TURLOCK – In a high-scoring series that resulted the Chico State baseball team taking the first three games over Stanislaus State, the Wildcats couldn't complete the sweep Sunday as the Warriors got one big inning of their own to take a 12-6 win.
Despite the loss, the Wildcats (11-6, 7-5 CCAA) leave Warrior Baseball Field on a positive note by outscoring their Highway 99 rival 51-20 with 44 of them driven in by the bats.
Much like the series, the Wildcats went on the attack right away going up against Warrior starter Will Crookham. They had runners in scoring position put couldn't cash in runs. It was the third inning the Wildcats did get on the board. Leadoff man Kaden Bass and Andrew Johnson, who moved into the No. 2 slot for the first time this season, opened the inning with back-to-back singles, Stefan Foley drew a walk to load the bases and Daniel Vierra brought all three runs home on a double to right center. Crookham then walked the next three batters, Jesse Gadd, Thade Miller and Ernie Arambula to force in Vierra for the fourth run.
After retiring the first six batters, Wildcat starter Dylan Day gave up a leadoff triple and a sacrifice fly to put the Warriors (8-10-1, 4-6 CCAA) on the board.
Stan State finally got the big inning it was looking for in the series in the fourth by using eight singles and a sacrifice fly to knock in six runs and give the Warriors a 7-4 lead.
Chris Catalano had a big day for Stan State, going 4-for-5 with home runs in two straight at-bats.
Lorenzo Mariani had a three of the Wildcats' 14 hits in the game. Johnson had a great series, going 9-for-17 with two doubles, a home run and eight RBIs. Vierra didn't get as many at-bats as Johnson did, but he did go 5-for-9 with seven RBIs in the series.
The Wildcats return to Nettleton Stadium to welcome first-place Cal State San Marcos for a four-game series beginning Friday at 6 p.m. The Cougars, led by former longtime assistant coach Jose Garcia, are coming off taking 3-of-4 at home over the defending NCAA West Region champions Cal State San Bernardino.
