CHICO, Calif.— The No. 7 Chico State Wildcats (20-5, 14-4 CCAA) swept this afternoon's California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) doubleheader from the visiting SF State Gators 8-1 and 7-6 at Chico State's Nettleton Stadium. The Wildcats took game one 8-1 and came back from a 6-1 deficit and take game two 7-6.
The Wildcats took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning in game one as Matt Anderson hit a one-out double to right field and scored on a triple to left center by Kroker. He then scored on a sacrifice bunt by Manci.
SF State cut the Wildcat lead in half on a lead-off home run in the top of the fourth inning by
Tyler Tulowitzki (his first of the season). Tulowitzki finished 2-for-4 for the Gators.
Chico State added another run in the fifth on a one-out single by Ben Manlove that drove in Manci. Manci singled with one out and then stole second and scored on Manlove's single to increase the Wildcat lead to 3-1.
The hosts broke the game open with a five-run sixth inning capped by a two-run single by Manci.
Jordan Lindebaum (2-0) picked up the win for the Wildcats, pitching 6 innings of our-hit ball while giving up just one run while striking out four. Stephen Thompson recorded his first save, pitching three scoreless innings of relief, striking out two and walking two.
Jeff Clegg (1-2), in his third start of the year, recorded the loss for the Gators.
In the night cap, Yasahura walked to open the Wildcat first and later scored on a single by Adrian Bringas to give the hosts a 1-0 lead.
The game remained 1-0 Wildcats until SF State's half of the fourth.
Ivan Otsuka and Tulowitzki led off the fourth with back to back singles.
Matt Quintero then was hit by a pitch to load the bases for
Chris Schindler, which hit a sacrifice fly to drive in Otsuka with SF State's first run of the game.
The Wildcats then intentionally walked
Drew Andersen to load the bases for
Dustin Wold, who then hit a bases-clearing triple and scored on an error by the Wildcats to give the Gators a 5-1 lead. Still with one out,
Michael Cala and
Will Klein hit back to back singles which put runners on the corners. Klein was thrown out trying to steal second base.
Kevin Dultz walked and then advanced to second on a passed ball which Cala scored on to give the Gators a 6-1 lead.
Chico State came back though with a four-run fifth. Michael Schultz walked and went to second on a single by Yasuhara. Cody Foster singled home Schultz. With one out, Bringas singled home Yasuhara to make it 6-3, Gators. Kroker hit a two-run single to drive in Foster and Bringas to cut into the Gator lead some more, 6-5.
The game remained 6-5 Gators until the bottom of the seventh. Jackson Evans opened up the Wildcat seventh reaching on an error. He advanced to second on a single by Bringas. With one out, Evans and Bringas advanced a base on a balk. Evans scored the tying run on an infield ground out by Manci. Then with two outs, Brent Manlove was intentionally walked to load the bases for Schultz. Schultz drew a walk which brought in Bringas with the game-winning run.
Juan Guerra (2-0) picked up the win in relief, pitching two scoreless innings of relief striking out and giving up no hits and no walks. Bringas finished game two, 3-for-4 wit two runs scored and two RBIs.
Dultz (0-3) recorded the loss in relief, pitching 2.1 innings, giving up two hits and two unearned runs while walking four and striking out three.
SF State (11-20, 6-18 CCAA) will return home this weekend for a four-game conference home stand with Cal Poly Pomona. The series will begin this Friday, April 8th with a single game at 3pm at SF State's Maloney Field.
Box Score Game One
Box Score Game Two
