CHICO – Ethan Lay threw 7.1 innings in his impressive outing but the Chico State baseball team left 13 runners on base and went 2-for-18 on RBI opportunities as Cal State Dominguez Hills scored a pair of unearned runs late to sneak by in game three 2-1 on a rainy Friday afternoon.
Even though light rain dropping onto Nettleton Stadium delayed first pitch by 30 minutes, Lay got off to a strong start in his sixth outing of the season, retiring the first 10 batters he faced. He ended the day with six strikeouts and no walks on 88 pitches.
The Wildcats (17-11, 12-11 CCAA) collectively had 12 hits and two walks in the game. They had a base runner every inning, seven of which had at least one in scoring position, particularly third base.
Chico State's only run came in the fourth inning. Elijah Pascual hit a one-out single and scored all the way from first on a hit-and-run play. Carson Stevens hooked an RBI double down the left field line to put the 'Cats ahead 1-0. The Wildcats would go on to load the bases but could not cash in additional runs and had to settle with the one.
Lay got the backing of the defense in the middle innings, including a double play in the fourth and fifth. It was the seventh inning when luck ran out as a passed ball on what should have been an inning-ending strikeout allowed the Toros to have another opportunity at the plate, which they did with game-tying double to left center.
Errors would continue to haunt the Wildcats in the top of the eighth. Lay allowed the leadoff man to reach base on a single, a failed pickoff play allowed the runner to reach third and a sacrifice fly to center moved the Toros ahead, 2-1. A few more errors by the Chico State defense kept Dominguez Hills going and even had the bases loaded, but reliever Joseph Loubert was able to get out of the inning allowing the unearned run.
The Wildcats did have rallies going in the late innings too. Starting with the eighth inning, Stevens led off with a base hit up the middle and Michael Baker laid down a sacrifice bunt to move the tying run into scoring position. Pinch-hitter Stefan Foley hit a hard ground ball that accidentally hit Stevens, who was called out for interference. The Wildcats were unable to bring in the tying run.
Loubert went 1-2-3 in the ninth inning to keep it a one score game going to the home half. Andrew Crane led off the ninth drawing a walk, No. 3 man Troy Kent popped out to second for the first out and Daniel Vierra was hit by the pitch to put the winning run on base. Jeremy Keller came up to the plate and was the victim of a game-inning double play.
The Wildcats and Toros look to close out the four-game series Saturday at 11 a.m.
