After rainouts on Friday and Saturday, the Chico State baseball team came out playing strong Sunday, winning both games of the double header against San Francisco State by scores of 5-3 and 3-2.

Both games were highlighted by strong pitching performances, particularly from the bullpen.

In game one, pitcher Casey Costello threw six strong innings before giving up a game tying home run in the top of the seventh. Outfielder Luke Hussung hit his second home run of the year, and the Wildcats were able to capitalize on two late errors from the Gator’s shorstop in the bottom of the eighth to take a 5-3 lead.

The bullpen then came in and shut things down for the remainder of the game. Jae Wagner threw a scoreless eighth to keep the Wildcats ahead, and Dan Beavers shut down the Gators in the ninth to earn his fourth save of the season.

In game two, pitcher Hilario Tovar bounced back from a tough outing last week to earn the win this time. Tovar threw eight innings, allowing two runs and striking out eight. Anthony Baleto came in relief in the ninth inning and struck out two of the three batters he faced to earn the save.

All three relief pitchers looked especially sharp out on the mound today. Jae Wagner, Dan Beavers, and Anthony Baleto have all shown that they can shut things down when it matters most.

Wagner and Baleto, in particular, are both off to impressive starts to the season. Baleto now has eigth stikeouts in seven innings of work, and neither pitcher has allowed a single run this season. Combined, they have thrown 14 scoreless innings.

The Wildcats will finish out their four game series against San Francisco State in a doubleheader starting at noon tomorrow at Nettleton Stadium.

Austin Schreiber can be reached at [email protected] or @aschreiber94 on Twitter.