The Chico State Wildcats’ baseball team earned its first series sweep of the season, beating the University of Colorado-Colorado Springs Mountain Lions in a thrilling four-game stretch.

After securing their first series win against the Wolves last week, the Wildcats looked to hold that momentum against the Mountain Lions. 

The ’Cats’ resilience showed as they won all four games with scores of 8-7, 10-3, 12-1, and 4-3.

Game 1: February 20, 2 p.m.

The Mountain Lions struck early against the ’Cats’ sophomore right-handed pitcher, Andrew Seibert, putting up an early six runs. The ’Cats started sloppily on defense, making five errors that allowed the six runs to score before the end of the second inning. The nightmare start was capped off by a single from Mountain Lion’s senior utility Nolan Oliver to make the score 6-0.

The ’Cats got on board in the third inning when sophomore utility Kobe Rolling singled to left field, scoring sophomore infielder Brady Wright.

Building off that momentum, the ’Cats added three more runs in the fourth inning when senior outfielder Keoni Coloma tripled to score two and junior infielder Jaylen Hodges singled, making the score 6-4.

Hodges struck again for the ’Cats with a single in the sixth inning to score senior outfielder Stefan Foley. Sophomore outfielder Myles Walton tied the game with a single to right field to score Foley, ending the sixth inning, 6-6.

As things were looking up for the ’Cats, they committed their sixth error of the game in the ninth inning as Wright dropped a pop fly, allowing Mountain Lions’ junior outfielder Brendan Killeen to score, giving them the lead, 7-6.

Looking to rally in the ninth inning, Rolling reached on a walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Walton followed suit,  reaching on a fielding error that also allowed Rolling to advance to third base. Sophomore catcher Jared Cantu reached on a fielder’s choice as Rolling scored to even the game at 7-7.

The ’Cats held the Mountain Lions to zero in the top of the tenth, earning an opportunity to walk off game one for a win. 

Senior outfielder Carson Case singled to left, and Hodges was walked with no outs in the tenth. Rolling advanced both runners with a ground out to the pitcher, and Walton was intentionally walked to load the bases. Junior infielder Jackson Snitko hit a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Case and securing the ’Cats a thrilling 8-7 comeback win.

Game 2: February 20, 5 p.m.

After a thrilling first game of the doubleheader, the ’Cats were determined not to dig themselves a hole, turning to freshman right-handed pitcher Jack Tews. 

The ’Cats struck early against Mountain Lion’s redshirt senior pitcher Gerrit Erickson, scoring four in the first inning, led by Snitko’s RBI single.

Looking to add on to their early lead, senior first baseman Jesse Gadd singled to right field to score two more runs as the ’Cats ended the second inning up 6-0.

Not satisfied yet, the ’Cats added two more runs in the third inning as Hodges and Walton both singled, extending their lead to 8-0.

The Mountain Lions got on the board in the fourth inning as redshirt junior infielder Trevor Dale doubled to make the score 8-1.

The ’Cats quickly got the run back as Coloma hit his second triple of the game to plate another run. Coloma then scored on his own on a throwing error by Mountain Lions redshirt freshman catcher Cayden Gonzalez,  making the score 10-1.

The Mountain Lions added a run in both the fifth and sixth innings, but the ’Cats went on to secure a comfortable 10-3 win.

Game 3: February 21, noon.

Looking to clinch the series win, the ’Cats turned to junior right-handed pitcher Thomas Meyer.

The Mountain Lions struck first, as redshirt junior infielder Trevor Dale singled to left,  scoring senior infielder Bryce Peterson and for an early 1-0 lead.

The lead didn’t last very long as the ’Cats immediately responded with another triple by Coloma to score Walton. Coloma then scored on a fielding error by redshirt junior left fielder James Harbison. Gadd doubled to center to make the score 4-1 ’Cats to close out the first inning.

Unsatisfied with the lead, Cantu singled up the middle to score two more runs in the second inning and then scored himself on a wild pitch. Junior infielder Michael Baker grounded into a fielder’s choice, scoring Snitko to make the score 8-1.

Baker hurt the Mountain Lions again with an RBI single in the fourth inning to stretch the ’Cats’ lead to 9-1.

With things comfortably in hand, the ’Cats didn’t slow down, as Walton singled to score Baker in the sixth inning to make the lead 10-1. 

