KEIZER, Ore. – It wasn’t Friend or foe for the Chico State baseball team. Friend was the foe. And the Wildcats did not enjoy getting to know him. Dixie State’s Sam Friend fired a complete-game five hitter as the Red Storm beat the Wildcats 3-1 Saturday night at Volcano Stadium to force a decisive game between the teams for the West Region title.
Chico State would have won the West with a win. Instead, the Wildcats will have a second chance when the teams meet in the regional finale Sunday at noon. The winner will advance to the Division II College World Series. The loser will see its season come to an end.
Chico State opened the scoring in the second when Shane Kroker singled, stole second, and eventually scored from third on Pierson Jeremiah’s base hit up the middle. It looked like the Wildcats were off and running. But after notching three hits and a walk in the first two frames, the offense stalled.
Chico State managed just two more hits over the next seven frames and never moved another runner beyond first base.
“It’s always nice to get that early run,” said Kroker. “But as the game went on we didn’t make any adjustments at the plate.”
Jeremiah’s RBI-hit was his third of the weekend.
“All I wanted to do was hit the ball up the middle and get a run home,” he said. “I just stayed relaxed and played the game.”
That may have been the team’s final “relaxed” at-bat against the soft-tossing lefty who kept the Wildcats off-balance with an array of off-speed pitches in and out of the strike zone.
On the other hand, Chico State starter Ryan O’Shea (3-3) worked in and out of trouble for much of his five and two-thirds innings. He stranded four runners in scoring position in the first four frames, but all the hits he was allowing caught up to him in the fifth. The third of consecutive two-out singles got Dixie State on the board before he caught Tyson Littlewood looking to end the inning.
Two runners were again on with two down in the sixth, but this time O’Shea left a breaking ball out over the plate Jordan Hanley hit it past a diving Cody Foster into the left-center field gap for a two-run triple. That gave the Red Storm the lead for good and ended O’Shea’s day. The sophomore (3-3) allowed 10 hits and three runs while striking out three and walking one.
Morgan Yee came on in relief and got a strikeout to end the inning. He went on to retire all seven hitters he faced, striking out two.
Yee gave the Wildcats some time to rally. But Friend kept them off balance and induced 14 ground ball outs, including a pair of important double-play balls, while improving to 6-2 on the season.
“You have to give Friend credit,” said Wildcats Head Coach Dave Taylor. “Guys like that can be very effective against an aggressive team. I think we were loose at the start of the game but then we got tight. As the game went on I felt like we were pressing.”
So now it all comes down to Sunday. The game will be broadcast in the Chico area on FOX Sports 101.7 FM and will also be available online via the Wildcat Webcast link at www.chicowildcats.com.
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