ROHNERT PARK, CALIF. - On Saturday, March 25th, the Sonoma State baseball team hosted CCAA rival Chico State in a conference doubleheader looking for their first wins in conference action this season. The Seawolves would get some great pitching performances and breakout for a 6-run 7th inning to come from behind and upend the Wildcats 9-5 in game one. The 4-run victory would go down as the program's first win over Chico State since 2018, ending a 10-game losing streak and giving them the 1-0 series lead. 

Chico State would bounce back in a big way though in game two as their starter would go six strong innings allowing just a single run. A massive 10-run 9th inning would put the game to bed as the Wildcats would even up the series with a convincing 16-1 victory. The series will resume on Sunday, March 26th with a doubleheader starting at 11:00 AM. 

GAME 1 SSU 9-5 CHICO STATE:

Junior right hander Nik Kamages would get his second start and make his team leading 6th appearance of the season in game one for the Seawolves. The hard throwing right hander would give up a pair of runs in the second but settle down nicely as he went five strong giving up just the 2 runs and allowing only 4 hits. The Sonoma County native would also strikeout a game high 7 batters, good for a new season high as he also leads all SSU pitchers with 17 K's on the season. 

Sonoma State would get on the board with a 2-run lined shot from sophomore catcher Chris Ortiz in the 5th. Oritz has been swinging a good bat lately as he belts his team leading third homer of the season and his second in the past week after homering against Cal State Monterey Bay the previous weekend. 

Both teams would trade runs in the 6th and then the Wildcats would take the lead for the third time in the game with two RBI singles in the 7th. The Seawolves offense would respond though in the bottom half and get the breakout inning they were looking for with 6 runs off 3 hits. All three hits would come at the start of the inning for SSU as freshman infielder Shane Callison would single to left center to score Jared Esparza who led the inning off with a big double to the left center gap. The three consecutive hits and a run scored would force Chico State to make a pitching change. 

An error by the Wildcats shortstop on the very next at bat would allow the tying run to score. An ensuing walk would load the bases with nobody out with a big inning on the horizon. Veteran first baseman Christopher Wright would come to the plate and drive home his 10th run of the season with a sac fly to center to give the Seawolves a 6-5 lead. Wright leads SSU with a solid .314 average. 

Another 2-out walk would load the bases for the second time in the inning and then the Chico State pitcher would get dinged with a clock violation after stepping off for the second time in the at bat with Joey Loveless. The violation resulted in an automatic ball but with the bases loaded and a full count, that would go down as ball four and score Daniel Cabral from third. The inning would start to unwind for Chico State as they went on to make another pitching change but would end up walking the next two SSU batters for another pair of runs. A strikeout with the bases loaded would finally end the 6-run 7th inning as the Seawolves took a 9-5 lead into the final two innings. 

San Diego native Ross Goldschlag would replace Kamages back in the 6th and go 2.2 innings but put himself in line for the win after the Seawolves big 7th inning. Goldschalg would look to complete his third inning of work in the 8th but a 2-out error followed by a single would force John Goelz to go to his closer early. 

Sophomore left hander Michael Panichi would make his 5th appearance of the season and come up clutch with a four pitch strikeout to end the threat. Panichi would pick up his team leading second save of the year after completing the 9th inning and securing the 9-5 victory over Chico State. Panichi stands as one of the team's best relievers this season, maintaining a 0.00 ERA in 6.1 innings of work.     

Sonoma State would match Chico State with 10 hits in the game and infielders Christopher Wright and Cooper Callison would finish with two hits a piece. 7 different players would record an RBI in the 4-run victory. Head coach John Goelz ended a 10-game losing streak to the Wildcats dating back to 2018 as they picked up their first conference win of the season.  

GAME 2 SSU 1-16 CHICO STATE: 

The second game of Saturday's doubleheader would tell a very different story as Chico State would break out for an 18-hit performance and a massive 10-run 9th inning to give them the blowout victory. SSU would remain in striking distance for the majority of the game as the Wildcats slowly tacked on runs to build a 6-0 lead. 

The Chico State starter would keep the Seawolves bats quiet for the majority of the game, allowing just two hits in the first five innings. A 1-out triple from utility player Niko Tejada would give some much needed life for the Seawolves as he would eventually score on a sac fly to left from Daniel Cabral. 

The lone run in the 6th would turn out to be the only run of the game for Sonoma State as the Wildcats broke out for a 6-hit, 10-run 9th inning to secure the decisive game two victory. Hits, walks, and errors all played a part in the inning as the Seawolves will look to chalk that one up and seek a series victory on Sunday over Chico State. 

LOOKING AHEAD:

The Seawolves picked up their first CCAA win of the season after splitting Saturday's doubleheader with the Wildcats. They improved to 7-8 overall and 1-6  in conference action. The series will conclude with another doubleheader on Sunday, March 25th starting at 11:00 AM. Live stats and stream links can be found at sonomaseawolves.com and you can stream the game LIVE on the CCAA Network.  

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