The ’Cats added two more in the seventh inning to cap off a dominant, series-winning 12-1 win.

Game 4: February 21, 3 p.m.

Looking to secure the series sweep, the ’Cats turned to senior right-handed pitcher Rocco Borrelli.

The ’Cats struck first as junior utility Joel Gutierrez laid down a sacrifice bunt to score freshman infielder Myles Cooper for an early ’Cats  1-0 lead.

The Mountain Lions took the lead in the fourth inning with a two-run double by redshirt sophomore infielder Tyler Genrich.

The ’Cats evened the score at two in the fifth inning with a single by junior outfielder Ryan Melton.

Genrich put the Mountain Lions ahead again with a single in the sixth inning to give the Mountain Lions a 3-2 lead.

Looking to rally in the seventh and final inning, both Coloma and Rolling got on base on hit-by-pitches. Junior catcher Cole Nachreiner advanced both runners by grounding out to third. Cantu then became the third Wildcat to be hit by a pitch that inning. 

With the bases loaded and one out, Baker hit a sacrifice fly to score Coloma and tie the game at three. The ’Cats were unable to score the winning run, and the game went into extra innings for the second time in the series.

Neither team scored in the eighth or ninth innings. 

In the tenth inning, Foley reached after being hit by a pitch and then stole second, putting himself in scoring position. Gadd singled to right field, and Coloma was intentionally walked to load the bases yet again. Wright struckout and Nachhreiner stepped up to the plate with an opportunity to end the game. 

Nachreiner singled to center to score Foley, and the ’Cats secured a 4-3 win and a series sweep over the Mountain Lions.

Coloma finished the series with seven hits and five RBIs. He credited his success at the plate to studying the strike zone.

“Just trying to do my best. Do my homework before I get in the box,” Coloma said. “Be on time. Get something in my zone and put a good swing on a good pitch.”

Coloma acknowledged the team’s grit after trailing 6-0 in the first game, but coming back to win.

“I think it says we got a lot of grit to us. We’re gonna play all nine innings, or however many it takes,” Coloma said. “I think we showed this weekend that we can do this all day. Bill for the long haul, and that’s what we’re gonna do.”

Coloma also credited the team for moving on after the rough start of game 1.

“Well, can’t go back in time, so you just got to learn from your mistakes and be better for the next one,” Coloma said.

Senior right-handed pitcher Aaron McCurley steadied the team with 5 2/3 innings of solid pitching in relief of Seibert after they trailed by 6 runs in the first game. He credits the team’s consistency and fight, which gave him motivation going into the game earlier than expected.

“You just attack every day in the same way. We do everything we need to do, and that prepares us for anything,” McCurley said. “We know that no matter what, it’s never going to be perfect, but as long as we’re fighting as a team, we’re there for each other.”

McCurley believed that commanding the zone and relying on his teammates helped him pitch confidently.

“Just commanding the zone, throwing off speed, and getting ahead of batters,” McCurley said. “Trusting my defense and knowing everyone behind me had my back. It makes it easier to pitch that way.”

With back-to-back series wins, McCurley feels the team is confident, but still has room for improvement.

“We’re up right now, but we also know we still got some work to do,” McCurley said. “We’re never going to be perfect, but we’re always going to come in working, no matter if we win or lose. So we’re always going to be there as a team.”

Thomas Meyer had one of his best pitching outings of the season in the series-clinching game 3, going five innings with zero earned runs. 

“Commanding all my pitches and trying to get ahead in the count, early in the count really helped,” Meyer said. “Having trust in my defense to pitch and letting the guys behind me work.”

Despite having traffic on the bases in the third and fourth innings, Meyer confidently got out of difficult situations on the mound.

“I had two walks. Got a little behind myself,” Meyer said. “Just had to bear down, just find the strike zone again, and just pitch for contact and still throw for strikes.”

Meyers credited his team for scoring eight early runs during his outing, making his job easier.

“Guys did a great job scoring some runs and making it easier going out there,” Meyer said. “Pitching with a big lead ahead of you just allows you to attack the strike zone.”

The ’Cats begin a three-game series at Nettleton Stadium against the Stanislaus State Warriors on Friday at 2 p.m.

Nettleton Stadium grants free entry with a Chico State student ID card or a student’s 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.

 Jamison Leung can be reached at [email protected]