Chico State baseball hadn’t played a game in over a week due to a rare mid-season bye, but showed no signs of rust once they were able to retake the field. They battled back from three separate three-run deficits over the weekend to take down Cal State San Bernardino and notch their sixth series win of the season.
Chico collected at least 14 hits in three of their four games, averaging about 11 hits per game for the series. The Wildcats now improve to 21-12 on the year and 14-10 in conference play, sitting at fourth place in the California Collegiate Athletic Association standings.
“I was worried, to be honest,” head coach Dave Taylor said. “We haven’t had a bye week in the middle of the year like this, and we’ve been playing good going into it, so I wasn’t sure where we were going to be at, but they exceeded expectations and came out ready to go.”
Friday’s series opener started in the hands of the Wildcats’ ace, senior right-hander Evan Tomlinson. Up to this point, Tomlinson held an undefeated record with six wins in his last six starts. Unfortunately, this time around, he didn’t have his best stuff, only pitching three and one-third innings, giving up five earned runs. Although, the Wildcats’ offensive efforts earned him a no-contest, maintaining his perfect record.
Senior right-hander Joseph Loubert came into pitch in the fourth inning, relieving Tomlinson, and put together his best performance of the season. Loubert finished the game, shutting out the Coyotes while striking out seven and only conceding five hits.
Chico’s offense was fueled by the senior Jeremy Keller, who went four for four at the plate with three runs and two RBIs, coming up just a triple short of the cycle. Sophomore Michael Baker and junior Casey Vogan each delivered clutch RBIs, leading the Wildcats’ comeback. Baker doubled in the fifth to retake the lead and was knocked in by Vogan with a double of his own to help extend the lead to the deciding difference at 8-5, with the Wildcats taking game one of the series.
Game one of Saturday’s doubleheader felt like deja vu, with the Coyotes once again taking an early four-run lead through the first three innings. The Wildcats seemed to take that personally, scoring runs in every inning following, retaking the lead in the fifth. A four-run sixth inning from the Coyotes tallied the game’s fourth lead change, giving them a 10-7 lead.
However, Chico mustered up a three-run seventh inning and tacked on one more in the eighth to complete the comeback. Senior right-hander Ryan Silvers made sure of that by coming in and shutting the door on the Coyotes, securing his third save of the season.
The top of the order for the Wildcats accounted for nearly all of their offensive production at the plate. The trio of seniors, Thade Miller, Phoenix Casias and Troy Kent, combined for eight hits, six runs and five RBIs, proving to be catalysts for the Wildcat’s explosive offense. The seniors led the Wildcats to an 11-10 victory and confirmed, at worst, a split series.
“You know, our middle-of-the-order guys are going to hit, but to have guys at the top and bottom that show up and pick those guys up when they aren’t are great for the whole team,” Taylor said. “Everybody adds a piece to the puzzle.”
The back half of Saturday’s doubleheader was a change in pace in regards to the offensive momentum both teams had built up over the previous two outings, with the Coyote’s junior left-hander Matt Romero shutting down the scorching hot Wildcat offense. He went five and a third innings while allowing only one run on one hit.
Once again, San Bernardino got ahead early, scoring two runs in the top of the first, both coming off of passed balls from the Wildcat senior right-hander, Tyce Ochs. After giving up the third run of the game on a sacrifice fly in the third inning, Chico faced another 3-0 deficit.
Kent scored both of the Wildcats’ runs off of a sac fly from Baker and a fielder’s choice off the bat of Keller. Ultimately, they couldn’t get past the dominant Coyote pitching, who closed out the game with a final score of 3-2, giving them their first win of the series and keeping their hopes of a split alive.
Sunday’s final game was back on theme with the first two games of the series, with the Coyotes getting out to yet another first-inning lead, scoring four runs in the first frame. Yet, as they’d shown in their previous games, the Wildcats were no strangers to playing from behind.
Senior catcher Daniel Vierra sparked the Wildcats’ comeback efforts with an early answer, bringing in one on a fielder’s choice in the bottom half of the first. They tacked on two more runs in the following inning thanks to back-to-back singles from Miller and Casias, shrinking the Yote’s lead to one. The Wildcats took the lead in the fourth thanks to a two-out double down the left field line from Casias that scored two, giving them their first lead of the game at 5-4.
“To be down four to nothing again, I just got to give a lot of praise for our toughness, and just playing each inning one at a time and keep taking good at-bats,” Taylor said.
Nevertheless, San Bernardino answered right back, retaking the lead in the top of the fifth, grinding out runs with a sac fly and a dropped third strike. Another pair of singles in the bottom half of the inning tallied the game’s fourth lead change, putting the Wildcats back on top 7-6.
They would grow that lead to a three-runs going into the eighth, however, that’s when things began to get dicey. San Bernadino scored one run and loaded the bases with only one out, until the junior left-hander Sean Head worked an inning-ending double-play, breaking the Coyotes’ hearts. Junior right-hander Aaron McCurley came in to close out the game in the top of the ninth, earning his third save of the season and locking up the series win for the Wildcats.
Chico State will travel down to Carson next Friday to take on the second-place Cal State Dominguez Hills Toros. Their next home game will be on April 17 at Nettleton Stadium, where they take on the first-place Cal State LA Eagles.
For information about all Chico State athletics or to keep up with the games live, visit the Wildcat home page or watch through FloSports.
Lukas Mann can be reached at orionmanagingeditor@gmail.com.
