The Wildcats narrowly swept Saturday’s doubleheader with two one-run wins over the Cal Poly Pomona Broncos thanks to some late-game fireworks.
Chico State’s junior first baseman Jesse Gadd broke the Broncos’ hearts late in the extra innings of game two with a walk-off solo home run to right field, earning the 6-5 win. However, Gadd’s walkoff wouldn’t have been possible without the clutch performance from the side-armed freshman, Dylan Adelman.
Adelman was called on to pitch in the eighth inning after the Broncos loaded the bases with only one out. He then struck out the next two batters emphatically, keeping Pomona off the board and leaving things tied at five.
“Dylan Adelman and the rest of our pitchers fought their asses off,” Gadd said. “He’s a freshman but he’s got the maturity of a fourth-year guy. He’s about his business and it showed right there.”
The Wildcats got out to an early start in game two against reigning CCAA Pitcher of the Week Dylan Esquival. Following an RBI double down the left field line from the freshman infielder Brady Wright, Chico was able to pile on four runs total in the second inning, taking a 4-1 lead.
The Broncos started to make some noise late in the game thanks to a pair of RBIs from last week’s CCAA Player of the Week, Brent Cota, who went three for four with three RBIs. The Broncos bats did enough to even things up after six innings of play. But it wasn’t enough thanks to the clutch performances from Gadd and Adelman, who picked up his first win as a Wildcat.
“This was a get back to work week, which we needed, and we all just stuck our noses through the grind and just got work done, and that’s really what this week was all about,” Gadd said.
Game one didn’t quite match the intensity of the second, but it was still a nail-biter, with the Wildcats pulling off a 4-3 win. Senior right-hander Evan Tomlinson started on the bump for Chico, and he picked up his fourth win through four starts this season.
The Broncos got out to an early 2-0 lead, scoring runs in the first and third innings. Cota had another incredible game from the plate, going four for five and scoring all three of the Broncos’ runs.
Chico’s bats came to life in the fifth inning when they put up another four-run inning, thanks to big hits from the seniors Troy Kent, Ernie Arambula and Daniel Vierra. The four runs from the Wildcats proved to be the magic number for them, as the Broncos could not reach that total.
The Wildcats earned the series win after taking the first three games against the Broncos, all of which were by one-run margins. This was a much-needed momentum swing after a rather disappointing series against the San Francisco State Gators last week. With the win, the Wildcats improve to 11-5 on the season and 5-3 through conference play.
Last weekend was a little tough against a good SF State team, but we still had confidence going into this series,” Gadd said. “We’ve proven to ourselves over and over again that we are a good team, and we continue to do that.”
Chico will be looking to stay hot next Thursday against the Sonoma State Seawolves in Rohnert Park. Their next home series takes place on Mar. 14 against Cal State East Bay at the Nettleton Stadium.
Home games are free to attend for students who present their student ID or Canvas home page.
For information about all Chico State athletics or to keep up with the game live, visit the Wildcat home page, or watch through FloSports.
Lukas Mann can be reached at [email protected].
