 "Photo: Kyle Emery")
While everyone was stressing out about finals, the Wildcat baseball team was finishing up its strong season at the NCAA Championship Tournament West Regional.
The tournament was held Thursday through Sunday at the MLB Urban Youth Academy in Compton, Calif. The Wildcats, 35-19, have had past success going into Thursday’s double-elimination tournament.
Chico State won the last ten openers they played in the tournament, until they faced off against second-seeded Cal State Dominguez Hills, 41-18, on Thursday.
The Wildcats were seeded third, with UC San Diego holding the No. 1 spot taking on the fourth-seeded Hawaiian Pacific. Senior center fielder Jordan Larson talked about the team’s focus going into the tournament.
“Coach wanted us to focus on competing,” Larson said. “Preparing and doing the things that got us to this weekend.”
The Wildcats found themselves in a hole early despite having their ace Michael Gleason on the mound Thursday night. Gleason had success in a win against Cal State Dominguez Hills earlier in the season, but in the West Regional opener, the Toros jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning.
Gleason would find his rhythm, however, working to retire 10 batters in a row after his early hiccup. The Wildcat offense would also settle in and give their ace a little cushion.
A double from second baseman Jackson Evans started a mini rally with a double, followed by another double from first baseman Kevin Seaver. Outfielder Adam Arakawa would walk and third baseman Adrian Bringas delivered yet another double. The Wildcats overcame their early deficit to take the lead, 3-2, in the fourth.
But the Toros’ lefty Kody Kurowski proved to be too much for the Wildcats in Thursday’s night opener. Kurowski settled in after the three-run fourth inning, holding the Wildcat offense scoreless through the seventh.
This isn’t the first time Kurowski has had success against Chico State. His record now improves to 3-0 against the Wildcats in his career at Cal State Dominguez Hills.
The Toros would hand Gleason his worst loss of the season, surrendering seven runs on eight hits, including a two-run homerun by Toros outfielder Andrew Baslow. The home run would give the lead back to the Toros, who went on to rack up four more in the seventh and break the game open.
The Wildcats would eventually fall, 11-4, and would have to battle from the loser’s bracket, something that the Chico State program hadn’t done since 1996, Larson said. The Wildcats got some bad breaks in the form of blooper singles that hurt them.
“We needed to do more offensively,” Larson said. “He [Gleason] did a good job, they just got some good breaks.”
The Wildcats faced off against Hawaii Pacific on Friday in the lower bracket. The ’Cats got started in the bottom of the first with a home run from Larson. He was a major factor in the Wildcats’ miraculous come-from-behind victory against Cal State San Bernardino in the CCAA tournament last weekend in Stockton.
The leadoff man would continue to produce, following his solo shot with a double to right field before being knocked in, courtesy of a sacrifice fly from outfielder Johnny Hay. The Wildcats had the early lead, 2-0, through three innings.
The Hawaii Pacific Sea Warriors would get on the board, scoring three in the top of the fourth – two of which came from the first of two home runs Wildcat starter Scott Greene would surrender that day.
The Wildcat offense could not get anything going the rest of the day. The Sea Warriors took advantage of Chico State’s struggles in the box, scoring six runs of their own in the eighth to break the game open and eventually win their first game in the NCAA postseason.
Sea Warriors starting pitcher Toby Inouye went the whole nine, allowing three runs on eight hits and striking out three to give Hawaii Pacific a milestone win for its program and ending the Wildcats’ season.
Though they managed to make it back to the NCAA tournament, the ‘Cats saw one of their earliest exits in program history. Larson spoke about what the Sea Warriors did to have success against them.
“Their pitcher kept us off balance,” Larson said. “I don’t really feel it was anything they did. I feel more like we beat ourselves.”
Despite these recent losses, the Wildcats’ season was laced with amazing performances – from their crushing wins early in the season to the impressive pitching that has recently picked up their game.
Chico State will be losing key seniors after this year, leaving a void that head coach Dave Taylor will have to fill.
Seniors Arakawa, Larson, Seaver, Gleason, Murphy, Braden and Waldron played their last game in Chico State uniforms.
As long as Taylor is in the driver’s seat, there is a good chance the ‘Cats could be back in position for a deeper run in next year’s tournament.
Ryan MacTavish can be reached at
rmactavish@theorion.com
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