It had been 18 days since Chico State played a game at Nettleton Stadium. The thought of returning home might of helped the Wildcats snap out of a nine-game California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) losing skid. But No. 23 Cal State San Bernardino, a surprise team in the conference, slugged its way to an 8-2 win over Chico State to keep the Wildcats in search for a win.
Despite getting help from other results in the CCAA, such as Cal State LA beating Cal State East Bay and Cal State Monterey Bay beating Cal State Dominguez Hills, Chico State missed out on climbing the up the CCAA and catching those two teams for the sixth and final spot to the conference tournament. Instead, the Wildcats (15-18, 9-14, .393) drop down to ninth place behind the Golden Eagles, who are now at .393. East Bay is at 13-15 (.464) and Dominguez Hills is at 13-16 (.448).
Going up against perhaps the most dangerous lineup in the CCAA, left-hander Cody Gentry got his work cut out for him. With one out, the Yotes loaded the bases on a double and a pair of walks, Gentry got a popup for the second out, but a bases-loaded walk and a two-run double gave CSUSB a 3-0 lead.
Gentry put zeroes in the second and third inning. However, he ran into trouble again in the fourth. With runners at the corners, the Yotes traded a 6-4-3 double play for one run to give them a 4-0 lead.
Chico State caught a big break with two outs in its half of the fourth. Xabi Iparraguirre was hit by the pitch and Jeremy Keller was the one with the big break when what looked to be a routine ground out to shortstop would have ended the inning, but the ball took a weird hop that it made Yotes shortstop AJ Barraza run past it for a base hit. Elijah Jackson would hit a single up the middle to load the bases and Ernie Arambula drew a four-pitch walk to force in the Wildcats' first run of the game.
The second run of the game came in the ninth when it really didn't matter to CSUSB. Pinch-hitter Dom Meza led off with a single up the middle, took second on a ground out, the Yotes allowed him to take third uncontested and the run came in on a wild pitch.
Marco Ybarra and Gerrit Erickson both had productive performances in relief. Ybarra threw two shutout innings and Erickson put zeroes on the board three times.
The Wildcats and Yotes return to 'The Nett' for the 9/7-inning doubleheader Saturday. First pitch is at noon.
