The swirling winds at University Softball Field—including frequent gusts of close to 40 miles per hour—served as more of an irritant than playing any sort of major factor in Chico State's Saturday doubleheader against Cal State East Bay, but they did add to the wildness that occurred between the chalk lines nearly the entire afternoon. The end result: the Wildcats took both ends of the twin bill, beating the visiting Pioneers 6-3 in the opener, then winning in walk-off fashion 8-7 in the nightcap to complete a four-game series sweep.
 
Chico State not only improved to 30-11 on the season with the two Saturday victories, the Wildcats, thanks to their current six-game winning streak and a 20-8 conference record, clinched one of the six postseason berths in next month's CCAA Tournament. Cal State East Bay, which is still in the mix for postseason play, saw its current losing streak reach five in a row, dropping the Pioneers to 19-19 overall and 10-14 in CCAA play.
 
Saturday's game two victory also helped Chico State Head Coach Angel Shamblin reach a personal milestone. Shamblin has now won at least 30 games in a season eight times since taking over the program in 2010.
 
Nina Revoir collected four of the 'Cats' 16 hits Saturday, with Grace Gallagher—the hero of the nightcap's walk-off win—delivering three knocks on the day. Reilani Peleti, Grace Stover, and Tayler Berens each had two hits for the Wildcats.
 
The Wildcats grabbed an early 2-0 lead in the twin bill's opening contest, as a two-out triple by Revoir in the bottom of the first inning drove in Peleti and Alani Nguyen. Chico State starting pitcher Brooke Larsen kept East Bay off the scoreboard through the first three frames, but the Pioneers plated a run in the top of the fourth to cut the 'Cats' lead in half.
 
Chico State answered in its half of the fourth by putting up a four-spot—Berens knocked in Stover with a one-out triple to right, and then scored on a wild pitch. Before the inning was over, Revoir doubled home Peleti and Nguyen to make it a 6-1 game.
 
Cal State East Bay used a two-run triple by Sarah Fukushima in the top of the sixth to trim the deficit to three. Mari Takeda Bajan came on in relief to get the final two outs of the inning, then retired the Pioneers in order in the seventh to lock down the Wildcats' 6-3 victory.
 
Larsen struck out 11 batters to get credit for the win, raising her season record to 15-4. Takeda Bajan was credited with her second save of the year.
 
Cal State East Bay drew first blood in the nightcap, scoring a pair of runs off Takeda Bajan in the top of the third. Chico State got one of those runs back in its half of inning, with Peleti's one-out single down the right field line chasing home Stover.
 
East Bay added to its advantage with a run in the top of the fourth, and led 3-1 heading into the bottom of the sixth. Down to their final six outs, the Wildcats roared out in front with six runs in the frame. Gallagher got things rolling with an RBI single, and with the bases loaded, Katelyn Oldwin drew a walk to force home Alexandria Allen with the tying run. With two outs, Anastacia Alba scored from third on a passed ball to put the Wildcats in front, then Angel Lopez followed with a two-run double. Lopez would cap off the rally by scoring on an East Bay error, giving Chico State a seemingly comfortable 7-3 lead going into the seventh inning.
 
To the Wildcats' horror, the Pioneers did some rallying of their own, scoring four times in the top of the seventh to tie the ballgame. With only one out, East Bay looked poised to take the lead, but two straight groundouts stranded the potential go-ahead run at second base.
 
The 'Cats ended the wild and windy day in dramatic fashion in the bottom of the seventh. With one out, Revoir singled through the left side, and Gallagher immediately followed with a double to the center field gap. Revoir came all the way around from first to score, giving Chico State the exciting 8-7 walk-off win to wrap up the doubleheader and series sweep.
 
Takeda Bajan was the Wildcats' winning pitcher; she is now 6-3 on the season.
 
The Wildcats will take next week off before resuming CCAA play April 22–23 with a four-game road series in Turlock versus Stanislaus State.