The San Francisco State Gators (12-6, 6-2 CCAA) took game one of Monday’s doubleheader with an impressive display of hitting, putting up 13 runs on 16 hits 13-9.
The Gators got off to a quick start with an imposing outing at the plate. Putting up eight of their 13 runs in the first two innings on the Chico State Wildcats (8-5, 3-5 CCAA) starting senior pitcher Dylan Day.
The Gators proceeded to keep their foot on the pedal, tallying a total of 12 hits and 11 runs through six innings of play.
Head Coach Dave Taylor managed to keep the team engaged and motivated after the early deficit by telling them to take the game inning by inning, sophomore pitcher Ethan Lay said.
The Wildcats responded in the bottom half of the eighth by loading the bases for a second time. This go-around ended differently as junior Troy Kent cleared the bases with a grand slam on a deep drive to right field, shortening the Gator’s lead to only five runs.
Chico State amassed an astounding nine runs on 15 hits but it wasn’t enough to beat the offensive outburst from the Gators.
Going into the series finale in the second half of the doubleheader, the Wildcats were looking to tie the series at two games a side and end the matchup on a high note.
The Gators picked up right where they left off in game one and proved that they aren’t strangers to scoring runs early. SF State scored a whopping six runs in the first inning of the game to break things open in the first frame and take a six-to-nothing lead.
After getting out to an early lead the Gators never looked back and ended up winning the game and series with a score of 9-2.
The Wildcats proceeded to make some noise in the bottom of the third inning by loading the bases with two outs but unfortunately couldn’t convert any of them into runs.
After coming in to pitch in relief of Chico starting sophomore Eddie Curley, senior Nathan Meredith picked up his fellow pitcher by throwing two scoreless innings. Unfortunately for the Wildcats, the Gator’s bats wouldn’t cool down as they put up three reinforcing runs in the top of the fourth.
Stifling defense from the Gators prevented the Wildcats from mounting any sort of momentum and shut the door on any come-back aspirations.
“You just got to forget about this series,” Lay said. “Don’t let one bad weekend define how you roll into the next one.”
The Wildcats are back in action this Friday at 8 p.m. in an away series against the Stanislaus State Warriors (7-7-1, 3-3 CCAA) where they are looking to bounce back and find their step.
Lukas Mann can be reached at [email protected].
