Against the No. 8 team in the country, the Cal State Stanislaus baseball team rallied twice from behind but wasn’t able to hold off Chico State in the first game of a doubleheader, losing 7-2 in 12 innings on Thursday in Chico. In the nightcap, the Wildcats squeaked by with a 3-2 win in seven innings.
Chico State is now 14-3 overall and takes over first place in California Collegiate Athletic Association with an 8-2 record. The Warriors, however, continued to decend in the CCAA standings and are now 14-8 overall and 8-8 in league play.
These same two teams will try and finish the four-game set with another doubleheader on Sunday in Chico. Weather permitting, the twin bill is scheduled to start at 12 p.m. at Nettleton Stadium.
Chico State has not even played a conference game at home and are now 9-3 overall on the road. Cal State Stanislaus, however, has now dropped five of its last six home games and is now 12-6 at Warrior Baseball Field.
After Chico State took a 1-0 lead in the third inning of the opener, Stanislaus starter Andrew Stueve and reliever Phil Quade shut down the Wildcats until the 11th.
Meanwhile, the Warriors played catch-up and tied the game in the home half of the ninth to send the game into extra innings. Thomas Shull scored from third on a Ross Gonsalves squeeze to tie the game for the first time. Shull had delivered a pinch-hit triple to left-centerfield with one out.
Chico State then took a 2-1 lead in the 11th, but again the Warriors evened the score. Back-to-back singles to start the inning put Stanislaus in business and a sacrifice bunt later put both runners in scoring position with one out.
Fred Atkins bunted on a pitch-out to first and beat it out for a single that scored Shull to tie the game at 2-2. Zach Cadet then tried another squeeze play, trying to score pinch runner Kory from third, but Vitato returned safely back to third when the play was attempted at home plate.
With the bases loaded and just one out, the Warriors were seemingly in the driver's seat to finally win the close game. However, a hard grounder to short off the bat of David Contreras resulted in a rally-killing double play.
Chico State, had luck on its side, got out of the jam and put up a five-run 12th inning to eventually win the game.
In the nightcap, the Warriors used a three-run second to take a 3-1 lead. Again, the Warriors rallied from behind, scoring single runs in the second and fifth to make it 3-2. Colton Beatty, who had doubled, hustled his way to third on a fly out and scored on a wild pitch in the second. In the fifth, Beatty doubled to start the inning and a Gonsalves two-out double plated Beatty for run number two.
This time, however, the Warriors didn't have much of a late-inning comeback. Chico hurler Nick Baker got another double play in the sixth to end another CSUS rally and reliever Sheldon Lechuga got three outs in the seventh to preserve the win.
Cal State Stanislaus actually ran itself out of the game in the seventh inning when Beatty was picked-off at first to end the game.
At the end of the day, Beatty went 4-for-8 with two doubles and scored twice. Cadet had three hits and Shull was 3-for-6 with a triple.
On the mound for Stanislaus, Leonard Giammanco was tagged with the loss in game one when he gave up five runs on four hits in 1 2/3 innings. Stueve threw eight innings and gave up just one run on five hits with four strikeouts, but again didn't get the run support in the no decision.
Game 2 starter Kory Wallace gave up three runs on eight hits in 6 1/3 innings pitched. He did strike out five and walked one.
Chico State is now 14-3 overall and takes over first place in California Collegiate Athletic Association with an 8-2 record. The Warriors, however, continued to decend in the CCAA standings and are now 14-8 overall and 8-8 in league play.
These same two teams will try and finish the four-game set with another doubleheader on Sunday in Chico. Weather permitting, the twin bill is scheduled to start at 12 p.m. at Nettleton Stadium.
Chico State has not even played a conference game at home and are now 9-3 overall on the road. Cal State Stanislaus, however, has now dropped five of its last six home games and is now 12-6 at Warrior Baseball Field.
After Chico State took a 1-0 lead in the third inning of the opener, Stanislaus starter Andrew Stueve and reliever Phil Quade shut down the Wildcats until the 11th.
Meanwhile, the Warriors played catch-up and tied the game in the home half of the ninth to send the game into extra innings. Thomas Shull scored from third on a Ross Gonsalves squeeze to tie the game for the first time. Shull had delivered a pinch-hit triple to left-centerfield with one out.
Chico State then took a 2-1 lead in the 11th, but again the Warriors evened the score. Back-to-back singles to start the inning put Stanislaus in business and a sacrifice bunt later put both runners in scoring position with one out.
Fred Atkins bunted on a pitch-out to first and beat it out for a single that scored Shull to tie the game at 2-2. Zach Cadet then tried another squeeze play, trying to score pinch runner Kory from third, but Vitato returned safely back to third when the play was attempted at home plate.
With the bases loaded and just one out, the Warriors were seemingly in the driver's seat to finally win the close game. However, a hard grounder to short off the bat of David Contreras resulted in a rally-killing double play.
Chico State, had luck on its side, got out of the jam and put up a five-run 12th inning to eventually win the game.
In the nightcap, the Warriors used a three-run second to take a 3-1 lead. Again, the Warriors rallied from behind, scoring single runs in the second and fifth to make it 3-2. Colton Beatty, who had doubled, hustled his way to third on a fly out and scored on a wild pitch in the second. In the fifth, Beatty doubled to start the inning and a Gonsalves two-out double plated Beatty for run number two.
This time, however, the Warriors didn't have much of a late-inning comeback. Chico hurler Nick Baker got another double play in the sixth to end another CSUS rally and reliever Sheldon Lechuga got three outs in the seventh to preserve the win.
Cal State Stanislaus actually ran itself out of the game in the seventh inning when Beatty was picked-off at first to end the game.
At the end of the day, Beatty went 4-for-8 with two doubles and scored twice. Cadet had three hits and Shull was 3-for-6 with a triple.
On the mound for Stanislaus, Leonard Giammanco was tagged with the loss in game one when he gave up five runs on four hits in 1 2/3 innings. Stueve threw eight innings and gave up just one run on five hits with four strikeouts, but again didn't get the run support in the no decision.
Game 2 starter Kory Wallace gave up three runs on eight hits in 6 1/3 innings pitched. He did strike out five and walked one.
