Thanks to a little extra effort—and a lot of extra innings—the Chico State softball team played itself back into the postseason discussion Saturday, completing a three-game series sweep of No. 24-ranked Cal State Dominguez Hills by taking both ends of a long doubleheader at University Softball Field. The Wildcats collected back-to-back walk-off wins, edging the Toros 2-1 in eight innings in game one of the double dip, followed by an 11-inning, 4-3 victory in the nightcap.
The two Saturday wins moved Chico State back over the .500 mark on the season, with the Wildcats sitting at 16-15 overall. More importantly, the 'Cats raise their conference record to 9-9, and now hold a three-game cushion over Cal State East Bay for the sixth and final CCAA Tournament berth.
The Wildcat offense banged out a combined 19 hits on the day. Grace Stover led the way with four hits, while Ashley Rocha went 3-for-4 in game two of the doubleheader. Anastacia Alba, Tayler Berens, Hailey Seva, and Rachael Bles each had two hits for the 'Cats.
Game one of Saturday's twin bill began as a pitcher's duel between Alyssa Olague of Dominguez Hills and the Wildcats' Amelie Valdez. The Toros grabbed an early lead with a run in the top of the second inning, but in the bottom of the fourth Chico State got on the board, as Lanie Blomquist's two-out bloop single to right plated Haley Seva to knot up the contest at 1-1.
Neither team was able to break the deadlock in regulation, so the game went into extra innings. Mari Takeda Bajan, on in relief for the Wildcats, set down Dominguez Hills in the top of the eighth, setting the stage for the first of two Wildcat walk-offs on the day. Alba and Berens led off the bottom of the eighth with singles, and Hannah Levy reached on a Toros error, loading the bases. Seva immediately delivered a base hit through the left side of the infield, chasing home Alba and giving Chico State the 2-1 win.
In the nightcap, the Wildcats broke a scoreless tie with two runs in the bottom of the fourth inning—Katelyn Oldwin doubled home Seva, then scored on a line single to center by Rocha. Dominguez Hills used single runs in the fifth and sixth innings to tie the score at 2-2.
The Toros took the lead in the top of the seventh on a two-out RBI single by Maiya Lopez, but Chico State rallied to even the score in the bottom of the seventh when Rocha came home when Alba reached on a two-out error to once again force extra innings.
Takeda Bajan, back in the pitcher's circle for the 'Cats, held Dominguez Hills scoreless through four scoreless frames to once again set up a Chico State walk-off win. Seva and Takeda Bajan led off the bottom of the 11th with singles, and Rocha walked to load the bases. Two batters later, Stover sent Wildcat fans home happy when she ripped a hot shot to the pitcher's circle that glanced off the glove of Toros hurler Sara Bhatt, allowing Seva to score from third and giving Chico State the 4-3 victory to complete the doubleheader and series sweep.
Takeda Bajan picked up victories in both games Saturday, raising her season record to 4-3.
Chico State is on the road next weekend, traveling to Rohnert Park to take on the Seawolves of Sonoma State. The four-game series kicks off with a doubleheader Friday starting at 1 p.m., followed by a Saturday twin bill beginning at 12 noon.
