The Wildcat baseball team pulled ahead in wins for the CCAA North Division in a game against Sonoma State at Nettleton Stadium on Friday, April 22.

Before this game, Chico State was tied in the NCAA North Division with the Cal State Monterey Bay Otters at 15 wins. The Otters have 12 losses on their record, while Chico State has 11. This extra win against Sonoma State advanced the Wildcats, allowing them to snatch first place in the North Division.

If the ‘Cats continue to heat up and win, they will guarantee themselves a spot in the CCAA Championship Tournament held in Stockton May 12-15.

The Chico State baseball team displayed its relentless group mentality throughout the rainy game against the Seawolves for its home crowd. Not even rainstorms could break this team’s focus.

Junior pitcher Clayton Gelfand pitched five consecutive shutout frames for the first five innings. Between Gelfand and junior pitchers Grant Wright and Colton Fletcher, the ‘Cats achieved 16 strikeouts.

Meanwhile, teammates were hitting well and scoring. Chico State had a total of 12 hits, compared to Sonoma State’s six. Sophomore infielder Cameron Santos, junior infielder Andru Cardenas and junior outfielder Sonny Cortez all had two RBIs apiece.

The Wildcats scored eight runs total by the fourth inning, holding the Seawolves scoreless.

Sonoma State scored its first run at the top of the sixth inning with a home run and rolled from there. The ‘Cats let up five runs at the top of the seventh, allowing the Seawolves to close the gap and trail 6-8.

Two additional Wildcat runs in the bottom of the seventh inning and two scoreless frames in the eighth solidified Chico State’s win 10-6.

The baseball team will head to San Francisco State for their second to last series of the season starting on Friday, April 29.

Anna Baytosh can be reached at [email protected] or @anna_baytosh on Twitter.