ARCATA – Three scoops of ice cream, fresh ripe bananas, chocolate syrup, chopped nuts, caramel, fudge, and strawberry toppings and a cherry on top. Before Monday, no split sounded better to the Chico State softball team than the banana variety. Then the Wildcats won one of two at Humboldt State to take two of four in the series against the Lumberjacks, who have been the bullies of the West with 17 straight trips to the NCAA Championship Tournament. Now that was sweet.
Courtney Brock’s ninth-inning home run and Jessica McDermott’s complete-game six hitter gave the Wildcats a 1-0 victory in the first game before Humboldt State rallied for four games in the sixth to win the nightcap 4-2. The Wildcats also took one of two games from Humboldt State on Sunday.
Chico State’s two victories in Arcata put an end to what has been a nightmare run against the Lumberjacks, who had won six straight against Chico State by a combined score of 50-4 and 13 of the last 14 by a combined score of 81-10. Chico State was only 18-79-2 all-time against Humboldt State entering the weekend.
But the Wildcats are no longer a vanilla team with new Head Coach Angel Shamblin in the dugout. They moved to 11-9 overall and 8-8 in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) with Monday’s split.
Jessica McDermott fired nine shutout innings in the opener to improve to 4-2.
McDermott turned the tables on Humboldt State starter Gracie Perez, who logged a no-hitter against the Wildcats Sunday while McDermott struggled with her control and eventually took the loss. McDermott struck out six and walked just one and improved to 4-2 on the season.
Wildcats left fielder Christine Johnson helped let McDermott settle in by throwing out Chrissy Stalf at home to end the first inning and Brock gunned down another runner at home to end the third. After that, McDermott only allowed two infield singles and one base hit to the outfield.
Meanwhile, Chico State’s offense managed eight hits against Perez but stranded at least one runner in scoring position in the first, fifth and eighth innings. Brock broke through in the ninth, hammering a one-out home run down the left field line, her first of the year. McDermott retired the Lumberjacks in order in the bottom of the frame to secure the win.
Chico State was on its way to a doublheader sweep in the second game before Humboldt scored four times in the sixth. Johnson’s RBI-single in the fifth gave the Wildcats a 1-0 lead and Rachel Failla drove in Rebecca Johnson with a base hit in the sixth to make it 2-0.
But the Lumberjacks finally broke through against Chico State starter Kacie McCarthy in the sixth. McCarthy threw seven shutout innings against the Lumberjacks Sunday, and kept them scoreless through the first five frames on Monday. But a walk and a double leading off the sixth spelled the end of her day, and reliever Sarah Marcia allowed two RBI-singles and hit a batter to load the bases with the score tied 2-2 and still no one out. Freshman reliever Caitlyn Byrne minimized the damage after forcing in one run by hitting a batter, allowing only an RBI-ground ball after that.
Sam Quadt’s two-out double in the seventh gave the Wildcats hope, but Rebecca Johnson flied out to end the game.
Chico State is back in action this weekend at home in a four-game showdown with CCAA leader Sonoma State. The teams will play a doubleheader Friday at 1 p.m. and another Saturday at noon. Chico State trails Sonoma State by five games in the conference standings, but only one game separates the Wildcats from fourth-place San Francisco State and Cal State San Bernardino. The top four teams by winning percentage in the final standings will advance to the CCAA Championship Tournament.
GAME 1 BOX SCORE
GAME 2 BOX SCORE