Chico State cops third straight West Region title as Western hosts tourney
Ty Brack
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For the first time ever Western hosted the NCAA Division II west region baseball championship tournament with the help of Volcanoes Stadium in Keizer.
The six-team, double-elimination tournament was contested from May 18-21 with three games per day Thursday through Saturday and two games on championship Sunday.
Three teams from the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference-No. 3 seed Mesa State, No. 5 Fort Hays State and No. 6 Colorado State-Pueblo-two from the California Collegiate Athletic Association-No. 2 Chico State and No. 4 Cal State L.A.-and one from the Great Northwest Athletic Conference-No. 1 and host Western-composed the tournament field.
All three RMAC teams were first to hit the road with Western getting knocked out on Saturday night by Cal State L.A., which set up an all-CCAA final.
Entering championship Sunday, Chico State was undefeated for the tourney while Cal State L.A. had one "L"-an 11-2 loss to Chico State on Friday night-meaning L.A. would have to win twice and Chico just once to capture the regional crown.
Trailing 7-1 with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, L.A. put up a five-spot thanks to six singles and two walks. Then, with two out in the bottom of the eighth, Jack Roche tied the score with an RBI single and R.J. Brown hit a two-run home run to give the Golden Eagles the 9-7 lead for good, forcing a second game.
In this second game, however, Chico State took control with a six-run second frame and, unlike the previous game, held on to its six-run lead, eventually winning 8-1. Aaron Demuth-who hit four home runs in the tourney, including two in Chico's loss and a walk-off in the 11th inning of their opening day victory over Fort Hays State-hit a solo homer in addition to tourney MVP Jerin Harper's three-run jack.
The Wildcats (43-20) now head to Montgomery, Ala., for the NCAA Division II National Championships held May 27-June 3. Chico State won the national championship in 1997 and 1999 and is the last west region champion to win the national title.
This west region championship is the third straight for the Wildcats and their seventh in 10 years.