The Chico State Wildcats baseball team split its four-game series against No. 10-ranked Cal State Monterey Bay in their final home series of the season.

The ’Cats’ took games one and two with scores of 6-1 and 5-4. The Otters took the final two games of the series with scores of 9-7 and 13-3.

Game 1: April 24, 6 p.m. 

Needing to start the series off strong against a difficult opponent, the ’Cats turned to surging senior right-handed pitcher Rocco Borrelli, who has won his last five starts.

The Otters struck first in the third inning as senior outfielder Bobby Benavidez singled to left center and stole second with two outs in the inning. Benavidez was then able to score on a single up the middle from junior infielder Xander Sielken, due to a fielding error by ’Cats’ sophomore outfielder Myles Walton. The Otters closed out the inning leading 1-0.

The ’Cats responded by putting up four runs in the fourth inning. 

Junior infielder Jackson Snitko started the inning with a double to left center and advanced to third on a single by junior infielder Michael Baker. The ’Cats quickly loaded the bases as sophomore infielder Brady Wright drew a full count walk. 

Sophomore utility Kobe Rolling brought in the ’Cats’ first run with a sacrifice fly that allowed Snitko to score.

With the Otters on the ropes, senior utility Keoni Coloma stepped up to the plate. 

Coloma took a pitch outside for ball one; he took a pitch in the zone for strike one. He then fouled off two more pitches. 

On the fifth pitch of the at-bat, Coloma clobbered a ball over the right field wall, sending the dugout and the crowd into a frenzy. 

Coloma’s first home run of the season gave the ’Cats the lead 4-1.

With the momentum on the ’Cats’ side, they added another run in the sixth inning. Rolling singled to left center and advanced to second on a groundout from freshman utility Jaden Neugebauer.

 He then advanced to third on an error that also allowed Coloma to reach first. Senior outfielder Stefan Foley brought Rolling in with a sacrifice fly to right field and the ’Cats extended their lead, 5-1.

The ’Cats weren’t satisfied as they added one more run in the seventh inning. Snitko singled to first and advanced to third on a single by Baker. Wright grounded out to the pitcher and Snitko scored as they closed the inning up 6-1.

The Otters were unable to score in the last two innings as the ’Cats stole the series opener 6-1.

Game 2: April 25, 1 p.m. 

After a dominant victory, the ’Cats looked to repeat their performance by giving the ball to freshman right-handed pitcher Jack Tews.

The Otters struck first again in the third inning by scoring a run. 

Junior outfielder Jordan Hockett singled and advanced to second on a single by Benavidez. Both runners moved up a base on a balk by Tews. Hockett then scored on a groundout by Sielken, as the Otters took the lead, 1-0.

They went on to extend their lead, scoring two more runs in the fifth inning. 

Benavidez led off the inning with a hit-by-pitch and advanced to second on a groundout by Sielken. He then advanced to third on a wild pitch and scored on a throwing error by the catcher on the same play.

Junior infielder Andrew Lehmann singled to left center and advanced to second on a four-pitch walk from junior outfielder James Starkus. Lehmann then would score on a single by junior infielder Jason Del Villar, as the Otters closed the fifth inning up 3-0.

The ’Cats answered in the bottom half of the inning by getting two runs back. 

Baker was hit by a pitch and advanced to third on a double by Wright. Rolling brought both runners in with a single down the right field line as the ’Cats concluded the fifth inning, cutting the lead down to 3-2.

Scoring two runs in the inning was the motivation the ’Cats needed as they tied the game in the sixth inning.

Walton singled to right field and advanced to second on a wild pitch. Snitko singled to right field, scoring Walton and tying the game at 3. 

Unfortunately, the tie didn’t last long as the Otters took the lead back in the seventh inning.

Benavidez reached on a fielding error by Rolling, stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch. Lehman would then give the Otters the edge by hitting a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Benavidez and giving the Otters the lead, 4-3.

