The Chico State baseball team got some good news Saturday despite being swept by Cal State Monterey Bay. While the Wildcats were losing by scores of 8-6 and 4-1, many of the other results in the California Collegiate Athletic Association were going their way: Cal State East Bay lost at Cal State San Bernardino, locking up the Wildcats' spot in the CCAA Tournament, and Cal State LA's doubleheader sweep of Cal Poly Pomona keeps the Wildcats tied for second place with the Broncos.
 
The 22^nd-ranked Wildcats, who had lost just four times at home this season prior to this weekend, will seek to avoid the four-game series sweep at the hands of the No. 14 Otters in Sunday's noon series finale. Six Chico State seniors—Austin McFarlane, Jack Murphy, Willie Lajoie, Andrew Renteria, Tyler Chivens, and Braeden Gowdy—will be honored in a ceremony set to begin at approximately 11:35 a.m.
 
Cal State Monterey Bay clinched the CCAA title with its first win Saturday and improved to 36-12 overall and 31-8 in conference play. They'll wrap up their regular-season slate Sunday and are not scheduled to play again until they return to Nettleton Stadium, host site of the CCAA Tournament, May 11-14.
 
For a moment, it felt like the day might turn out differently. Jack Murphy's two-run homer over the right-field in the sixth inning staked Chico State to a 4-2 lead in Saturday's opening game. But the Otters rallied right away, touching the Wildcats' bullpen for four runs and a 6-4 lead.
 
Willie Lajoie's RBI-single in the night cut the lead to 8-6, but that's as close as Chico State could get. Lajoie was hit by a pitch in the first, singled in the third, and singled in the fifth to run his reached base streak to 12 consecutive trips to the plate. During that stretch he was 8-for-8 with three walks and a hit-by-pitch.  
 
Wildcats starter Cody Gentry gave up just two runs (one earned) on five hits in six innings of work. Josh Verdon took the loss in relief, falling to 1-3.
 
Grady Morgan finished the game with three hits, while Jack Murphy and Elijah Jackson had two apiece.
 
McFarlane took the loss in the nightcap despite a strong start. A three-run homer was the big blow against him during a four-run second inning, but those were the only runs he allowed in six frames. Dylan Gordon and Julian Eskridge combined on a scoreless seventh.
 
With two on and one out, Jarret Lindsay nearly made it a 4-3 game with a shot to the left field wall, but it came up just short and he had to settle for a sacrifice fly that made it 4-1.
 
Kyle Dobson and Andrew Crane had the only two hits of the game for the Wildcats against Joseph Standley, who went the route, striking out eight, and improving to 6-1.
 
Following Sunday's series finale, the Wildcats will play a four-game set at Cal State East Bay next Thursday through Saturday to wrap up the regular season.