Chico State Softball had a hot start this season after winning their first four games, but their win streak was snapped in the final game of the tournament, losing to Concordia University 3-1.

Senior Reilani Peleti says the team’s energy was high throughout the weekend despite not having it go their way in the end.

“We’re known to be the loudest team, so it was fun. We were always talking, cheering and having a good time,” Peleti said.

In game one on Friday, the Wildcats won in five innings due to the eight-run rule, beating Biola University 8-0.

According to the NCAA Rule Book, Rule 6.14: Any hit that results in an eight-run lead by the home team (after 4 ½ innings) is treated as a game-ending hit. Whenever the visiting team reaches the limit in the fifth inning or any inning thereafter, the home team must have its opportunity to bat in the bottom half of the inning.

Starting off in the bottom of the first, Amanda Metzger wasted no time leading off the inning with a double. Pellati brought her in with a base hit up the middle. Next, Nina Revoir came up big in the third inning, hitting an inside-the-park two-run home run, making it 4-0. 

By the time it got to the fifth inning the score was already 5-0. With offensive support from Taylor Berens and Alani Nyguen, they were able to get three more runs.

Nyguen had an RBI single to center field bringing in Revoir, and Berens pinch hit for Drew Rodriguez. Berenshit a double into center field bringing in the final two runs to win the game.

Biola University was held to only one hit the entire game, which came in the top of the third inning with the help of senior pitcher Brooke Larson. 

Their win streak was put to the test right away in game two of their doubleheader on Friday.

Northwest Nazarene took an early lead in the first inning, scoring three runs after Chico State started off the game with two.

Freshman starting pitcher Katelyn Oldwin, went 1.1 innings with two strikeouts, but allowed three earned runs and walked four batters. Replacing her was freshman Mari Takeda Bajan, who went on to finish the game. She was able to keep it close, going five innings and only allowing one earned run and collecting three strikeouts.

With the help from their young pitching staff, the Wildcats offense came alive in the top of the sixth inning. 

Batting with the bases loaded, freshman Hailey Seva had a two-RBI double, which brought in Revoir and Alexandria Allen to tie the game, and moved Taylor Berens to third base. 

In the seventh inning the Wildcats were able to finish off the game by adding another run along with two more hits winning 5-4. 

Head coach Angel Shamblin talked about the adjustments the team made offensively that were key in order to pull out a win.

“Understanding what the pitcher was throwing, they put in a different pitcher so we were able to swing on time, swing at good pitches,” Shamblin said. “That made a difference, we were able to score some runs because of that.”

The pitching staff continued to dominate games on day two of the tournament, when Larson threw a complete game shut-out and tallied nine strikeouts against Colorado Mesa, winning 2-0. 

Senior catcher Sara Mitrano had high praise for what the pitchers were able to accomplish.

“I think the pitching staff did really well, we only have four pitchers but I know how hard they work,” Mitrano said. “We still have little things to work on, we made minor adjustments in warm-ups and in games.”

Not only were they able to shut out Colorado Mesa, but Chico State also had their second eight-run rule victory of the weekend against Academy of Arts, with a final score of 9-1.

The Wildcats were already up 6-1 in the bottom of the fourth. Then in the fifth and final inning, Chico State finished them off with another three runs. 

In total the team was able to get nine hits, while freshman starting pitcher Katelyn Oldwin had eight strikeouts and one earned run.

Out of their four wins, two of them were against top 25 nationally ranked teams, No. 3 Biola University and No. 21 Colorado Mesa.

Peleti was excited to be able to come out on top against those teams, she said it shows how talented they are as a group.

“It gives us a great confidence boost, shows us what we are capable of, those teams were able to play the last two seasons, so it just felt good,” Peleti said. 

With the season just starting, their future is looking bright. The Wildcats will look to carry the energy into the weekend when they participate in the Desert Stinger Softball Tournament in Tucson, Arizona. They’ll play up to five games while having back to back doubleheaders on Friday and Saturday. Game one on Friday will be against Central Washington University at 9:30 a.m. and the second will start at noon. Games three and four on Saturday start at 9:30 a.m. and noon. Lastly, the final one on Sunday at 9:30 a.m.

Johnny Maldonado can be reached at [email protected].

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