Game 1 box | Game 2 box

TURLOCK, Calif. – A seventh-inning rally in the Consolation Bracket final handed Cal State East Bay a 6-4 loss to Central Washington and a split on the final day of the Mizuno Tournament of Champions in Turlock. The Pioneers (16-19) played in the consolation final for the second straight year after defeating Cal State Stanislaus, 8-2, in their first game in the single-elimination bracket. East Bay got a pair of stellar pitching performances from Talia Ferrari, while Kassandra Winger provided an offensive spark to cap the three-day, 22-team tournament.

The Pioneer offense got things together in game one, erupting for 13 hits and eight runs against the Warriors, a team that swept East Bay in a four game series at Warrior Field in early March. The Pioneers got out to an early lead and never looked back, as Ferrari scattered six hits over seven innings, allowing two runs and striking out five in her fourth complete game effort of the week.

East Bay opened scoring in the bottom of the first, getting an RBI double from Emily Montanez to bring around Ferrari, who reached on a fielder's choice, to give the Pioneers an early 1-0 lead.

After a scoreless second, the Warriors answered back with a pair in the top of the third thanks to a triple by Locarnini and a sacrifice fly from Corral.

Now trailing 2-1, the Pioneers took no time to respond, putting up a three-spot in the bottom half of the third. Winger legged out an infield single to lead off the inning and moved to second on a passed ball before back-to-back singles from Ferrari and Montanez brought her around to score and tie the game 2-2. The run brought on a pitching change for Stanislaus but the Pioneers kept making contact, as Taylor Neumann drove in the go-ahead run with a single through the left side and Sara Holdridge flew out to bring in Ferrari and put East Bay up 4-2.

Both teams were quiet in the fourth and after holding the Warriors scoreless in the top of the fifth thanks in part to a runner's interference call on the basepaths, the Pioneers broke the game open in the bottom half of the inning, scoring another four runs to take an 8-2 lead. Montanez continued her hot hitting with a leadoff homer to left field to make it 5-2. After a Holdridge walk and a single from Nikki Freiberg, the Pioneers had two on with two out for Jamie Yaller, who doubled to center field to drive in another pair. The East Bay bats stayed hot as Catherine Schorn singled to put two on for Winger, who drove in Freiberg to plate the Pioneers' eighth run of the game.

Ferrari finished off the game strong, holding the Warriors without a hit over the final two innings and picking up her seventh win of the season and second of the tournament. Montanez was a spark at the plate, going 3-for-4 with two runs and three RBI in the game, while Winger went 3-for-4 with one run and an RBI and Ferrari helped out her own cause going 2-for-4 with two runs.

With the win in game one, the Pioneers were set up for a rematch with Central Washington – the team that defeated them 18-1 on Saturday – in the Consolation Bracket final. Cal State East Bay got off to a fast start, scoring the first run against the Wildcats for the second straight game. A pair of singles from Winger and Neumann put two on with two out for Holdridge, who singled to left to bring in the game's first run and give East Bay a 1-0 advantage after one inning.

With one out in the bottom of the second, the Pioneers struck again, as Freiberg reached on an error and Schorn followed with an infield single to put two on for Winger. The junior second baseman struck again, this time tripling to right to clear the bases and put East Bay up 3-0.

Though Ferrari gave up a run in the fourth, the Pioneers' ace allowed just six hits in the first six innings. Meanwhile, East Bay added another run in the bottom of the sixth. Freiberg hit a one-out single and moved to third after a groundout by Schorn and a wild pitch before scoring on a passed ball by the Wildcat catcher to put the Pioneers up 4-1 heading into the top of the seventh inning.

Down to its last outs, Central Washington started the inning off with back-to-back singles before a triple to right center pulled the Wildcats within one run and sent Ferrari to the bench in favor of Heidi McAllister. With a runner on third, McAllister walked the first batter she faced to put two on with one out before Kelsey Haupert doubled to center to give CWU its first lead of the game, 5-4. A final single drove in Haupert and brought Ferrari back on to get the last two outs, but the damage was done as the Wildcats held a 6-4 lead going into the final half inning.

Central Washington's winning pitcher, Maria Gau, finished things off quickly in the bottom of the seventh to earn her third win of the season and hand the Wildcats the Consolation Bracket title. McAllister took the loss as the Pioneers finished as the runner up in the consolation bracket for the second straight year. Winger led East Bay again, going 2-for-4 with two RBI and one run, while Freiberg and Schorn both went 1-for-2 and combined to score three of the Pioneers' four runs in game two.

East Bay finished the tournament with a 3-4 record, including a pair of wins in pool play. Hawaii Pacific captured the tournament title, topping Chico State 3-2 in the Gold Bracket final. UC San Diego took the Silver Bracket title over Montana State – Billings, Humboldt State toppled Hawaii Hilo, 11-3, in the Bronze final and Cal State Dominguez Hills edged Cal State San Bernardino in the Platinum Bracket title game. Six of the nine CCAA teams in the tournament reached the final in their respective brackets on Sunday.

Cal State East Bay returns to action next weekend when it plays host to Cal State Dominguez Hills for a pair of CCAA doubleheaders and meets San Francisco State at home for a non-conference twin bill. The Pioneers will take on the Toros beginning on Friday at 1 p.m. Saturday's doubleheader is set for an 11 a.m. first pitch and is Support the Troops Day at Pioneer Softball Field. The team, along with the Give2theTroops organization, will be collecting donations of sundry items to send to troops serving overseas and selling raffle tickets to help support Give2theTroops. On Sunday, the Pioneers and Gators will meet at 12 p.m.