Larson, Beavers throw two-hitter to finish Chico State baseball regular season

Austin Schreiber // May 5, 2018

Chico State first basemanRJ Hassey tags out Stanislaus State’s John Holleran at first base after a wild throw during the second game played on May 4. Photo credit: Martin Chang

The Chico State baseball team lost the first game of a doubleheader to Stanislaus State, but finished its regular season with a victory as pitchers Grant Larson and Dan Beavers combined to throw a two-hitter in the second game of the day.

Game One: The Wildcats got off to a slow start in game one of the double-header, only managing one hit through the first six innings. Stanislaus State pitcher Joe Ryan finished the game with 11 strikeouts, but designated hitter Alex DeVito was able to break up the shutout in the seventh inning with an RBI double to left. After a hit and a couple of errors, Chico State was able to bring home two more runs in the eighth, but ultimately fell short losing 4-3.

Alex DeVito got Chico State on the board first in game one on an RBI double. Photo credit: Martin Chang

Chico State pitcher Hilario Tovar had a solid day on the mound and gave up just two earned runs over six innings, but he earned the loss and fell to 6-6 on the season as the bullpen could not keep the Warriors from scoring.

Top performers:

Hilario Tovar: 6 IP, 2 ER
Andrew Schantz: 1 IP, 2 SO
Alex DeVito: 1-4, 2B, RBI
Casey Henderson: 2-3, R

Game Two: After being shutdown in the first game, the Wildcats bounced back with a strong performance in game two.

In the second inning, a bases loaded walk brought in the first run of the game and center fielder Dustin Miller brought in the second with a bases-loaded sacrifice bunt. Right fielder Kyle Blakeman capped off the inning with a two-run single to bring the Wildcats lead to 4-0.

Tyler Stofiel hits a bunt and successfully gets to first, loading the bases during the second game on May 4. This loaded the bases and was the start of the 4-run rally in the bottom of the second. Photo credit: Martin Chang

Starting pitcher Grant Larson earned his sixth win of the season after throwing five innings while giving up just two hits. Larson pitched to contact and was able to keep the ball on the ground most of the game, getting eight of the 18 batters he face to ground out to the infield. The lefty sophomore leads the starting pitching staff with a 2.38 ERA, and has now thrown five or more innings in every start except one.

Grant Larson pitches during the second game on May 4. Larson pitched five innings, gave up no earned runs while allowing two hits. Photo credit: Martin Chang

Relief pitcher Dan Beavers also had a stellar performance on the mound, tossing two innings and striking out four batters. He issued one walk but did not give up a hit, and helped the ‘Cats cruise to a 5-1 victory in their final regular season game.

Top performers:

Grant Larson: 5 IP, 0 ER, 2 hits
Dan Beavers: 2 IP, 0 hits, 4 SO
Kyle Blakeman: 1-3, 2 RBIs
Casey Henderson: 1-1, R, RBI

The Chico State baseball team finished its season with a 30-20 record overall, and a 26-18 record in conference.

The ‘Cats have already secured a CCAA tournament berth, but will have to wait for other teams to finish up Saturday before being seeded and scheduled.

They will begin tournament play on Wednesday in Stockton, California.

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