The 19
th-ranked Chico State baseball team will attempt to continue tearing the cover off the ball at a torrid pace when Cal State San Marcos makes its way to town for a four-game series at Nettleton Stadium this weekend. The series starts with a single game Friday at 6 p.m., continues with a doubleheader Saturday at noon, and concludes with a single game Sunday at 11 a.m.
All four games will be broadcast locally on AM-1290 and FM 102.9 KPAY Sports and streamed (audio and video) online. Links are available on the homepage and baseball schedule page at
www.chicowildcats.com.
Chico State is coming off a four-game road sweep of Stanislaus State in which it outscored the Warriors 65-21. The Wildcats have reached double digits in scoring in nine of 15 conference games and 14 of 24 games overall. They lead the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) and rank seventh in the nation with a team batting average of .343.
They also rank seventh in the nation in runs per game thanks in part to their unselfish style of play. The Wildcats lead the nation with 25 sacrifice flies and rank sixth in sacrifice bunts with 21.
But they've relied on more than just their offense. Chico State also ranks third in the CCAA with a team earned run average of 4.57 and the defense ranks fourth in the nation and leads the CCAA in double plays turned per game (1.08).
All those efforts have resulted in a 19-5 start to the season, including 12-3 in the CCAA. They Wildcats enter this weekend's series 1.5 games ahead of second-place Cal State Monterey Bay and Cal State Dominguez Hills.
Cal State San Marcos, which ranks fourth in the CCAA in team batting average (.297), 10
th in team ERA (7.55) and 10
thin fielding percentage (.952), enters the series with a record of 9-13 overall and 5-7 in the CCAA. The Cougars are coming off a series in which they took three of four from Cal State San Bernardino, which knocked the Coyotes out of first place. But they are just 1-4 away from home. Meanwhile, Chico State is 13-1 at Nettleton Stadium.
