Game 1 box | Game 2 box

CHICO, Calif. - Playing its seventh and eighth games in the last five days, the Cal State East Bay softball team ran out of offense on the final day of a four-game series with Chico State, dropping both games of the Wednesday doubleheader. The Pioneers (8-12, 5-11 CCAA) fell behind early in game one before falling, 6-2, and saw the Wildcats come from behind to take game two, 4-2.

In the first game of Wednesday's doubleheader, Chico State broke the seal in the bottom of the first inning, as Hailey Stockman knocked in a pair with a triple off the base of the left field fence, and in the second Britt Wright's single up the middle brought home another run to make it a 3-0 ballgame.

Cal State East Bay answered with two runs off Wildcat starter Sam Baker in the top of the third inning. Mishka Hamor came through with an RBI single and scored on a double by Emily Montanez to cut the Wildcat lead to just one. Baker, however, got one of the runs back herself for Chico, blasting a homer to dead center field to lead off the bottom of the fourth inning to make the score 4-2.

The Wildcats put the game away in the sixth inning when Munoz roped an RBI double down the left field line, plating Baker and Sam Quadt to put Chico State up by four.

Though the Pioneers put two on in the top of the seventh, Baker got the final three outs without incident to cement the Wildcats' 6-2 victory. Baker struck out seven in tossing a complete game to improve to 9-2, while East Bay starter Kelly Lowe (3-4) took the loss after allowing three runs on four hits in 1.2 innings of work.

Hamor led the Pioneers at the plate in game one, going 1-for-3 with a run and an RBI, while Breezy Johnson went 1-for-2 and scored East Bay's other run.

The Pioneers struck first in the series finale, as Kassy Winger scored on a two-out single by Taylor Neumann in the top of the first inning, but the Wildcats answered right back in their half of the first, scoring a pair off East Bay starter Heidi McAllister.

Chico State made it 4-1 with two runs off McAllister in the bottom of the second inning. The Pioneers trimmed the deficit to two in the top of the fourth inning when Devon Mercurio's sacrifice fly plated Nikki Freiberg, but Wildcat starter Jessica McDermott made sure East Bay would get no closer.

The Pioneers put the tying runs in scoring position in the top of the sixth inning, but McDermott got Winger looking to end the threat. Then, in the top of the seventh East Bay got the tying run to the plate, but McDermott regained her focus, getting the last three outs to end it.

McDermott went the distance for the Wildcats, picking up the victory after allowing two runs on four hits and striking out five. McAllister (0-2) was tagged for four runs in just 1.2 innings and was saddled with the loss for the Pioneers.

Neumann and Mercurio accounted for two of East Bay's four hits in game two and drove in a run apiece. Winger accounted for one of the Pioneers' two runs and went 1-for-4 at the plate in the finale.

Cal State East Bay returns home for the first time in eight games to close out its schedule of 12 games in eight days, playing host to Humboldt State for a pair of doubleheaders on Mar. 11 and 12. The Pioneers and Jacks are set to get underway on Friday at 12 p.m. at Pioneer Softball Field.