BOX SCORE Box Score: #9 Chico State 10, #30 Sonoma State 4
STOCKTON, Calif. -- The Sonoma State baseball team ended their run in the CCAA Championship Tournament early with a 9-4 loss to Chico State on Friday afternoon at Banner Island Ballpark in Stockton. Heading into the event hoping to pick up a few quality wins to pad their resume, the Seawolves will now cross their fingers and hope for the best when NCAA Tournament berths are announced on Sunday night. Sonoma State is hoping to qualify for the tournament for the sixth time in the last eight years and the 13th time since 1990.
The loss drops Sonoma State to 27-16 overall while the Wildcats, now 38-12, stay alive to face either UC San Diego or Cal Poly Pomona on Saturday.
Chico State picked up the game's first run in the first inning when Eric Angerer tripled, then scored on a Ruben Padilla sacrifice fly. While the Seawolves would equalize in the 2nd on a
Shawn Walters RBI single, the 'Cats scratched out another run in the bottom of the frame to take a 2-1 lead.
An eventful fifth inning started when Walters reached on an error before consecutive singles by
Wesley Wallace,
Jourdan Weiks, and
Daniel Caresio. With one run in and the bases loaded,
Jackson Stogner hit into a double play to put Sonoma in the lead. An
Eric Ehlow RBI single gave them a third run in the inning, and a 4-2 lead.
Chico responded with authority in their half of the inning as the first four batters reached, chasing reliever
Devin Alexander from the game. Five runs would eventually come in as the Wildcats rolled to a 7-4 advantage after their big inning.
The Wildcats would tack on some insurance in the 8th in the form of a two-run home run from Ryne Clark and an RBI single from Ryan McClellan.
While Sonoma State had success against Brad Lohse, the Wildcats' starter, relief pitcher Marcos Lara pitched superbly after coming in for his first relief appearance of the year in the 5th. After working out of a jam to end that inning, Lara scattered two hits over 3.1 innings while striking out four to earn the win.
Alexander drew the loss for Sonoma State after yielding four runs and four hits in 2.1 innings of work. Sonoma State's starting pitcher,
Jon Richards left the game after two outs in the second.
Aaron Gillis was Sonoma's most effective arm, giving up just one run in three innings.
It's now wait and see time for the Seawolves. Sonoma entered the weekend ranked 6th in the NCAA regional rankings. The No. 7 team, Cal State East Bay, was idle this week while No. 8 Western Oregon competes in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC) Tournament. The top six teams, as selected by the national committee, will advance to the NCAA West Regional, next weekend. The CCAA is the only conference in the region with an automatic qualifier, which goes to the winner of this weekend's tournament in Stockton. Sunday's selection show will be broadcast on ncaa.com at 7:00 pm PDT.
