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TURLOCK, Calif. – The Cal State East Bay softball team nearly had a perfect game and held its own against a nationally-ranked squad, but could not pick up a win on the second day of pool play at the Mizuno Tournament of Champions in Turlock on Saturday. The Pioneers (15-18) took a perfect game into the seventh inning of a 2-1 loss to Hawaii Hilo before falling to Central Washington, 18-1, and capped the day with a narrow 2-1 defeat at the hands of No. 6 Western Washington. East Bay will now move on to one of Sunday's single elimination brackets after posting a 2-3 mark during pool play.

The first game of the day saw another stellar outing from Talia Ferrari. A day after two-hitting Notre Dame de Namur, Ferrari was the tough-luck loser against Hawaii Hilo after taking a perfect game into the top of the seventh inning. The Glendora native faced the minimum through the first six and a third innings, getting help from her defense, who sucked up 11 groundballs and caught six pop ups. Though Ferrari only struck out one batter in the first six innings, she threw just 57 pitches, stifling the Vulcan offense and holding onto the Pioneers' 1-0 lead through 19 Vulcan batters.

Cal State East Bay scored its only run of the game in the bottom of the first inning. Dani Foster got a two-out rally started by drawing a walk before Taylor Neumann singled to right field to put two on for Sara Holdridge. The sophomore first baseman took advantage, singling to right to bring around Foster and give East Bay a 1-0 lead. From there, however Hilo starter Amber Waracka matched Ferrari, scattering three hits over the final six innings and eventually picking up the win.

After getting the first out of the top of the seventh inning, Ferrari gave up a bunt single followed by a single to right to put two on with one out. A sacrifice bunt moved the runners over and a single from Asha Prithviraj brought around both runners to give the Vulcans a 2-1 lead before Ferrari got a final pop up to end the inning. The two runs, however, were enough for Hilo to hold on for the comeback victory.

Ferrari allowed two runs on three hits with one strikeout in her third complete game performance of the week, dropping to 6-6 on the year. Holdridge and Ferrari led the Pioneers at the plate, both going 2-for-3 with Holdridge driving in East Bay's only run of the game. Waracka picked up her 10th win of the season, allowing one run on five hits and striking out four.

Though the Pioneers scored first again in the second game of the day, a five-run third and a 12-run seventh helped Central Washington post an 18-1 victory. East Bay got their one run in the bottom of the second inning, as a Neumann single and a Ferrari double put runners on second and third for Nikki Freiberg, whose fly ball to left was deep enough to bring in Neumann and give the Pioneers a 1-0 lead. That advantage was short-lived, however, as the Wildcats scored five in the top of the third and added 12 in the final inning to pick up the win.

Lauren Hadenfield improved to 8-6 with the win for CWU, allowing one run on five hits with 11 strikeouts in a complete game effort. Kelly Lowe took the loss for the Pioneers, going 2.1 innings and giving up six runs on six hits. Neumann finished 1-for-3 and scored East Bay's lone run, while Freiberg was 1-for-2 with an RBI.

In the final game of pool play against sixth-ranked Western Washington, East Bay held its own, going toe-to-toe with the Great Northwest Conference leaders. The two teams played three scoreless innings before the Vikings got on the board in the bottom of the fourth.

After a runner reached on a dropped fly ball, the Vikings followed with a single up the middle, knocking starter Heidi McAllister from the game in favor of Ferrari. The first batter Ferrari faced drove a double just fair down the right field line to bring in the first run of the game. WWU followed with another single to bring in the second run of the inning before Ferrari got a strikeout and a pop up to end the inning.

Still trailing 2-0, the Pioneers stepping in for their final at-bats in the top of the seventh. McAllister, now playing in left field, led off the inning with a single before Emily Montanez hit a one-out double to plate a run and put a runner on second with two outs for Kassandra Winger. The junior second baseman appeared to have extended the game after sending a 2-2 pitch into right field for a single, but the runner came around third and was gunned down at the plate by the right fielder to end the game in dramatic fashion.

The Pioneers finished pool play with a 2-3 record and will return to action tomorrow in one of five single-elimination brackets. The Sunday schedule will be determined after today's games have been completed and will be updated both on eastbaypioneers.com and on the Tournament of Champions web site here.