The Chico State softball team certainly has things going its way—the Wildcats are currently riding a season-best eight-game winning streak, they're tied for first place in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA), and ascended to No. 11 in the latest National Fastpitch Coaches Association Division II Top 25 poll. The 'Cats look to continue tapping into that positive mojo this weekend when they travel to the Bay Area to face a very good San Francisco State squad Friday and Saturday.
The four-game series gets underway with a doubleheader Friday beginning at 12 noon, and concludes with a Saturday twin bill starting at noon. Fans unable to attend in person can follow the action online with live streaming video via 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, with links found at
www.chicowildcats.com in the calendar section of the website's homepage, and on the Chico State softball schedule page.
The Wildcats enter the weekend with an 18-4 record on the season, and share first place with Cal State San Marcos in the CCAA standings with a 10-2 conference record. Chico State is coming off a series sweep of Cal Poly Humboldt last weekend in Arcata, where the 'Cats racked up six home runs among their 44 hits and outscored the Lumberjacks 33-12 over the four contests.
San Francisco State is 12-10 overall and is tied for fourth place in the CCAA with a 7-5 conference mark. Last weekend the Gators traveled to Turlock and split a four-game set with Stanislaus State.
The Wildcats are batting .305 as a team—fourth-highest in the 10-team CCAA—and ranks second in the conference with 12 home runs. The Chico State pitching staff is third in the CCAA with a 2.37 team earned run average, and leads the conference in strikeouts (184), shutouts (8), and opponent batting average (.210).
San Francisco State is batting a collective .298 so far on the season, but it's what the Gators do on the basepaths that highlight their offensive attack. San Francisco State has stolen an average of over three bases per game, and has a CCAA-high 76 thefts in 2022. The Gators pitching corps is ranked eighth in the conference with a team ERA of 3.83.
Individually, Nina Revoir leads the Wildcats (and is eighth in the CCAA) with a .406 batting average, and she ranks among the top five conference hitters in home runs (4) and runs batted in (18). In the pitcher's circle, Brooke Larsen tops all CCAA hurlers in shutouts (6), complete games (12), and strikeouts (122), as well as sharing the conference lead with 11 victories.
San Francisco State's top hitter is one of the best in the CCAA. Sophomore Brylynn Vallejos is batting .446 heading into the weekend series with the Wildcats, and leads the conference with 21 stolen bases. The Gators' No. 1 pitcher is freshman righthander Kaitlyn Maddux (5-7 record, 5.57 ERA). Another freshman righty, Lexi Holihan, is 4-1 on the year with a 4.28 ERA.
The last time the two teams met on the softball diamond was immediately prior to the COVID-19 shutdown of the 2020 season, when Chico State took three of four March 6–8 in San Francisco. The Wildcats hold a 113-54 lead over the Gators in the all-time series.
