As the spring semester kicks off, the Chico State Wildcats’ baseball team is preparing for their upcoming season.

 After a strong 2025 season, finishing with a record of 31-22, the ’Cats will look to extend their winning streak to three consecutive seasons. 

There are higher expectations this season for the ’Cats as the 2026 California Collegiate Athletic Association ranked the ‘Cats second in the preseason poll, with 61 points. They only trailed the Cal State Monterey Bay Sea Otters, who had 81 points. They ranked just in front of Cal State Dominguez Hills (58 points) and Cal Poly Pomona (56 points).

Despite the optimism of the ’Cats looking for another winning season, this year’s roster is much different from last year’s. The ’Cats have 28 new players on this year’s roster and had a graduating class of 23 seniors not returning to this year’s roster. 

However, star players Brady Wright, Michael Baker, Carson Case, Jesse Gadd, and Stefan Foley are all returning. All three of their coaches are also returning. 

 Even with a handful of star players returning, the ’Cats are excited for the new talent. They have a total of 21 transfer players on the roster this season, two being Division 1 transfers.

Many ’Cats players were recognized by the CCAA and earned awards last year. Former right fielder, Troy Kent, repeated as a Second-Team All-West Region Selection. Former infielder Thade Miller was selected for the second team, while outfielder Phoenix Casias and pitchers Marco Ibarra and Evan Tomlinson received honorable mentions.

The ‘Cats qualified for the 2024 CCAA tournament as the No. 5 seed, but were defeated by the San Francisco State Gators,  14-8, in the first round.

The ‘Cats will play a total of 50 games this season and will start CCAA Conference play at Nettleton Stadium on Feb. 27 against the Stanislaus State Warriors at 2 p.m.

The ’Cats kick off their season at McBean Park against the William Jessup Warriors on Jan. 30, 2 p.m. at McBean Park in Rocklin.

Last year, the ’Cats didn’t play against the Warriors, who went 36-20 overall and won the NCAA National Championship. This will be the first matchup between these two teams since the Warriors made the transition from the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics to NCAA Division II.

For information about all Chico State athletics or to keep up with the game live, visit the Wildcat home page, or watch through FloSports. 

Jamison Leung can be reached at [email protected] or [email protected]