The Wildcats softball team started the California Collegiate Athletic Association championship tournament with a late rally that fell short.

Chico State took on Cal State San Bernadino Thursday night as the two seed in the tournament.

The ‘Cats look to defend its 2018 championship but after Thursday’s game, the Wildcats are going to have to take a longer road to get there after a 7-3 loss.

The Wildcats jumped on top in the first inning with two singles and a walk. Amanda Flores singled which scored Kristin Worley. The next batter, Brooke Larsen, hit a sacrifice fly to right field which scored Wendy Cardinali.

With an early 2-0 lead, the Coyotes came right back with five runs against the CCAA’s Most Valuable Pitcher of 2019, Brooke Larsen.

Despite Larsen’s strong 2019 season, the Coyotes were able to take advantage of a couple of walks. The Coyotes also got four hits in the second inning to take a 5-2 lead.

Then in the fifth inning, Larsen gave up a two-run home run which ended her night on the mound. Larsen threw 4.2 innings allowing seven runs on eight hits and walking three batters.

Sam Murlock replaced Larsen on the mound and in the batting order. Murlock threw 2.1 innings allowing just one hit and no runs.

Murlock had a rare at-bat in the sixth inning. In just her third at-bat this season, Murlock connected for her first hit, an RBI single to center field. This cut the deficit to 7-3 after six innings.

The Wildcats fell short in a seventh-inning rally. It started with a pinch-hit home run by Rachel Atkins.

Worley drew a walk and Angel Lopez had a pinch-hit single that put runners on first and third. Then Ari Marsh singled scoring Worley but that was all the Wildcats were able to put together in the seventh inning.

The Wildcats will play their next game Friday at 2:30 p.m. against Cal State East Bay as this will be an elimination game for the ‘Cats.

Brandon Downs can be reached at [email protected] or @downsbrandon2 on Twitter.