TURLOCK -- For the third time in the series, No. 23 Cal State Stanislaus waited until the ninth inning to steal one from underneath No. 16 Chico State, scoring the winning run on an infield single by David Contreras in the bottom of the ninth to win 5-4 Sunday and take the four-game series 3-1.

The Warriors are now 17-5 overall and in sole possession of second place in the CCAA at 10-2. Chico State falls to 13-7 overall and 6-5 in CCAA.

The Warriors got another solid pitching performance from their starter Eric Federico, who went the distance for the win in his first complete game of the season, moving his record to 2-1.

"Chico (State) is one of the top programs I've seen," said Warrior head coach Kenny Leonesio. "You win three out of four against anybody in this league it's big, but doing it against Chico gives you some confidence."

The series win is the Warriors' fourth in a row and third straight in conference play. The team has won 12 of its last 14 games and is now 8-1 in one-run games.

The heroics were led once again by Tomas Donnelly, who struck out three times in the game, but led off the bottom of the ninth with a double to put the winning run in scoring position. Donnelly moved over to third on a sacrifice bunt but had to stay put when pinch hitter Jeff Bellotti popped out to the second baseman.

Then with two outs, Contreras came up and hit a groundball to the edge of the left field grass. Chico State shortstop Kyle Eveland ranged to his right to dig the ball and make the play, but Contreras made a head-first slide into first base and was called safe, allowing Donnelly to score the winning run.

As if the weekend was lacking excitement as it was, Cal State Stanislaus fell behind early when Chico State's Josh Meagher hit a grand slam over the right field fence to give the Wildcats a 4-0 lead in the third inning. Meagher finished the series going 6-for-15 with eight RBIs.

The Warriors got two runs back in the bottom half of the third. Dennis Wolfe, who finished the day going 3-for-3 with two runs scored, two walks and a homerun shy of hitting for the cycle, led off the inning with a double. Wolfe moved over to third on a fielder's choice and designated hitter Dante Palacios squeeze bunted him in to get the Warriors on the board.

Then with two outs, the hot-hitting Kyle Loretelli stepped up to the plate and drove his third homerun of the series to the same spot the first two went, deep center field, to cut the Wildcats' lead in half, 4-2. The homerun extended Loretelli's hitting streak to nine games. Loretelli finished the series going 5-for-10 with three homeruns and three RBIs.

Federico settled down and retired 12 of the next 13 batters. The Warriors would tie the score with two more runs in the bottom of the fifth when Chase Perez led off the inning with a single and Wolfe hit a triple off the wall in left-center field to make the score 4-3. Palacios came up and for the second time in the game, laid down a squeeze bunt to bring in Wolfe and tie the score at 4-4.

The Warriors next host Cal State Monterey Bay for a home-away-home four-game series. Friday the teams will play a single game at Warrior Field starting at 3 p.m. The series moves to Seaside on Saturday for a doubleheader starting at noon. The series finale will be back at Warrior Field with first pitch scheduled for noon.