Box Score

CHICO -- Cal State L.A.'s baseball team put the finishing touches on a successful series at perennial power Chico State.

The Golden Eagles broke a 4-4 tie with three runs in the seventh inning and went on to beat the Wildcats, 9-5, Sunday in a California Collegiate Athletic Association game at Nettleton Stadium. Cal State L.A. (15-8, 8-4 CCAA) won three times in the four-game series and continued its recent string of regular-season success against Chico State.

The Golden Eagles have now won seven of their last eight games at Nettleton Stadium, including a four-game sweep in 2007. The Golden Eagles took two games in a three-game series against Chico State last season. Cal State L.A. is 9-2 in its last 11 regular-season games against Chico State over the past three seasons.

Max Moya had three hits and scored three times to lead a 14-hit Cal State L.A. attack. Travis Tartamella and Mark Sunga had two hits each and Chris Lloyd had a pair of RBI for the Golden Eagles. The big hit of the game was a run-scoring triple by Mario Ramirez that broke a 4-4 seventh-inning tie. Ramirez later scored on a bunt single by Tartamella and Chris Matzner added a run-scoring single to give the Golden Eagles a 7-4 lead.

John Dunn allowed only two hits and one run in three strong innings of relief for the Golden Eagles and picked up the win. Camron Collard got the last two outs to finish things up.

Eight Cal State L.A. batters drove in runs, while 10 picked up hits in the contest. Chico State (11-9, 7-5 CCAA) had 10 hits in the contest and both teams had plenty of chances to score throughout the day. Cal State L.A. stranded 11 runners on base, while Chico State left on nine.

Nathan Pickett had a successful start for the Golden Eagles, going five innings and allowing only two runs. He gave up seven hits and one walk while striking out one.

Chico State opened the scoring with a run in the first inning on a solo home run by Josh Meagher. The Golden Eagles, though, countered with a pair of unearned runs in the third inning to take the lead. Lloyd drove in one run with a groundout and Brendan McQuaid drove in a run with a squeeze bunt.

Cal State L.A. made it 4-1 with a pair of runs in the fourth. Sunga doubled in one run and Lloyd picked up a bunt single to drive in the other.

Chico State got one run back in its half of the fourth and then tied the game with two runs in the sixth. Kyle Eveland drove in the fourth-inning run, while the Wildcats took advantage of an error and a wild pitch to score its runs in the sixth.

McQuaid started the eventual game-winning rally in the seventh with a leadoff single. Ramirez followed with a triple down the left-field line and, after Moya was issued a one-out intentionally walk, Tartamella reached on a bunt single to score Ramirez. A single by Matzner drove in Moya to make it 7-4.

Cal State L.A. added two more insurance runs in the ninth. Moya doubled and scored on a pinch-hit single by Travis McBride. He later scored on a sacrifice fly by Matt Miraldi.

Dunn got the first out in the bottom of the ninth, but left after giving up a triple by Adam Arakawa and a double by Meagher. Collard came on and retired the only two batters he faced to finish up.

Cal State L.A. will open a four-game CCAA series at Cal State San Bernardino on Thursday. That series will conclude with a doubleheader at Cal State L.A.'s Reeder Field next Saturday.