SAN BERNARDINO – After rain postponed the CCAA baseball series opener between Chico State and host Cal State San Bernardino on Friday, the two teams got the complete opposite Saturday with not a cloud in the sky as the Wildcats took the first of two doubleheaders over the defending NCAA West Region champions, taking the first game, 9-3, and the second, 8-4.
The Wildcats improve to 19-11 overall and 14-11 in conference play. The Coyotes, meanwhile, drop to 14-16 overall and 7-13 in the league.
Daniel Vierra went 5-for-8 on the day with a double and two RBIs. Michael Baker, Jeremy Keller, Alexander Johnson and Stefan Foley each had three hits.
On the pitching side, starters Marco Ibarra and Kevin Lyons each got the win of their respective games after making it through at least five innings with two runs allowed. Ibarra had four strikeouts while Lyons had two. Keller also saw action on the mount. He and Scott Lewis each threw two innings of shutout relief.
The scoring difference in game one came in the fifth inning. With one out, Johnson and Troy Kent drew back-to-back walks and scored on Vierra's double to center field. Chico State added three more runs on the benefit of back-to-back inning-opening errors in the sixth. Lorenzo Mariani scored in the first run on a sacrifice bunt that turned into a mental error on the Coyotes. Kent, who went into a slump in last weekend's series, may have snapped out of it with a two-run double to right center, giving the Wildcats a 7-3 lead.
San Bernardino's defensive woes on the day continued into game two. In the opening inning, Johnson and Vierra singled and then another back-to-back errors allowed the first two runs to come in. Andrew Crane knocked in the third and fourth run of the first inning with a base-hit up the middle.
In the second inning, the Wildcats got three straight singles from Kent, Vierra and Foley to drive in the eventual winning run. One inning later, Michael Baker led off with a double and Kaden Bass brought in the sixth run with a base hit to center.
Chico State got two more runs in the seventh. Vierra led off with a single, Foley followed with an RBI triple and Keller knocked in his second run with a single to right center, giving the Wilcats an 8-4 lead.
The two teams will play the 9/7-inning doubleheader Sunday at 11 a.m.
