STOCKTON – This was the lead: “If the Chico State baseball team is selected for next weekend’s NCAA Championship Tournament West Regional, their ghastly showing at the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Championship Tournament will be quickly forgotten. Unfortunately for the Wildcats, that IF turned into a very big one following their 15-5 loss to Cal State San Bernardino in an elimination game at Klein Family Field on the campus of University of the Pacific Friday.”

 

That was just the lead. The entire story was written. After all, this Sports Information Director had nothing better to do while waiting for the torturous game to end.

 

Then the Chico State baseball team re-wrote it.

 

The Wildcats rallied for 11 runs over the final two innings, capped by Michael Murphy’s walk off RBI-single in the ninth, for a come-from-behind win rivaled in program history only by their comeback to win the 1997 College World Series in terms of importance and excitement.

 

So here’s the new lead: Are you kidding me?

 

Cal State San Bernardino scored seven runs in the second and built a lead as large as 15-5. Their 23-hit attack was the most against a Chico State team since the fifth game of 1996. Amazingly, it wasn’t enough.

 

Murphy’s two-run homer sparked a six-run eighth that got the Wildcats within shouting distance at 15-11. It seemed that for the first time since the first inning, they really believed they would win.

 

Then they went out and did it in the ninth. Jackson Evans singled and Johnny Hay doubled leading off the frame before coming around to score on Adam Arakawa’s opposite-field double. That brought the tying run to the plate in the form of Kevin Seaver. He was hit by a pitch, setting the stage from some unlikely actors in this dramatic theatre. Hunter Buckmore and Tony Hernandez, who had entered the game in the seventh inning when it seemed out of reach, were due up next.

 

Buckmore laced a single to right field, plating Arakawa to make it 15-14. The true freshman Hernandez then took a veteran-like at-bat, slashing a base hit to right to load the bases.

 

It was a vital knock because the next batter, Kyle Leon, grounded into a 6-4-3 double play that brought the tying run home.

 

Cal State San Bernardino Head Coach Don Parnell chose to intentionally walk Jordan Larson, who reached base for the seventh time in the game, to face Murphy, who was a double shy of the cycle. Murphy was more than satisfied with his base hit. He drilled a hard ground ball up the middle setting off a wild celebration that culminated with Head Coach Dave Taylor in the middle of a mosh pit in left field.

 

That celebration will likely continue when the NCAA Championship Tournament field is announced Sunday night at 7 o’clock, thanks to their improbable win. The Wildcats entered the weekend ranked No. 3 in the West and Cal State San Bernardino was No. 5. The top four teams will go.

 

But first, Chico State will come right back to face the loser of the UC San Diego – Cal State Dominguez Hills game tonight about an hour after its completion. The winner of that game will take on the UC San Diego – Cal State Dominguez Hills winner Saturday at noon.

 

Chico State improved to 35-17 with the win, its third in five tries this season against Cal State San Bernardino. The Broncos fell to 29-17 and likely saw their season come to an end.

 

The top of Chico State’s order and a trio of relief pitchers were the foundation the win was built upon. Larson, Murphy, and Evans, the Wildcats’ 1-2-3 hitters, finished with four hits apiece and combined to reach base 15 times in 18 chances.

 

And while Chico State was mounting its comeback, Sheldon Lechuga, Phillip Hymas, and Scott Greene combined on two-and-a-third innings of scoreless relief, finally derailing the freight train that had been the Cal State San Bernardino offense.

 

Prior to that, only Ian Waldron had pitched effectively for Chico State, limiting the Coyotes to one run in three innings. But that one run was the 10th of the game for San Bernardino, giving them a 10-3 lead in the fifth.

 

After the lead grew to 12-3 in the top of the sixth, the Wildcats put their first crooked number on the board. Larson walked and scored on Murphy’s triple and Murphy scored on Evans’ base hit to trim the lead to 12-5.

 

But any smiles were quickly wiped away when the Coyotes struck for three runs in the seventh.

 

The smiles returned, or at least a few smirks, in the eighth. Larson led off with a single and Murphy cracked a long home run over the 35-foot wall to the left of the 405-mark in left-center field. Evans followed with a triple and scored on Hay’s sacrifice fly to make it 15-8. That was still the score with none on and two down. The Wildcats were four outs and seven runs away from elimination.

 

Thankfully, they had a little two-out magic up their sleeves. Seaver and Buckmore singled and Hernandez drew a walk to load the bases. Leon cashed in with a hard smash past the second baseman that plated two and Larson followed with an RBI-single to center to trim the lead to 15-11, setting the stage for the ninth.

 

Murphy drove in a four runs in the game, while Larson, Hay, Arakawa and Leon knocked in two apiece.

 

Greene got the win to improve to 5-3 in his first relief appearance since February.

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