In another great pitching performance by junior Clayton Gelfand, the Chico State baseball team lost 2-4 against the Cal State Dominguez Hills Toros in the first game of a doubleheader at home on Saturday, April 9.

The loss leaves the season record at 23-10 and 11-6 in conference play. Gelfand’s record drops to 6-3 on the season.

Gelfand put in a strong performance pitching eight innings, allowing one earned run and struck out nine batters but was let down by the team’s defense.

The trouble began for the Wildcats during the first inning when what appeared to be a simple pop out was missed by junior right fielder Josh Falco and allowed the Toros’ third basemen Brady Conlan to score.

Despite the early troubles, the ‘Cats responded immediately during the bottom of the second inning when they took their only lead of the game when junior Andru Cardenas’ RBI bunt single scored the first run for Chico. Junior Sonny Cortez gave Chico State the lead with his sacrifice fly to center field which allowed Jerrett Maas to score.

Although the ‘Cats took the lead it would not last as, once again, Conlan would come up big for the Toros. Conlan tied the game with an RBI double, but he was far from done dealing damage to the Wildcats.

The Toros sealed the game during the top of the eighth inning with Adrian Padilla’s two-run RBI double.

The Wildcats will be on the road in a pivotal series against Cal Poly Pomona starting April 16.

Carlos Islas can be reached at [email protected] or @CIslasReports