Friday's series-opening doubleheader between Chico State and San Francisco State saw games on both ends of the softball spectrum—a tidy and efficient contest to open the twin bill, followed by a three-hour endurance test in the nightcap that featured a combined 15 hits, 17 walks, and countless full counts and two-strike fouls. The visiting Gators took the opener by shutting out the Wildcats 3-0 in game one, but Chico State rallied to split the double dip with a 9-5 victory in the nightcap.
The doubleheader split keeps the 'Cats in the hunt for a California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Tournament berth—Chico State is now 19-22 overall and 12-16 in CCAA play, as they remained tied for seventh place in the conference standings with Cal Poly Humboldt and one game back of sixth place San Francisco State. The Gators, 25-19 on the season and 13-15 in the CCAA, currently hold the sixth and final CCAA Tournament berth with six regular season games remaining.
The Wildcats produced a combined 10 hits on the day, with Grace Stover, Anastacia Alba, Tayler Berens, and Rachael Bles registering two knocks apiece.
Chico State generated precious little offense in the opener of Friday's doubleheader. San Francisco State starting pitcher Brooklyn Heffernan twirled a four-hit shutout, with the Wildcats' lone scoring threat coming in the bottom of the fourth inning. Heffernan got all the run support she needed courtesy of a bases-loaded walk in the second inning, as well as solo home runs by Dani Guerrera and Mia Misasi, as the Gators cruised to the 3-0 victory.
The 'Cats wasted little time getting on the scoreboard in game two of the twin bill—in the bottom of the first inning, Berens delivered an RBI single; Blaire Willson's groundout to second plated Alba, and Ashley Rocha singled home Berens to quickly put Chico State on top 3-0. San Francisco State put up a three-spot of its own in the top of the second, but in the bottom of the inning the Wildcats took advantage of a pair of two-out Gators errors to score twice and jump back on top 5-3.
Thanks to numerous walks and a hit by pitch, San Francisco State had plenty of traffic on the basepaths—the Gators stranded 14 runners in the game—but couldn't come up with the big hit to whittle down the deficit. In the bottom of the fourth, the 'Cats cashed in a pair of walks when Berens tripled to center field to knock in Stover and Alba; Berens then came home on a Katelyn Oldwin sacrifice fly to make the score 8-3.
The Gators plated a run in the top of the fifth, but the Wildcats got it back in their half of the inning when Stover ripped a double to right center to drive in Bles.
In the top of the seventh, San Francisco State scored again on a two-out triple and a Chico State error, but Mari Takeda Bajan got Teya Vincent to fly out to center field to end the three-hour marathon, cementing the 'Cats' 9-5 victory and the doubleheader split.
The Wildcats and Gators conclude their four-game series with a doubleheader Saturday beginning at 11 a.m. Fans are encouraged to arrive early for the special Senior Day pregame ceremony, honoring Chico State's lone senior Grace Gallagher, starting at approximately 10:40 a.m.
