runs in each of the first five innings to run away with the win. Dobson and Mello drove in a runs in the first to tie the game at 2 apiece. Renteria's second-inning RBI single gave Chico State the lead for good, and Morris singled in another run. Cole Arnold and Gabe Arellano executed a double steal in the third ahead of an unearned run. Boylan doubled home a run in the fourth to spark a three-run inning. And Nathan Meredith drove in two runs with a single through the left side in the fifth.
 
Mello and Renteria racked up three hits apiece. Morris, Boylan, and Dobson had two hits apiece. Arnold reached base three times in four at-bats.
 
The Wildcats are now hitting a CCAA-leading .348 as a team and also lead the conference in runs, extra-base hits, slugging percentage, and on-base percentage.