In the first of two games on Wednesday, sophomore Micah Kele of the Red Hawks smashed a ball out to left field celebrating on the Wildcats home turf. Sophomore Grady Morgan responded by hitting his own home run and gave Chico State momentum to win 14-5. 

The Chico State Baseball team (7-2) went up against Simpson University Red Hawks (5-11) and swept the Red Hawks, putting up 26 runs in only 16 innings. 

In the first matchup of the day, the Wildcats had themselves another impressive offensive showing, carving out 14 runs on only nine total hits. 

Both senior Jack Murphy and Morgan highlighted the hit column: Combining for a total of five hits and with a two-run home run by Morgan in the bottom of the sixth inning. 

“I wanted to be aggressive on the first pitch and I got something I was able to drive,” Morgan said. “We were able to get off to a good start in the inning, and we kept our foot on the gas for the rest of the game.” 

After giving the Wildcats a 10-5 lead, Morgan hit a double in the seventh inning that added another two RBIs to his total for the first matchup.

Sophomore Cody Gentry had another impressive showing on the mound, picking up another win for the team this season. He pitched six full innings, allowed only seven hits and limited the Red Hawks to five runs.

“Cody was able to do his thing on the mound and pound the zone,” Murphy said. “The winds took the ball out of the park and we happened to fall behind, but we came back and had a nice win.” 

Gentry allowed zero runs in the first three innings, but in the fourth and fifth innings, all of the five runs were scored. Gentry was able to bounce back and ended his day on the mound with a scoreless sixth. 

With the 14-5 victory in the first game, the Wildcats continued with another offensive slugfest, closing out the two-game series with a 12-2 win.

Head coach Dave Taylor went to the bullpen five times in the seven inning game, with the bullpen only allowing four total hits for the Red Hawks, and leading junior Josh Verdon to earn his first win of the season.

“We have a ton of talent and depth from top to bottom in our pitching staff … that is something we put on display today,” Verdon said. “I think that going forward into conference games, our pitching staff will help us win a lot of games.”

 The offense clicked during the second matchup. Even with a completely different defensive lineup, the Wildcats had a total of five players with multi-hit games. 

“We have a really solid group of guys that have each other’s back,” Morgan said. “Everyone knows their piece of the puzzle and that is a big advantage.” 

Both sophomore Jordan Mello and junior Andrew Renteria had three-hit-showings and had one RBI each. The altered Wildcat lineup handed sophomore Ethan Buttars his second loss of the season, as Red Hawks batters scored five runs in the two innings Buttars had on the mound. 

“It was definitely huge for the team [beating the Red Hawks] especially when we are approaching a bye week before conference play,” Murphy said. “We needed to go into the conference with momentum and that is exactly what we have accomplished.”

With the two-game sweep over the Red Hawks, the Wildcats now look ahead to their first series in the California Collegiate Athletic Association Conference against the Sonoma State Seawolves. The series begins on Feb. 25, with two games on Feb. 26 and wraps up the series with one game on Feb. 27. The four-game series will be held at Nettleton Stadium, with Friday’s game beginning at 2 p.m. 

For more information, visit the Chico State Wildcat website.

Alejandro Mejia Mejia can be reached at [email protected] or @MeijaMeijaAlex on Twitter.