The 2023 regular season ends this weekend, and with four games remaining, the Chico State softball team is faced with a couple of big questions: will the Wildcats finish strong and punch their ticket to the postseason, or will they see their 2023 campaign come to a close? It will all be determined when the 'Cats tangle with Cal State East Bay in a huge four-game series Friday and Saturday at Pioneer Softball Field in Hayward.
The series begins with a doubleheader Friday starting at 1 p.m., with a Saturday twin bill slated for 11 a.m.
Fans can follow the action online with Live Stats and live streaming video, with links located on the Wildcat Athletics homepage and the softball schedule page. Accessing the live video stream requires a monthly subscription fee that grants users access to every CCAA event on the network, home and away.
Chico State is 20-23 on the year and sits alone in seventh place in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) with a 13-17 record. With the top six teams in the conference advancing to the May 4–7 CCAA Tournament, the Wildcats begin the final weekend of the regular season one game behind sixth place San Francisco State and one game ahead of eighth place Cal Poly Humboldt. The 'Cats split a four-game set with the Gators last weekend after dropping three of four earlier in the week to Humboldt.
If Chico State can win all four games against East Bay, it would eliminate Humboldt from postseason contention and force San Francisco State to win three out of four in its home series against Cal State San Bernardino to prevent the Wildcats from leapfrogging into sixth place, grabbing the final CCAA Tournament berth, and reaching postseason play for the seventh consecutive season.
The 'Cats, winners of seven of its 17 April contests, will need to dramatically turn their road fortunes around this weekend. Chico State has struggled away from University Softball Field this season, winning just six of 21 road games in 2023.
The Wildcats are batting .250 as a team this season and rank third in the CCAA with 65 stolen bases. The Chico State pitching staff is fifth among the 10 conference teams with a 2.56 team earned run average and has struck out 228 batters—second-most in the CCAA.
Cal State East Bay, 23-28 overall and in ninth place in the CCAA with a 12-20 conference record, is still mathematically alive to snare the sixth and final CCAA Tournament slot, but the Pioneers would pretty much need to sweep the Wildcats and get a lot of help on the final weekend to reach postseason play.
East Bay, which hasn't played in well over a week (the Pioneers' last action was a doubleheader split with San Francisco State on April 18), has dropped eight of its last 11 games heading into the weekend.
The Pioneers are batting a collective .264 on the season, ranking fourth in the CCAA in stolen bases (62) and fifth in home runs (17). East Bay pitching sports a 3.22 ERA—last in the conference—but is fifth in strikeouts (181).
Chico State has won the last eight meetings with Cal State East Bay and 15 of the last 16 dating back to 2018. The Wildcats hold a 78-39 advance in the all-time series between the two teams.
