Chavez Ends Marathon Game in Walk-Off Fashion

Thursday, May 21

Mesa, AZ

11:00 AM

California Baptist University

44-13

Utah Tech

34-23

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Utah Tech	0	1	0	3	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	2	7	16	2
California Baptist	1	0	1	2	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	5	10	21	2

Photo by: Matt Horrocks

Chavez Ends Marathon Game in Walk-Off Fashion

5/21/2026 4:36:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

By: Matt Horrocks, Assistant Athletic Director of Communications and Digital Media

MESA, AZ --- California Baptist ended their first game of the 2026 WAC Tournament with the ultimate exclamation mark, as CBU walked off Utah Tech in the bottom of the 14th. Needing to score two to extend the marathon battle, the Lancers responded with five, capped off with a walk-off home run to advance the Lancers into Friday.

Thursday's WAC quarterfinal game was two outs away from a nine-inning victory for the Lancers, as they led Utah Tech, 5-4. But the Trailblazers ultimately pushed home the tying run, leading to extra innings in Mesa.

The offense then hit a stalemate, as four consecutive scoreless innings pushed Thursday's game to the 14th frame.

Utah Tech ended the string of scoreless innings with a two-spot in the top half, putting the Lancers up against the wall with the top of the order due up in the bottom half. Chris Ramirez started the inning with a single, and then Connor Ross walked, bringing up Bryce McFeely. McFeely came into the at-bat 0-for-7 on the day, but he quickly erased that with a two-run single to level the game at seven.

The inning extended, as the Lancers added another runner on base, bringing up Matt Chavez with the winning run in scoring position. Like McFeely, Chavez came into the at-bat 0-for-7, but he erased all memory of his prior performance with one swing. Chavez drilled a ball deep over the left-center field fence, sending the Lancers out of the dugout to celebrate at home plate as CBU had won, 10-7.

CHAVY CALLS GAME!!!!!#LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/h2xgpmK5ZV
— California Baptist Baseball (@CBUbaseball) May 21, 2026

CBU offense piled together 21 hits in the victory. Ramirez led the offense with a 5-for-7 performance, adding four of the Lancers' ten runs. Ramirez's first hit, a leadoff single, was his 92nd of the season, setting a new DI era record for hits in a season. He is one shy of matching the all-time single-season record for CBU baseball.

Cole Hansen ended the game 3-for-5, with his biggest hit being an RBI single in the sixth that leveled the score at four. Cole Howarth went 3-for-5 as well, adding two runs and an RBI.

The Freshman of the Year gives us the lead!

🎥: ESPN+
📲: https://t.co/BPELsEx0qe #LanceUp⚔️ pic.twitter.com/P5WyU3su8M
— California Baptist Baseball (@CBUbaseball) May 21, 2026

Head coach Gary Adcock used six arms in the winning effort. WAC Pitcher of the Year Michael Malki allowed three runs over three innings. Luis Becerra then tossed the next three, allowing one run on three hits. Zachary Yates was called on to get the nine-out save, but he ended up allowing one run (unearned) on two hits.

Alfredo Capacete tossed three scoreless innings. Cameron Teper earned the win after recording the final six outs.

With Thursday's extra inning win, the Lancers now get the remainder of the day to rest and prepare for their semifinal game on Friday. The Lancers will play either Tarleton State or Sacramento State, who are playing at the time of this publication.

Friday's game is scheduled for 11 a.m. at Hohokam Stadium in Mesa, AZ.