With the ’Cats offense heating up, the Otters replaced starting junior right-handed pitcher Daniel Flores with senior left-handed pitcher Kyle Giovannoni. 

Neugebauer started the inning, drawing a full count walk and advancing to second after a pitch hit junior catcher Cole Nachreiner. Foley reached on a fielder’s choice as Neugebauer was thrown out at third. Junior outfielder Ryan Melton pinch ran for Nachreiner and junior first baseman Roman Roberts came in to pinch hit for sophomore catcher Jared Cantu.

Roberts watched two pitches fall in the zone and one pitch out of the zone. With a 1-2 count, he fouled off two pitches in the zone to stay alive. On the sixth pitch of the at-bat, he singled to right field, scoring Melton and tying the game at 4.

With the game tied in the eighth, the Otters got nervous, replacing Giovannoni with senior right-handed pitcher Giovanni Costello, in hopes of slowing down the ’ Cats’ offense.

That didn’t work for the Otters.

With two outs in the inning, Wright walked to put a runner on first. Senior first baseman Jesse Gadd came in to pinch hit for Rolling. 

Gadd wasted no time and crushed the first pitch he saw to right field. Wright sprinted around the bases to score, giving the ’Cats the lead 5-4.

Looking to upset the Otters again, the ’Cats gave the ball to sophomore right-handed pitcher Dane Padrnos to face off against the top of the Otters’ order.

Padrnos got Benavidez to ground out to third base, but walked Sielken to give the Otters a glimmer of hope.

That hope was snatched from the Otter’s hands as Padrnos got Lehman to fly out to left field and Foley made an incredible throw to get Sielken out at first base for a double play. With the heads-up play from Foley, the ’Cats secured the win, 5-4.

Game 3: April 25, 4 p.m. 

On the verge of marking the series upset against the No. 10-ranked team in Division II, the ’Cats handed the ball to junior left-handed pitcher Bruno Condit.

The Otters struck early against Condit by putting up three runs in the first inning. 

Lehmann led the inning off with a five-pitch walk and advanced to second on a single by Sielken. Starkus advanced Lehmann to third on a fielder’s choice to shortstop and Del Villar singled to left field to score Lehmann and advance Starkus to third.

Senior infielder Kyle Olimpia doubled down the left field line to score Starkus and advanced Del Villar to third. Senior catcher Conner Smith hit a sacrifice fly to right field to score Del Villar as the Otters closed the inning up 3-0.

The ’Cats responded and got on the board in the second inning.

Walton singled up the middle and advanced to second on a fielding error by the Otter’s center fielder. Baker advanced Walton to third on a flyout to center field and Nachreiner brought Walton in with a single to right field, as the ’Cats concluded the second inning down 3-1.

The ’Cats would build off the momentum as they loaded the bases with three hit-by-pitches. Snitko singled to center field to score two runs and the inning ended with both teams knotted at 3.

The Otters immediately responded by scoring three runs in the fourth inning. 

Senior outfielder Noah Zertuche singled up the middle and junior outfielder Bodee Goins reached on a fielding error by Neugebauer. Benavidez doubled to right field to score Zertuche and advance Goins to third. Lehmann grounded out to third, allowing Goins to score.

Junior right-handed pitcher Tyler Eastham replaced junior right-handed pitcher Thomas Meyer as Benavidez stole third and Sielken hit a sacrifice fly to center field, as the Otters ended the fourth up 6-3.

The ’Cats responded with a run in the fourth inning as Nachreiner earned a full count walk and advanced to second on a balk. Wright grounded out to second, allowing Nachreiner to make it to third and Rolling hit a sacrifice fly to center, as they ended the inning down 6-4.

But it seemed whenever the ’Cats scored, the Otters had an immediate answer.

Del Villar doubled down the left field line and advanced to third on a balk. Olimpia singled to right, scoring Del Villar and getting the run back as they closed the inning up 7-4.

But the ’Cats would not back down.

