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LOS ANGELES – Phoenix Casias delivered a walk-off single in the bottom of the 10th to lift Chico State to a 5-4 win over Cal State Dominguez Hills in an elimination game in the 2025 CCAA Baseball Tournament presented by FloCollege.
 
Chico State trailed 4-1 after six innings, before scoring two in the bottom of the sixth and another in the seventh to tie the game at 4-4. It would remain there until the 10th to set up the dramatic finish with the walk-off hit.
 
Ernie Arambula began the 10th by drawing a one-out walk and promptly stole second base. After another walk and a line out, Casias came to the plate with two on and two out. He did not wait long, as he punched the first pitch he saw into right field. Arambula was running on the play, but it was a strong throw from right fielder Noah Karliner and it looked like he might be cut down at the plate. The throw bounced, right before reaching the catcher, allowing Arambula time to slide in before the tag to score the game-winning run.
 
The bullpen gave Chico State the chance to make the comeback with four scoreless innings in relief. Tyce Ochs struck out five in his two innings of work and Drake Richardson (4-0) allowed only one hit in two innings to earn the win.
 
Starter Jeremy Keller yielded two runs in the first but responded by putting up four scoreless innings. He gave up a two-run homer to Dylan Schumacher in the sixth before giving way to the bullpen. Keller walked one and struck out eight in six innings. Chico pitchers combined to strike out 16, while allowing only two walks.
 
Cal State Dominguez Hills’ starter Julian Castro pitched really well for the Toros. The first team All-CCAA relief pitcher got the start and went 5.2 innings, allowing seven hits and three runs. He walked one and struck out four. He cruised through the first four innings before giving up a run in the fifth. He ran into trouble in the sixth as Chico State had a pair of run-scoring doubles to knock him out of the game.
 
A double by Troy Kent to lead off the seventh, followed by a single from Michael Baker, tied the game at 4-4.
 
The Toros created a few scoring chances in the late innings as they loaded the bases with one out in the seventh, and had two runners on and no outs in the ninth, but were unable to push across the go-ahead run.
 
Thade Miller went 3-for-6 out of the leadoff spot for Chico State. Armabula was 2-for-4 with two hits and an RBI. Kent also had a pair of hits.
 
Dylan Schumacher went 2-for-5 with a home run and three RBI for Cal State Dominguez Hills. Noah Karliner had a pair of hits and scored two runs. Nigel Buckley and Emilio Barrera each went 2-for-4.
 
Chico State stays alive in the elimination portion of the bracket. It will face the loser of Cal State Monterey Bay and San Francisco State at 6 p.m. on Friday, May 9.