POMONA—Some days, even the best teams have just got to tip its collective cap. The Chico State Wildcats went down to Southern California riding a seven-game winning streak and brimming with confidence, but were stopped dead in their tracks Friday by a dominant performance from Cal Poly Pomona pitcher Will Rudy. With three home runs among their 12 hits, the host Broncos gave the freshman righthander more than enough support, blanking the 'Cats 14-0 in the opener of a four-game series at Scolinos Field.
 
With Friday's loss, Chico State slipped to 11-3 overall and 4-1 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA). Cal Poly Pomona evened its season record at 7-7, and improved to 2-3 in conference play.
 
Rudy was nearly perfect in his eight innings of work, striking out 12 Chico State batters and not issuing a walk. The lone Wildcat to reach base against Rudy was Jarret Lindsay, who broke up Rudy's perfect game bid with an infield single to lead off the sixth inning. Lindsay was soon erased on a double play, and with 1-2-3 innings in both the seventh and eighth, Rudy faced the minimum before the Pomona bullpen finished things off in the ninth.
 
The Wildcats found themselves in a deep hole almost as soon as the game had begun. The Broncos greeted Chico State starting pitcher Cody Gentry with five straight hits in the bottom of the first to plate four runs, and then scored later in the inning on a Wildcats' error to vault in front 5-0.
 
Pomona scored three more times in the third inning, as Tyler Chaffee provided the big blow with a two-run homer. Freshman righthander Gerrit Erickson was summoned from the Chico State bullpen in the fourth inning and settled things down a bit, allowing just one run—a solo homer by the Broncos' Ricky Nunez—in the fifth.
 
With the 'Cats unable to generate any offense against Rudy, Pomona pulled away late, scoring three times in the seventh inning to go up 12-0, and using a two-run homer by Ryon Knowles in the eighth to extend the Broncos' lead even further.
 
Chico State finally made some noise in the ninth. Nathan Meredith led off the inning with a single, and Darrien Cossio drew a two-out walk. Willie Lajoie followed with a base hit, but the Wildcats' bid to avoid the shutout was foiled when Meredith was tagged out between third and home for the game's final out, securing Pomona's 14-0 victory.
 
The four-game series continues Saturday with a doubleheader scheduled at 12 noon. Mike Baca will provide the play-by-play locally on KPAY Sportstalk 1290-AM, with the broadcast simulcast online. Live streaming video is offered through the CCAA Network; for $9.95 per month, fans can access every Chico State game—home and away—along with all live and archived CCAA matchups. Live Stats will also be available.
 
Audio, live streaming video, and Live Stats links can be found at www.chicowildcats.com in the calendar section of the website's homepage, and on the Chico State baseball schedule page.