HAYWARD—The Chico State softball team knew that to advance to postseason play, it was going to be in for a down-to-the-wire fight in the final weekend of a hard-fought 2023 campaign. That's exactly what materialized Friday afternoon in the Wildcats' series-opening doubleheader with Cal State east Bay—needing to rack up some wins against the Pioneers and get some help to qualify for next week's CCAA Tournament, the 'Cats got things rolling in positive fashion with a 3-2 victory in game one, and appeared to be on the way to a sweep of the twin bill before East Bay used a six-run fourth inning to register a 6-3 win in the nightcap at Pioneer Softball Field in Hayward.
Friday's doubleheader split left Chico State 21-24 on the season, but thanks to San Francisco State losing both ends of a twin bill with Cal State San Bernardino, the Wildcats are tied with the Gators for the sixth and final CCAA Tournament berth with a 14-18 conference record. Cal Poly Humboldt split its series-opening doubleheader with Cal State Monterey Bay Friday, leaving the Lumberjacks a game behind Chico State and San Francisco State in eighth place with a 13-19 conference mark.
The question of which team advances to the postseason will be answered Saturday. With two regular season games remaining, several scenarios are still in play to decide who earns the CCAA Tournament's number six seed. If Chico State finishes Saturday tied with San Francisco State and ahead of Cal Poly Humboldt, the Wildcats hold the tiebreaker over the Gators (the 'Cats going 1-3 against regular season conference champ Sonoma State; San Francisco State was 0-4 versus the Seawolves).
But a tie with Cal Poly Humboldt would knock the Wildcats out of the CCAA Tournament picture, by virtue of the Lumberjacks owning the head-to-head tiebreaker with Chico State.
Cal State East Bay, keeping its ultra-slim postseason hopes alive with the game two victory, is now 24-29 overall and 13-21 in CCAA play. The Pioneers will need to sweep Saturday's series-ending doubleheader with the Wildcats, have San Bernardino sweep San Francisco State, and have Cal Poly Humboldt split its season-concluding double dip with Cal State Monterey Bay for East Bay to vault into sixth place and grab the last conference tournament slot.
The Wildcats collected a combined 14 hits in Friday's doubleheader. Anastacia Alba had four hits, going 2-for-4 in each contest, while Tayler Berens and Ashley Rocha collected two knocks apiece.
Cal State East Bay opened the scoring in the first game of Friday's doubleheader, using a bases-loaded sacrifice fly in the bottom of the first inning to jump in front 1-0. In the top of the third, Chico State grabbed the lead—Berens delivered a one-out single and scored when Alba lined a double to right-center field. Alba would come home on a two-out Pioneers error to put the Wildcats on top 2-1.
The lead didn't last long. East Bay pulled even in the bottom of the third on a leadoff home run by Annelise Garcia. The contest remained deadlocked until the top of the fifth inning—back-to-back one-out singles by Berens and Alba, and a walk to Grace Stover loaded the bases. Berens was forced out at home on a ground ball, but as the ball was being thrown back to East Bay pitcher Anamaria Beard, Alba caught the Pioneers napping and dashed home from third to score, giving Chico State a 3-2 advantage.
East Bay loaded the bases with two outs in the bottom of the sixth inning but came away empty when Wildcats' reliever Amelie Valdez struck out Serena Cadena to end the threat and the inning. The 'Cats were still clinging to their one-run lead when the Pioneers put the potential tying and winning runs aboard with one out in the bottom of the seventh. Valdez took matters into her own hands—facing the heart of the East Bay order, the freshman righthander fanned Adriana Martinez and Cynthia Carrillo to end the game and lock down Chico State's 3-2 victory.
Mari Takeda Bajan worked five-and-a-third innings in the circle to earn the win and raise her season record to 7-5, while Valdez posted her first save of the season.
The Wildcats used back-to-back extra-base hits to draw first blood in game two of the twin bill. In the top of the third inning, Stover was hit by a pitch, then came all the way around to score when Takeda Bajan boomed a double to left-center field. Katelyn Oldwin promptly followed with a double to left, chasing home Takeda Bajan to extend the 'Cats' lead to 2-0.
Chico State added to its advantage in the top of the fourth inning courtesy of an RBI single by Alba, but in the bottom of the frame East Bay erupted, sending 10 batters to the plate and stringing together two walks, two singles, and two doubles to score six times and roar out in front. The Wildcats were unable to answer—save for a fifth inning single by Mia Santos and a walk to Berens in the sixth, Chico State's offense ground to a halt. The 'Cats went out in order in the seventh, giving Cal State East Bay the 6-3 win and the doubleheader split.
The Wildcats and Pioneers close out the four-game series and the regular season Saturday with doubleheader action beginning at 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.
