Game 1 box | Game 2 box

ATHERTON, Calif. - The Cal State East Bay softball team kicked off the 2011 season with a pair of wins at Menlo College on Saturday afternoon. The Pioneers (2-0) opened the campaign with a 2-0 victory in game one, before trumping the Oaks, 10-3, in game two.

Sophomore Lauren Zweigle and senior Catherine Schorn combined for the shutout in game one. Zweigle picked up her first win of the year after allowing just one hit and striking out four in four innings of work, while Schorn earned the save with three innings of one-hit ball.

Newcomers Sarah Velasquez and Mishka Hamor led the way for the Pioneer offense in the early game. Hamor finished 2-for-4 with a run, while Velasquez went 2-for-3 at the plate and drove in one. Catcher Taylor Neumann scored East Bay's other run.

Tricia Davidson took the loss for the Oaks after allowing two runs on seven hits and two walks. Nadia Le'i and Davidson accounted for Menlo's only hits in game one.

Game two saw the Pioneer offense shake off the cobwebs early and often. Kassandra Winger started the game off with a triple, followed by a double from Hamor and a single from Nikki Freiberg to bring both of them in and put the Pioneers up 2-0. A single from Neumann and sacrifice fly from sophomore Emily Montanez brought in another run, while junior Breezy Johnson's single to left drove in East Bay's fourth run of the inning.

The early offensive output sent junior transfer Talia Ferrari into the circle for the first time with a 4-0 lead. The Glendora native put together a pair of scoreless innings before the Pioneers added to their lead with a three-run third.

Leading 7-0, Ferrari got into some trouble in the bottom of the third, giving up three runs on three hits as the Oaks cut the lead back to four. After a scoreless fourth, the Pioneers put up another crooked number in the top of the fifth. With one out, East Bay took advantage of two Menlo errors to score another pair on a Hamor single to take a 9-3 lead through four and a half innings.

The Pioneers added one more run in the top of the sixth inning to cap the scoring. Hamor finished with three RBI and a run scored after a 2-for-4 performance at the plate. Montanez also drove in three runs and went 2-for-3 at the plate, while Freiberg and Neumann combined to score five of the Pioneers' 10 runs in game two.

Ferrari picked up her first win in the red and black, while Heidi McAllister came on for three shutout innings to pick up a save.

Cal State East Bay returns to action on Sunday when it plays host to Academy of Art at Pioneer Field. The Pioneers and Urban Knights are set to get underway for East Bay's home opening doubleheader at 12 p.m.