Coloma singled down the right field line, then advanced to second on a five-pitch walk by Foley. Walton singled to center to load the bases. All the runners moved up on a balk as Coloma came in to score. Snitko hit a sacrifice fly to right field, allowing Foley to score, as the ’Cats closed the gap, 7-6.

Using the momentum, the ’Cats tied the game again in the sixth inning. Wright doubled to left center and advanced on a sacrifice bunt by Rolling. Neugebauer tied the game with a single to left field, scoring Wright and breaking even at 7.

But once again, the Otters had an answer.

Freshman right-handed pitcher Nathan Hikes replaced Eastham in the sixth and pitched until the ninth inning. 

To start the ninth, Hockett singled up the middle and stole second base. Benavidez gave the Otters the lead with a single up the middle to score Hockett. Sielken advanced Benavidez to second with a groundout and Del Villar singled to left field, scoring Benavidez and giving the Otters the lead in the ninth, 9-7.

With one more opportunity to respond to the Otters’ offense and secure the series win, the ’Cats sent out Foley, Walton and Snitko in hopes of at least tying the game.

Unfortunately, they couldn’t get it done as Foley lined out to first base, Walton went down swinging and Snitko grounded out to second base, as the Otters took game three, 9-7.

Game 4: April 26, noon. 

The ’Cats started the rainy afternoon by celebrating their eight seniors for senior night: Carson Case, Stefan Foley, Juan Nunez, Rocco Borrelli, Aaron McCurley, Keoni Coloma, Jesse Gadd and Ramon Macias

With another chance to secure the series win, the ’Cats sent out freshman right-handed pitcher Jakob Poole to get the job done.

The first four innings were quiet as Poole and Otters’ ace senior right-handed pitcher Andrew Kotin, who has a 3.04 ERA, kept both offenses at bay.

Things cracked in the fourth inning for Poole, as the Otters put up six runs. 

Sielken flew out to center, Lehmann doubled to left center, Starkus walked and Del Villar flew out to left field. 

Needing one out to get out of the inning, things fell apart for Poole.

Olimpia singled to score Lehmann, Zertuche singled to score Starkus, Hockett doubled to score Olimpia and Zertuche, and Smith singled to score Hockett.

Junior right-handed pitcher Manny Lopez came in to stop the hemorrhage, but gave up two more singles to score another run, as the ’Cats ended the top of the fourth inning down 6-0.

The ’Cats fought back, though, adding a run in the fourth inning. 

Foley led off the inning with a triple to center field and scored on a Walton sacrifice fly to center. Snitko doubled to center field and aggressively tried to score on a Baker single up the middle, but was thrown out at home plate as the inning ended with the ’Cats down 6-1.

Things unraveled again in the eighth inning as the Otters scored seven more runs and despite the ’Cats scoring two more runs, the Otters took the finale with a dominant victory, 13-3.

Coach Dave Taylor saw his team play really well against a quality and ranked team.

“We just played the game well. I think early Friday and yesterday, we were able to just execute some innings where we were moving guys over, and we finally got some hits with runners in scoring position,” Taylor said. “We pitched well pretty much all weekend, except for today. But all in all, the pitchings’ kept us in it all year. And I mean, that’s about right, splitting with these guys and how well they’ve been playing.”

With one final series left, Taylor wants to see the team be happy with what they accomplished despite them being on the verge of missing the playoffs.

“I want guys to feel good about where they’re at,” Taylor said. “There are things that need to be addressed, and so that’ll be talked about after that series, and then, we’ll see what we’ve got coming back.”

Despite the team being in a tough spot, Taylor still sees the season as a success, given what his team has.

“Yeah, a lot of growth and development,” Taylor said. “We just need to get better and get the right guys, and try to compete at the regional and national level. That’s what we do.”

The ’Cats will close out conference play in a four-game series against Cal State East Bay at Pioneer Baseball Field, starting on Thursday at 3 p.m.

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 and Maya Vanlaningham can be reached at [email protected]