CARSON – For the first six innings the Chico State baseball team appeared to be dealing with a clogged pipe on the base paths at Toro Field as the Wildcats left eight runners on.
The bats seemed to have unclogged the stoppage as a four-run seventh inning, highlighted by a three-run home run by Cameron Mahaffy, followed by a two-run eighth and one-run ninth gave the Wildcats an 8-2 California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) series-opening win over Cal State Dominguez Hills Friday evening.
While the 'Cats bump their overall record up to 17-21, they improve their CCAA record to 11-17. Though it wasn't a massive climb in the standings, eighth-place Chico State did make up ground for the sixth and final spot to the CCAA Championships after Cal Poly Pomona lost to San Francisco State. With a .393 conference percentage, the Wildcats still need to catch up to the Broncos' .516 percentage as well as leap over Dominguez Hills (19-24, 14-19 CCAA, .424) and Cal State San Marcos (17-21, 11-17 CCAA), which is tied with Chico State in the standings.
Though it wasn't much of a slugfest, it certainly was a hitting day for both teams. Chico State tallied 14 hits while Dominguez Hills had 10. Justin Tamelier gave up seven hits in as many innings of work but limited the Toros to just one run in the fourth inning that tied the game.
The 'Cats left nine runners on base but the chunk of it was in early in the game, including the bases loaded in the second and fourth innings.
In the seventh inning, Logan Drummond reached on a fielder's choice and took second while a rundown was happening. Elijah Jackson singled to put runners at the corners and back-to-back singles to center by Elijah Jackson and Jacob Jablonski allowed the Wildcats to score the go-ahead run. Mahaffy then made the difference in the game with his towering three-run shot to left field, giving Chico State a 5-1 lead.
One inning later, Ernie Arambula and Jeffrey Ray hit back-to-back singles into the outfield and Drummond scored in both of them to make an 8-1 lead.
Jablonski led off the ninth inning with a single to third and eventually scored when Andrew Crane hit into a fielder's choice.