SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The long journey back to rainy Chico will be a happy one for the Chico State baseball team as the Wildcats responded from a heartbroken season-opening, extra-inning loss on Friday by taking a doubleheader win on Saturday at fifth-ranked Point Loma to take the three-game series over the defending NCAA West Region champions.
Game one saw Chico State's offense come up with clutch moments as well as taking advantage of Point Loma's errors in route to a 12-3 win. Evan Tomlinson was the highlight in game two by throwing six shutout innings in his Chico State debut. It contributed to the Wildcats' 3-0 win to complete the doubleheader sweep.
Game 1 – Chico State 12, Point Loma 3
It didn't take long for Chico State to get on the board. Going up against Kenny Esposito, Thade Miller opened the game with a single to center, Daniel Vierra drew a one-out walk and Michael Baker was hit by the pitch with two away to load the bases. A routine play at first allowed Ayden Norby to reach, the inning to continue and Miller to score in the first run. Jesse Gadd fought a seven-pitch battle to draw a walk, allowing Vierra to jog home from third and give Chico State a 2-0 lead.
Chico State took advantage of another Point Loma error in the second inning. Juan Nunez lead off having reached safely on a throwing error by the shortstop. He took second on a single by Troy Kent and third on a flyout hit by Vierra. Carson Case brought in the third run on a single to right.
The difference in the game came in the third inning. Nordby was hit by the pitch to start the inning off and Gadd followed with a two-run home run to right, extending Chico State's lead to five.
Point Loma did get on the board in its half of the third, when leadoff man Luke Reece hit an inning-opening home run to center. One inning later, a bases-loaded walk drove in the Sea Lions' second run.
Chico State got those two runs back in the sixth. Nunez and Miller drew back-to-back one-out walks, Kent was hit by the pitch to load the bases. Vierra hit into a fielder's choice that resulted a throwing error while attempt to throw Kent out at second, allowing Nunez to score. Case followed with an RBI single to give the Wildcats a 7-2 lead.
The Wildcats were not done scoring as they plated four more runs in the eighth. Case drew a bases-loaded walk, Baker hit a two-run single, Gadd earned an RBI on a sacrifice fly and Wright reached on a fielder's choice to run Chico State's lead to 12-3.
Jeremy Keller got the starting nod for Chico State, throwing 3.1 innings on 72 pitches before handing the ball to Aaron McCurley, who threw 3.2 frames to get credit for the win. Christian Dijkman and Lucas White each tossed one shutout inning.
Game 2 – Chico State 3, Point Loma 0
The series finale got off to a late start after game one took more than three hours. But the game was all pitching. Tomlinson had a good performance on the mound, throwing six of the scheduled seven innings, striking out three while walking two and allowing three hits on 82 pitches. He faced little pressure as the Sea Lions could only get a runner to second base twice.
Ryan Silvers struck out the lone batter he faced in the seventh and Marco Ibarra closed it out with a pair of groundouts to earn his first save at Chico State since February 4, 2023.
A leadoff home run by Case in the second inning proved to be all the scoring Chico State needed. In the fourth inning, Vierra led off with a single and scored all the way from first when Baker's single to center was misfielded by the center fielder. Casey Vogan's two-out single scored in Baker, who represented the third run.
The Wildcats will now open Nettleton Stadium with a seven-game homestand, starting with a three-game series with Northwest Nazarene. Game one is scheduled for Thursday at 2 p.m. pending weather. The game can be heard on KPAY AM 1290 and 102.9 FM with Mike Baca on the call.
