The Wildcats traveled down to Monterey this weekend and won three out of their four games against the Cal State Monterey Bay Sea Otters (13-20, 7-13 CCAA), improving to 9-17 (8-12 CCAA).
The Wildcats faced a difficult task in game one, where they went up against freshman standout Mackenzie Willis. However, the Wildcats were unphased as they came away with the win in the series opener, tallying seven hits and scoring four runs.
These runs came courtesy of a two-run home run from freshman Ali Lewis and a two-run double from sophomore Hannah Levy.
Sophomore Amelie Valdez was the starter on the mound for the Wildcats and came away with her fifth win of the season, almost throwing yet another complete game before being taken out with two outs in the seventh inning. Valdez only allowed six hits and two earned runs, while striking out four, which led to the final score of 4-2.
The Wildcats kept their momentum rolling into game two after getting out to a two-run lead early thanks to a double down the third base line from sophomore Karlie Bilbrey that scored Lewis and junior Elisa Haas.
Unfortunately, mother nature was the unstoppable force of the game, and rain postponed the game to Saturday, where the Wildcats picked up where they left off in the second inning.
Game two resumed on Saturday with Bilbrey on second base and freshman Lilly Cante up to bat. Cante proved that the weather wasn’t going to affect her or the Wildcat’s bats, as she came through with a single through the six hole, scoring sophomore Ashley Rocha.
Junior Katelyn Oldwin was the starting pitcher for the Wildcats and went three and two-thirds innings, only allowing two hits and no runs. Freshman Sophia Tassinari came in to pitch for two innings in relief of Oldwin and gave up two runs while only allowing two hits.
Despite throwing 137 pitches in game one on Friday, Valdez’s arm was fresh enough to come in for the save and secure the Wildcats win 6-3.
The third game of the series was an absolute pitcher’s duel with Willis on the mound for the Sea Otters and Valdez for the Wildcats, having yet another amazing performance.
Willis managed to throw a gem of a game, going the distance while only allowing four hits and striking out seven. Valdez went five and one-third innings with zero earned runs and five hits. Oldwin came in once again in relief of Valdez in the bottom of the sixth, throwing two innings and giving up one run and two hits.
Neither team was able to generate any offense through the regulatory seven innings leading to extra innings. The Sea Otters prevailed this time after a walk-off solo home run in the bottom of the eighth, from sophomore Faith Soriano, producing a final score of 1-0.
Game four was Oldwin’s turn to show off her skills for the Wildcats on the mound and she took advantage of the opportunity. Oldwin threw a complete game of her own and secured her third win of the season, striking out five and holding the Sea Otters to only six hits.
The offensive production on Saturday came from Lewis and Levy with each of them producing an RBI leading to a final game score of 2-0. This earned the Wildcats the series win, taking three out of the four games played.
The Wildcats are back in action on Friday at 1 p.m. at the Wildcat Softball Field against Cal State East Bay (17-9, 10-6 CCAA). The game can be live streamed online from the following link: https://ccaanetwork.com/chico/
Lukas Mann can be reached at [email protected].
