The Chico State Wildcats baseball team ends its season on a high note by taking three of four games against Cal State East Bay.
The ’Cats’ took games one, two, and four with scores of 17-8, 6-5 and 7-3. The Otters narrowly avoided a series sweep by taking game three, 3-2.
Game 1: April 30, 3 p.m.
Needing to sweep the series to potentially make it into the CCAA conference, the ’Cats turned to surging senior right-handed pitcher Rocco Borrelli, who has won his last six starts.
The ’Cats struck hard and early against freshman left-handed pitcher Jaxen McAdara, putting up seven runs in the third inning.
Sophomore outfielder Myles Walton and junior infielder Michael Baker started the rally with consecutive one-out singles. Senior outfielder Stefan Foley doubled to right field, scoring Walton, while Baker was thrown out at home plate trying to be aggressive.
Junior first baseman Roman Roberts walked on four pitches and advanced to second on junior catcher Cole Nachreiner’s single, while Foley scored. Sophomore infielder Brady Wright then loaded the bases with a walk.
Senior right-handed pitcher Derek Murphy replaced McAdara in hopes of stopping the ’Cats offense.
That didn’t happen as junior infielder Jaylen Hodges plated Wright and Nachreiner with a single up the middle. Junior infielder Brady Ranallo loaded the bases again with a four-pitch walk, advanced to second on a single by junior utility Joel Gutierrez, as Wright and Hodges scored.
Walton concluded the big third inning for the ’Cats with a single to score Ranallo and the ’Cats ended the inning up, 7-0.
Things spiraled out of control in the fifth inning when the ’Cats scored four more runs.
Hodges, Ranallo and Walton loaded the bases again with one out. Baker hit a sacrifice fly to score Hodges and Foley doubled to score Ranallo. Roberts scored Walton on a fielding error by the pitcher and Nachreiner singled to score Foley, as the ’Cats concluded the inning up by 11.
Mercifully, the Pioneers scored three runs in the fifth inning.
Sophomore utility Gio Martini started the inning by cranking his eighth run of the season to left field. Junior catcher Eli Hernandez followed with a walk and advanced to second and third on groundouts by sophomore outfielder Dominick Najar and sophomore infielder Micah Cervantes. Junior utility Marc DiCarlo Jr. brought in Hernandez with a double down the left field line.
The Pioneers capped off their strong inning as sophomore infielder Alijah Ramos brought in DiCarlo Jr. with a single to left field, as the Pioneers closed the gap, 11-3.
The ’Cats responded with another run in the seventh inning as Baker singled to center field and scored on a sacrifice fly by Wright, to make the score, 12-3.
The ’Cats would finish the Pioneers off with five more runs in the eighth inning and the Pioneers made things respectable with five runs in the ninth, but the ’Cats dominantly took the opener, 17-8.
Game 2: May 1, Noon
Fresh off a dominant game one victory, the ’Cats handed the ball to freshman right-handed pitcher Jack Tews.
Things started dicey as Tews gave up a lead-off double to Cervantes and a sacrifice bunt to Najar, which advanced Cervantes to third. That was all ’Cats’ head coach Dave Taylor needed to see from Tews, as he replaced his starting pitcher with senior right-handed pitcher Aaron McCurley.
McCurley was unable to keep the Pioneers off the board, surrendering a single up the middle to Ramos, making the score, 1-0.
Fortunately, the ’Cats had his back. With two outs in the second inning, Nachreiner doubled to left-center and scored on a single by Wright, tying the game at 1.
The Pioneers got the run back immediately in the second inning.
Senior infielder Caleb Chance led off the inning with a single, stole second and advanced to third on a throwing error by the ’Cats catcher. Martini brought him in with a groundout as the Pioneers ended the inning up, 2-1. Building off the momentum, they added another run in the fourth inning.
Junior outfielder Cristian Angulo walked and advanced to third on a single by senior infielder Dylan Unangst. Angulo then scored on a sacrifice fly by Martini as the Pioneers extended their lead, 3-1.
Things continued to go well for the Pioneers as they added one more run in the seventh inning.
Cervantes reached on a fielder’s choice and stole second. He scored on a single by Najar as they closed the inning up, 4-1. They would add one final run in the eighth inning. Angulo singled up the middle and senior utility Nick Thomson came in to pinch run. He advanced to third on a single by Unangst and scored on a double play by Chance, as they concluded the inning up, 5-1.
Needing a huge rally to keep their season alive, the ’Cats dug deep in the ninth.
Pioneers’ junior pitcher Noah Zirkle replaced senior pitcher AJ Gamboa to close the game. Freshman infielder Myles Cooper immediately grounded out and Roberts doubled to right center. Wright popped up to second base and the ’Cats needed a miracle to keep their season alive. Against all odds, they did it.
Senior catcher Juan Nunez singled to left field, advancing Roberts to third. Gutierrez singled to center, scoring Roberts and Walton singled to left center to load the bases. Senior outfielder Carson Case singled to center field to score Nunez and keep the bases loaded. Baker walked in a run to keep the rally going.
