CHICO – It took the final day of the regular season, but the Chico State baseball team crossed the finish line thanks to a nine-run second inning that gave the Wildcats a 14-6 win over Sonoma State at Nettleton Stadium on Friday to secure a spot to the CCAA Championships next week.
 
The Seawolves responded in game two of the doubleheader with a 10-4 win over the Wildcats, coupled with Cal State LA falling to Stanislaus State later in the day, the Seawolves also punched their ticket to the tournament.
 
Chico State finishes the regular season 25-23 overall and 19-20 in the CCAA. The Wildcats will be the fifth seed no matter the outcome of other conference results on Saturday and will meet No. 4 San Francisco State for the CCAA Championship play-in round at Cal Poly Pomona's Scolinos Field. The conference will announce the first pitch times at the conclusion of Saturday's regular-season finale. The game can be seen on the CCAA Network or listened to on KPAY 1290 AM, FM 102.9 and the KPAY Sports app.
 
The winners of the four-team opening round will advance to the double-elimination bracket with the top two seeds in the conference.
 
After missing the 2023 CCAA Championships, the Wildcats will be making a return to tournament and playing in their 21^st overall.
 
Chico State found itself trailing 2-0 going into its half of the second inning when an offensive surge broke through. With one out, Stefan Foley was hit by the pitch and reached third on Elijah Pascual's single. Michael Baker drew a walk to load the bases and then Patrick Barnum hit a two-run double to left center to tie the game and Thade Miller singled to short that allowed the go-ahead run to score. Troy Kent was hit by the pitch to reload the bases and Daniel Vierra hit a single to left that brought in two more runs. Jeremy Keller found a hole on the left side to knock in two more runs and Foley's second trip to the plate completed the nine-run rally with a two-run home run off the scoreboard in left center, giving Chico State a 9-2 lead.
 
It was the relievers of Joseph Loubert, Scott Lewis and Ryan Silvers that saw action in game one. Loubert got the first start in his Chico State career and went four innings, striking out two. Lewis took over and went three innings and Silvers, despite a hiccup in the ninth inning, got two innings in.
 
The Wildcats found themselves in a hole at the start of game two when a two-out error allowed four unearned runs to score. Sonoma State (25-25, 19-21 CCAA) would take a 7-1 lead in the third inning using a leadoff walk followed by back-to-back home runs.
 
Much like Thursday's doubleheader, Friday's twinbill was another hitting barrage. Chico State tallied 24 hits, including five from Vierra and four from Miller. Sonoma State had 23 hits.