CHICO, Calif. – The No. 11 Chico State baseball team made two rally efforts in Saturday's doubleheader against Cal State East Bay. The Wildcats came from being down two runs to take game one 8-7, but in the nightcap they couldn't recover from a six-run inning and fell to the Pioneers 7-4.
The Wildcats move to 16-8 overall and 9-6 in the CCAA while the Pioneers move to 10-11 overall and 6-5 in conference play.
Game 1 – Chico 8, CSUEB 7
Chico State immediately found itself down at the start after two game-opening walks, a single and a groundout knocked in two runs and an unearned run came across to give East Bay its third run in the inning.
The Wildcats had to play from behind most of the game. Down 7-4 at the seventh inning stretch, the Wildcats' rally began in their half of the inning when Ernie Arambula collected his third hit in the game and with two down Troy Kent hit a booming two-run shot to right to bring the deficit down to one.
It was the ninth inning when Chico State's rally came to full fruition. Carson Case led off with a walk, Arambula moved him into scoring position with a successful sacrifice bunt and Thade Miller knocked him in with a double to left. Then with two outs, Daniel Vierra went opposite field and found the hole on the right side of the infield to walk off the game.
Arambula went 3-for-3 in the game with a double in the third that turned into a run that brought the deficit down to 3-2.
It appeared to be an off-day for Evan Tomlinson, who received a no-decision but had to pitch from behind after giving up the three runs in the first. He went on to throw six innings giving up four earned runs on seven hits and two walks.
Joseph Loubert pitched 1.2 shutout innings allowing three hits and a walk. Dylan Adelman came up clutch in the ninth inning that would eventually setup the win for Chico State. The freshman entered the game with the bases loaded and two outs and he got out of the jam by getting third out on a groundball.
Game 2 – CSUEB 7, Chico 4
Marco Ibarra got the starting nod for the scheduled seven-inning game. The senior retired the first six batters he faced while the offense managed to get a run across in the first inning when Miller led off with a double to right and scored on Vierra's two-out single to right center.
Ibarra was able to pitch out of jams in the third and fourth innings, but the Pioneers were able to break through in the fifth by sending 11 batters to the plate and score six runs on the Wildcats' pitching.
Chico State did appear to be on the verge of a recovery in its half of the fifth inning but the Wildcats could only get two runs across after one base-running mistake interrupted the rally.
Arambula opened the sixth inning with a single up the middle, took second on a groundball and scored on Juan Nunez's base hit to center to make it a 6-4 deficit. East Bay got that one run back in its half of the seventh inning.
Miller went 3-for-3 in the game with a pair of stolen bases. Vierra had two RBIs to finish with three throughout the day.
The Wildcats will try and split the four-game CCAA series Sunday at 11 a.m.
