Box Score SAN FRANCISCO--  SF State had their late ninth-inning rally fall short during this Saturday afternoon's CCAA matchup against the #10 Chico State Wildcats at Maloney Field in San Francisco. A.J. Pianto led the Gator hitting attack, going 2-4 with a run driven in.
 
Chico State (23-5, 15-5 CCAA) took a 1-0 lead in the top of the fifth inning. Cody Slader leadoff the inning with a walk and later advanced to third on a throwing error off a failed pickoff attempt with nobody out. After another walk, Gator starting pitcher Peter Reyes got Pierson Jeremiah to ground into a double play, although Slader came into score on the play, giving the Wildcats a 1-0 advantage.
 
Chico State later extended its lead, scoring a run in each of the last three innings of the game. With two-outs in the top of the seventh, Jeremiah doubled in Eric Angerer. The Wildcats struck again in there half of the eight when Cody Webber came in to score on a Gator fielding error through the left side. Chico also added a run in the ninth when Angerer scored on a Blake Gibbs sacrifice fly to make it 4-0 Wildcats heading into the bottom of the ninth.
 
SF State (10-22, 7-17 CCAA) made it interesting in the bottom half of the ninth when both Carter Loud and Grady Espinosa opened the inning with singles to put runners on first and second with nobody out. After a strikeout and a groundout advanced the runners to second and third, Pianto hit a two-out infield single to put the Gators on the board 4-1. However, their rally fell short as that ended up being the final score of the game.
 
Despite eight hits, the Gators offense didn't come alive until the ninth inning. Espinosa, Flores, and Pianto all had two hits to lead the way for the SF State offense.
 
SF State  starter Reyes (1-4) gets stuck with the loss even though he didn't allow an earned run through five innings. Nolan Sheridan came in to pitch four innings in relief, allowing two earned runs while striking out two.
 
Chico State's starter Kagen Hopkins improves to 5-0 on the season, going all nine innings surrendering one run on eight hits and four strikeouts.
 
The Gators will travel down to La Jolla next Friday to start a four game set with UC San Diego. First pitch is scheduled for 6pm.