By Amanda Mendoza |Staff Writer|
It was a three game strike out for Coyote baseball last weekend against the Chico State Wildcats, who are currently ranked fifth in the NCAA.
On Friday’s opener, the Coyotes fell behind early and could not catch up to the Wildcats.
The Coyotes gained their first run during the seventh inning when Richard Mount singled to the left side bringing home senior Curtis Cassise to score.
Later in the eighth inning they scored their final run as senior Michael Castello grounded out to second base, bringing home senior Jake Pilkerton ending with a final score of 2-6.
Looking to redeem themselves, the Coyote’s were ready for the double header on Saturday, or so they thought.
During the first game of the double header, Chico State handed it to the Yotes as three different pitchers struck out 14 Coyotes combined.
The Coyotes struggled throughout the game and came out with another loss of 1-6 even with senior Billy Hamilton’s double down the right field which brought Cassise to the plate during the eighth inning.
The second game was equally disappointing when Chico took control early in the game and never slowed down.
The fourth was the Wildcats most prominent inning scoring four out of their 10 runs.
The Coyotes were unable to answer back to the 9-0 run until the sixth inning when they scored their only three runs of the game.
Pilkerton earned the Coyote’s first RBI of the game with a ground out to infield that allowed Castello to score.
Later on, senior Remington Miller hit a single to the right which brought in junior Trevor McMaster and senior Andrew Harrison to score.
However the game concluded with a score of 3-10.
Coyote’s junior Ruben Rios, pitcher of the week, threw a jaw dropping performance during the series finale on Sunday that allowed the Wildcats only one hit during the first seven innings.
Rios along with team members Brian Jipp and Kerry Kelley struck out a total of 11 Wildcat batters.
It was looking pretty good for the Coyotes as they took the lead in the first inning and kept the Wildcats off the bases.
Hamilton hit a two-out single down the middle which brought in Cassise to score.
The Coyotes held the lead until the ninth inning when the Wildcats were able to tie the game.
During the ninth, pitcher reliever Kerry Kelley came in and gave an ending double play to force extra innings.
However, Chico State earned the win late in the game during the 13th inning.
Wildcat’s Ryne Clark hit a double to right field and teammate Roger Boulden scored from first base.
Despite their loss the Coyotes played good baseball outhitting the Wildcats 11-3.
Kelley said, “Chico’s first place, they came out hot, our team didn’t come out, but the last game was the best and we fought for it.”
Kelley kept in mind that even though they may not have a chance to make it to playoffs, you have to “go out there like you fighting for a playoff spot.”
Coyotes (11-21, 5-9) plays home at Fiscalini Field on Friday to take on the four-game series against San Fransisco State.
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