The Wildcats split the first two games of the series against, number eight ranked, UC San Diego, which started with 15 straight shutout innings before the Tritons bats woke up in their final two innings of game two.
Great defense and good pitching lead the way for the Wildcats in game one whereas in game two walks hurt the Wildcats.
Game one
The Wildcats baseball team came into Friday’s game undefeated on the road and the Tritons came into the game winners of 10 straight games. The Wildcats shutout UC San Diego 3-0.
The defense did not commit any errors and had two gold glove like plays from shortstop JT Navarro and Turner Olson in left field.
“Our defense had a great day and our pitchers were bulldogs on the mound and made big-time pitches when the game called for it,” outfielder and captain Brandon Hernandez said.
Daniel Foret made his first start for Chico State and was lights out. He pitched five scoreless innings allowing just three hits.
Foret found himself in a jam in the bottom of the fourth inning when the Tritons loaded the bases. Foret left all three runners on base by getting a fly out to Hernandez in center field.
Foret battled through minor jams throughout the whole game. During Foret’s five innings, the Tritons left seven runners on base.
Third baseman Jorge Perez was 3-4 in the game. He had a single in the sixth inning that scored two runners and gave the Wildcats a 3-0 lead.
The Tritons came into the game hot with 10 straight wins but had only played four games over the last 25 days. Meanwhile, the Tritons came into the game winning 10 of their last 11 games and leading the California Collegiate Athletic Association in pitching (2.61) and defense (.976).
“Overall a great team win,” Hernandez said.
Game two
The Wildcats came out Saturday afternoon where they left off Friday night but were unable to hold the Tritons bats silent as they ended up losing game one of Saturday’s doubleheader 7-5.
The Wildcats jumped on the board right away against the Tritons with three runs in the first inning. A double by Dustin Miller scored a run. Two more runners crossed the plate with a sacrifice fly and a ground out.
Wildcats starting pitcher Andrew Lopez threw 6 ⅔ innings Saturday afternoon allowing just two runs on six hits. The two runs came after six innings of shutout pitching but Lopez was unable to keep the Tritons bats quiet for seven complete innings.
The Wildcats walked three Triton batters that scored in the eighth inning. The Tritons added five more runs to take a 7-4 lead against the Wildcats.
Chico State had three straight singles in the ninth inning to score one more run but the Tritons got a double play on a sharply hit Alex DeVito line drive to third base.
The Wildcats will complete the doubleheader Saturday afternoon and will conclude the series Sunday afternoon in La Jolla against UC San Diego.
Brandon Downs can be reached at [email protected] or @downsbrandon2 on Twitter.
