Just as they can elicit elation, sports can also leave coaches and athletes feeling disappointed and frustrated. That was the case for the Chico State baseball team Wednesday. After looking forward to hosting the 2022 California Collegiate Athletic Association Tournament for months, the Wildcats were eliminated in its opening game, 11-5 against Cal State Dominguez Hills Wednesday at Nettleton Stadium.
 
Willie Lajoie's two-run double staked Chico State to a 2-0 lead, but four different Wildcats pitchers walked a combined six hitter as Cal State Dominguez Hills scored six times in the third. The Wildcats never recovered despite Jack Murphy's five-hit day.
 
"We lost momentum in the third inning… that was it," said Chico State Head Coach Dave Taylor. "The momentum shifted immediately over to that dugout and they had great energy over there and they just drowned us with momentum the rest of the game so we weren't able to get it back."
 
The Wildcats will now wait expectantly for the NCAA Championship Selection Show, scheduled for Sunday at 7 p.m. on NCAA.com. Despite a series sweep at Cal State East Bay last week, Chico State slipped two spots in the West Regional rankings, adding to the drama, The winners of this week's CCAA and Great Northwest Athletic Conference Tournaments and PacWest Conference Champion Point Loma all earn automatic berths to the NCAA Championship Tournament. The other three berths will be granted to at-large teams.
 
Chico State hopes to be one of those, and Taylor believes his team, now 34-15 and ranked No. 28 in the nation, is deserving.
 
"Our guys deserve, 34-15… a regional opportunity with that record," Taylor said. "That's out of our control. We'll just have to wait now until Sunday and see what happens… But we put up numbers to be worthy of a shot for sure. 100 percent."
 
The Wildcats looked good out of the gates. Josh Verdon, a reliever making his first start of the season, retired the Toros in order. Then the first two Chico State batters, Jeffrey Ray and Murphy, singled ahead of Regional Player of the Year nominee Willie Lajoie. The junior first baseman ripped a ball off the left-field wall for a 2-0 lead.
 
But that would be the only run-scoring hit for the Wildcats unitl the ninth inning.
 
Meanwhile, after cutting the lead in half in the second, the Toros took advantage of those third inning walks to grab a 7-2 advantage.
 
Chico State attempted to answer by getting the first two runners on in the bottom half of the inning. Murphy singled and Lajoie doubled. But the Wildcats only got one run on a Grady Morgan sacrifice fly.