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The Orion

Chico State's independent student newspaper

The Orion

Chico State's independent student newspaper

The Orion

Conference Kings

Published 2002-05-01T00:00:00Z”/>

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Melody Gutierrez<br>Sports Editor

Records are made to be broken. And this season the Chico State baseball team is looking to break all of them.

A weekend sweep over Cal State Dominguez Hills landed Chico its third regular season title after only four years in the conference. It also puts the Wildcats’ two victories from the team’s most-wins record.

“The morale on the team is good right now,” said coach Lindsay Meggs. “The best part about it is the guys know we haven’t really scratched the surface.”

The team beat its record of most stolen bases in a season over the weekend with the help of Robby Poole, who has 15, and Jeff Walker, who has 13 of the team’s 84.

Poole is two bruises away from the team’s most-hit-by-pitches record, which was set in 1996 by Tim Hairston with 22. He also tied the record for most triples in a season with seven. Miguel Mendoza is making a run at two records, highest batting average and on-base percentage. The Wildcats, 44-7 overall, are ranked No. 4 in the nation and have been selected to host the 2002 CCAA Baseball Championship Tournament May 9-11. Chico was the first team to clinch a berth in the tournament, with its first game Friday, May 9 at 7 p.m. Meggs credited the unselfishness of his players for the success the team has seen this season. The four wins Chico took from Dominquez Hills marked the sixth time the Wildcats have swept a four-game series this season.

“You never expect to sweep a series,” Meggs said. “You feel it’s realistic when you take the first three.”

Chico outscored Dominguez Hills 34-7 in the series and held the team to one run in three of the four games. Chico relied on a bunting game to put its competitors away. In Sunday’s 8-1 win, Chico laid down five bunts in an inning and a half alone. Even clean-up hitter Ryan Tash took part in the action, dropping a few bunts in.

“The bunting game was there – they weren’t really adjusting to it,” Meggs said. “If Ryan Tash drives a ball into center field for a single or bunts it and gets on safely – to me it’s the same thing.”

A strong showing in Sunday’s first inning was provided by Poole, who led off the Wildcat lineup with a solo home run. John Moylan had two RBIs on two hits. Saturday’s doubleheader went on as scheduled despite scattered showers, low temperatures and strong winds. The first game was a fight until the end with Chico prevailing 5-4 in the bottom of the ninth inning. The second game couldn’t have contrasted more as the Wildcats took a 14-1 win. In game one, James McCabe was 2-4 at the plate. David Goni pitched five innings, allowing seven hits and striking out four. Clark Johnson pitched two innings and Dale Thayer picked up the win after coming in for the last-inning save. The nightcap turned into a slugfest for Richard Janeway who went 3-3, with one RBI. Chico scored five runs in the first inning, two runs in the third and seven runs in the fifth to complete the scoring. On Friday, in front of the largest crowd Nettleton Stadium has seen this season, Chico pleased 1,483 fans with a 7-1 win. Adam Montarbo improved his record on the mound to 8-2 after pitching the complete game. Montarbo struck out a season high of 10 batters and scattered six hits. Kurt Probasco was 3-4 at the plate with two RBIs. Steve Newson hit an RBI double in the bottom of the seventh inning.

Chico will wrap up its regular season games this weekend in an away four-game series against Cal State L.A. Although the season isn’t over, the confirmed regular season title has the Wildcats excited about post season playoffs.

“We’re going to see what happens,” shortstop Johnny Molina said. “We’re going to take it one game at a time and just play baseball.”

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