The baseball team was able to split its doubleheader against the Cal Poly Pomona Broncos with a 13-5 win in the second game on April 16.

The Wildcats’ win was due to their strong batting performance, which they exhibited throughout the game.

Chico State scored 11 of its runs off RBIs, an effort led by senior Ben Gamba who leads the team with 45 RBIs this season. Sophomore Cameron Santos was the lead scorer for Chico State with three runs, which brings his season total to 36.

Chico State had no trouble getting on base as Santos and junior Cody Snider had an on-base percentage of .1000. While only two ‘Cats were perfect in their at-bats, the team averaged an on-base percentage of .475.

The Wildcats began scoring early, with five runs in the second inning. Juniors Andru Cardenas and Dillon Kelley, and seniors Cody Bistline and Ben Gamba were able to put the team ahead with their RBIs with Kelley driving in two.

Caleb Romo had a solo home run for Cal Poly Pomona in the second inning and a two-run homer in the third, which cut the Wildcat lead to just two. Cal Poly Pomona scored again off an RBI in the fourth inning and threatened to take over the lead with a 4-5 score.

Chico State continued to rack up RBIs in the fifth inning with junior Josh Falco, Cardenas and Bistline all driving in runs. Cal Poly Pomona was able to gain its final run off an RBI in the fifth, which led to an 8-5 Chico State lead.

In the sixth inning, Gamba and Falco both earned RBIs to put the Wildcats’ lead up to five. Santos continued piling up RBIs in the seventh along with Gamba in the ninth who drove in two. The team closed out the game in a 13-5 win.

The ‘Cats will be home starting April 22 for a four-game series against Sonoma State.

Kenta McAfee can be reached at [email protected] or @KentaMcAfee on Twitter.