CARSON—The Chico State softball team may have seen its 2023 season come to an end Saturday during the finals of the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Tournament, but head coach Angel Shamblin's scrappy band of Wildcats fought long and hard through 19 innings and nearly six hours of action at Toro Diamond in Carson. Within one out of capturing the conference crown, the 'Cats instead came up short in two marathon extra-inning games, falling to Cal State Dominguez Hills 8-5 in nine innings before bowing in 10 innings to the Toros 4-1 in the winner-take-all championship final.
 
The two losses Saturday gave Chico State a final overall season record of 26-26. Cal State Dominguez Hills, which now moves on to the NCAA Championship Tournament with the CCAA's automatic qualifier, finished the day 34-18 overall.
 
Though they had no wins to show for it, the Wildcats' offense turned in its most productive day all season. Chico State racked up 27 hits Saturday, with Grace Stover and Hannah Levy leading the way with four knocks apiece. Tayler Berens, Anastacia Alba, Brianna Swihart, Rachael Bles, and Mia Santos all chipped in with three hits, but it wasn't quite enough to take down the Toros and keep the 2023 campaign alive.
 
In Saturday's opening contest, Chico State drew first blood in its first at-bat of the day. Stover and Levy delivered back-to-back two-out singles in the bottom of the first inning, and with Swihart at the plate, Stover scored from third on an Alyssa Olague wild pitch, giving the Wildcats a 1-0 lead. Dominguez Hills immediately answered, knotting up the contest in the top of the second on a Kaylee Hull solo home run that sailed over the scoreboard in right-center field.
 
The 'Cats moved back in front in the bottom of the second inning. Ashley Rocha reached base on a Toros error and promptly scored when Hailey Seva split the right-center field gap for an RBI double. The 2-1 lead held until the top of the fourth, when Dominguez Hills cashed in a two-out walk to Alani Nguyen with a run-scoring double by Nayah Pola, once again tying the game.
 
The Wildcats went up 4-2 in the bottom of the fourth—Rocha and Bles led off the inning with singles, and both scored when Beren's two-out single was bobbled by the Toros in center field.
 
Mari Takeda Bajan came on in relief for the 'Cats in the top of the fifth and walked Dominguez Hills leadoff hitter Alex Davis. Chico State, though, snuffed out the would-be rally before it had even begun, turning a 1-6-3 double play. In the sixth, Takeda Bajan worked around a pair of walks to hang another zero on the Toros side of the scoreboard.
 
Three outs away from elimination, Dominguez Hills rallied in the top of the seventh inning, pulling to within a run on an RBI groundout by Kianna Abellera, then taking the lead on a two-out, two-run double by Hull. Down but not out, the Wildcats came back to tie the score 5-5 in the bottom of the seventh when Swihart singled home pinch runner Blaire Willson, sending the game into extra innings.
 
Neither team could score in the eighth, but in the ninth the Toros used a leadoff homer by Davis to go out in front, then added a pair of insurance runs later in the frame to extend their advantage to three. This time, Chico State could not answer. Despite Levy's fourth hit of the contest, the Wildcats failed to score in the bottom of the ninth, giving Dominguez Hills the 8-5 victory and forcing a winner-take-all game to decide the tournament champion.
 
Chico State, the designated visiting team in the second game, scored in the top of the first inning when Swihart singled home Alba from second. Dominguez Hills evened up the contest in the top of the third inning on a two-out RBI single by Jay Ross.
 
The Wildcats put runners in scoring position in both the fourth and fifth inning, but came away empty each time. The Toros had a chance to take the lead in the bottom of the fifth, but stranded to potential go-ahead run at third base.
 
In the top of the seventh, singles by Stover and Berens provided Chico State with another scoring opportunity, but again the Wildcats were denied. In the bottom of the inning, the Toros used a two-out single and a walk to put the winning run into scoring position, but a great fielding play in the hole at shortstop by Bles resulted in the third out, and for the second time the two teams were headed to extras.
 
The 'Cats failed to score in the top of the eighth inning, while in Dominguez Hills' half of the frame, the Toros put runners at first and second base but could not push across the game-winner.
 
After both teams put up zeroes in the ninth inning and Chico State went out in order in the top of the 10th, the game—and the Wildcats' season—came to an end on one swing of Pola's bat. With two on and two out, Pola launched a Amelie Valdez pitch over the center field fence, giving Dominguez Hills the 4-1 walk-off win and the CCAA Tournament title.
 
Following the game, Berens, Stover, Santos and Katelyn Oldwin were named to the CCAA All-Tournament team.
 
 
2023 CCAA SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT
May 3–6, Toro Diamond, Carson
Hosted by Cal State Dominguez Hills
 
Wednesday, May 3 — first round single elimination games
Game 1: No. 6 Chico State 5, No. 3 Cal State San Marcos 2 (San Marcos eliminated)
Game 2: No. 4 Cal State Dominguez Hills 8, No. 5 Cal State Monterey Bay 3 (Monterey Bay eliminated)
(No. 1 seed Sonoma State and No. 2 seed Cal State San Bernardino had first round byes)
 
Thursday, May 4 (four remaining teams re-seeded/double elimination)
Game 3: No. 4 Chico State 3, No. 1 Sonoma State 0
Game 4: No. 3 Cal State Dominguez Hills 9, No. 2 Cal State San Bernardino 3
Game 5: Sonoma State 6, Cal State San Bernardino 5 (8 innings) (San Bernardino eliminated)
 
Friday, May 5
Game 6: Chico State 2, Cal State Dominguez Hills 1
Game 7: Cal State Dominguez Hills 5, Sonoma State 1 (Sonoma State eliminated) 

Saturday, May 6
Game 8: Cal State Dominguez Hills 8, Chico State 5 (9 innings)
Game 9: Cal State Dominguez Hills 4, Chico State 1 (10 innings)
 
Cal State Dominguez Hills wins the CCAA Tournament championship