Box Score LOS ANGELES – Cal State L.A.'s baseball team was unable to come all the way back Friday night in the opener of a California Collegiate Athletic Association series against Chico State.

The Golden Eagles sliced a 5-1 deficit to 5-3 in the seventh inning, but couldn't get any closer in a 7-3 loss to the Wildcats at Reeder Field. Cal State L.A. (10-12, 8-8 CCAA) dropped its fourth consecutive game. Chico State (14-4, 6-3 CCAA) took the lead for good with four runs in the sixth inning.

Ryan Santhon (2-2) was dominant through five innings, but ran into some trouble in the sixth. He walked two and hit a batter to load the bases and a two-out walk forced in the tying run. Greg Humbert came on and the Golden Eagles thought he had struck out Chico State's Ryan McClellan on a 1-2 pitch, but the pitch was called a ball and McClellan hit the next pitch for a single to right field that wound up scoring three runs to make it 4-1.

Chico State led the rest of the way.

The Golden Eagles took a 1-0 lead in the fifth inning when Casey Ryan's two-out single scored Trent Zaks with the first run of the game. Chico State then scored its four runs in the top of the sixth to take the lead for good.

Zaks was 1-for-2 with two runs scored, while Ryan was 3-5 with one RBI. Steven Luna was 2-for-2.

McClellan was 3-for-4 for the Wildcats, while Eric Angerer scored twice and also hit his first home run of the season.

Santhon went 5 2/3 innings for the Golden Eagles and allowed only two hits. He walked four and struck out eight.

After Angerer's home run gave the Wildcats a 5-1 lead in the seventh, the Golden Eagles threatened to tie the game in the bottom of the inning. Zaks doubled and moved to third on a single up the middle by Luna. Rodrigo Martinez hit a sacrifice fly to make it 5-2 and Manny Acosta had a two-out, run-scoring single to make it 5-3.

The Golden Eagles stranded a pair of runners in the eighth and were retired in order in the ninth. Reliever Robert Hook got the win for the Wildcats, while Luke Barker scattered three hits over the final 2 2/3 innings to record his fifth save of the season.

The series will continue with a doubleheader on Saturday at Reeder Field beginning at 1 p.m.