Needing one run to tie the game, Foley stepped up to the plate. He took a pitch in the zone for a strike. The second pitch he didn’t miss, as he singled through the right side to score Walton and tie the game at 5.
The game went into extra innings as neither team scored in the tenth. That would change as the ’Cats added one run in the inning.
Gutierrez led the inning off with a walk and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Walton. Baker scored Gutierrez with a single down the right side as the ’Cats concluded the tenth up, 6-5.
Junior right-handed pitcher Manny Lopez came back in to pitch his third consecutive inning, trying to secure the win for the ’Cats.
DiCarlo Jr. singled up the middle on the first pitch and stole second. Just as things seemed to shift into the Pioneers’ favor, Lopez shut them down.
Lopez got sophomore outfielder William James to strike out and Cervantes advanced DiCarlo Jr. to third on a groundout.
Needing just one out, Najar stepped up to the plate. He took the pitch in the zone for strike one and watched two balls fall out of the zone to make the count 2-1.
On the fourth pitch, he popped the ball straight up to Lopez, as the ’Cats secured a wild victory and kept their season alive, 6-5.
Game 3: May 1, 3 p.m.
Fresh off a crazy win, the ’Cats turned to junior right-handed pitcher Tyler Eastham to continue their momentum. The ’Cats’ offense continued producing after the wild victory, as Walton led off with a walk and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt by Baker.
Roberts crushed a double down the left field line that scored Walton and gave the ’Cats an early lead, 1-0.
The Pioneers immediately took the lead in the bottom half of the first inning.
Cervantes led off with a single to left field and immediately stole second and third base. Najar drew a four-pitch walk and immediately stole second base.
With runners on second and third, DiCarlo Jr. grounded out to third to score Cervantes, but the ’Cats threw the ball away, allowing Najar to score also. The costly error gave the Pioneers a 2-1 lead.
But the ’Cats would tie the game in the second inning.
With two outs in the inning, Ranallo stepped up to the plate. He immediately swung and fouled the ball off. He then watched two consecutive pitches miss the zone. On the fourth pitch, he crushed it to left center and over the fence. Ranallo’s second home run of the season tied the game at 2.
Unfortunately, the Pioneers weren’t phased.
Najar started the sixth inning with a single to third base and advanced to second as Ramos was hit by a pitch.
Case came in to replace freshman right-handed pitcher Jaden Neugebauer and allowed both runners to commit a double steal to put both runners in scoring position with no outs.
That decision came back to haunt him as DiCarlo hit a sacrifice fly to left field, allowing Najar to score and giving the lead back to the Pioneers, 3-2.
With one more chance to keep their tournament hopes alive, the ’Cats sent Wright, Hodges and Ranallo to bat, in hopes of sending the game into extra innings again.
Unfortunately, that didn’t happen as all three batters flew out as the Pioneers took game three and eliminated the ’ Cats’ tournament hopes, 3-2.
Game 4: May 2, Noon
With tournament hopes eliminated, the ’Cats looked to end the season on a high note, turning to freshman right-handed pitcher Jakob Poole.
The ’Cats started the scoring by putting up three runs in the third inning.
Ranallo singled up the middle and advanced to second after Gutierrez was hit by a pitch. The bases became loaded after Walton bunted and singled.
With two outs in the inning, Roberts singled to right field, scoring both Ranallo and Gutierrez.
Then Nachreiner reached base, allowing Walton to score and giving the ’Cats the lead, 3-0.
The momentum continued in the fourth inning as they put up three more runs.
Hodges doubled down the left field line and scored after Ranallo singled down the right field line. Walton reached base on a hit by pitch, then both he and Ranallo scored on a single by Baker, as the ’Cats continued their dominant showing, 6-0.
They would add another run in the fifth, as Nachreiner doubled to right center and advanced to third on a single by Hodges. Ranallo came through again, singling through the left field line and scoring Nachreiner, as they concluded the inning up, 7-0.
The Pioneers would break the shutout with a run in the fifth inning.
Martini singled to right field and advanced to second on a fielding error. James then doubled to left field to score Martini and make the score, 7-1.
They continued their momentum in the sixth inning as sophomore left-handed pitcher Dane Padrnos replaced Poole.
Senior infielder Alex Merchant singled up the middle and advanced to second on a walk by senior utility Vincent Lencioni. Unangst loaded the bases with a single to center and Chance brought in the Pioneers’ second run with a single to right field.
They would get one more run in the inning as senior catcher Carson Cripe grounded out to second, allowing Lencioni to score and trimming the lead to 7-3.
The Pioneers didn’t go away, though, making things interesting in the ninth inning.
Cripe singled up the middle and James doubled down the left field line to give the Pioneers runners on second and third, no outs.
Lopez came in to replace junior left-handed pitcher Bruno Condit. He shut down the next three batters in order, getting Najar to strike out swinging, Thomson to fly out to center, and Merchant to foul out to left field.
Lopez’s heroics clinched the series for the ’Cats and ensured they would have a winning record for the third straight season.
Jamison Leung can be reached at [email protected]
