Box Score 1 | Box Score 2
Game 1  box | Game 2 box

TURLOCK, Calif. - The Cal State East Bay softball team went to extra innings twice on the final day of the Mizuno Tournament of Champions earning a 3-2 win over Dixie State in nine innings before falling to No. 9 Cal State Dominguez Hills, 2-1, in eight to finish second in the Silver Bracket. With the split the Pioneers (23-18) posted their best-ever finish in their three trips to the tournament, playing in the Silver Bracket for the first time and placing sixth overall in the 24-team event.

East Bay relied on outstanding pitching performances from Talia Ferrari and Lauren Zweigle and timely hitting to come from behind in game one and force the ninth-ranked Toros to overcome a one-run deficit in extra innings in game two. The split gave the Pioneers a 5-2 record for the weekend, including four wins during pool play and their fourth Sunday victory in their three trips to the tournament.

Game 1: Cal State East Bay 3, Dixie State 2 (9 innings)
Talia Ferrari and Dixie State's Mattie Snow both were impressive in a pitcher's duel in the first game of the day. Snow took a two-hitter into the seventh inning, while Ferrari allowed just one run on seven hits through six innings.

Ferrari managed to get out of several jams thanks to quality defense, including a first and third situation in the first that saw Taylor Neumann and Taryn Thomas team up to catch a runner at home. Ferrari also helped herself out in the bottom of the fourth, when she gave up a pair of singles before fielding two groundballs and a sharply-hit line drive to end the threat.

The Red Storm got on the board in the bottom of the fifth inning, getting a one-out double to right center before a hard hit single through the right side drove in the runner. Ferrari was unfazed, though, as she got a pair of groundouts to end the inning and keep the Dixie lead to just one.

On the other side, the Pioneers left four runners on in the first six innings, while Snow posted six strikeouts and allowed just two hits before East Bay got to her in the top of the seventh. With one out, Devin Salmones sent the sixth pitch of her at-bat over the fence in straightaway center field to tie the game. Both Emily Montanez and Devon Mercurio followed with singles before Snow got out of the jam with a pair of groundouts to send the game into the bottom of the seventh tied 1-1.

With one out, Ferrari gave up a single and had thrown over 100 pitches when she gave way to Lauren Zweigle, who got the last two outs to send the game into extra innings. With the international tiebreaker in effect, Thomas was placed on second and moved to third on a sacrifice bunt from Ferrari before Jamie Yaller worked a walk to put runners on first and third against Dixie State reliever Michelle Duncan, who got a groundout and a pop up to end the half inning.

The Red Storm threatened to score in their half of the eighth, but Zweigle got out of a first and third situation to maintain the tie and send the game into the ninth. The Pioneers broke things open in the top of the ninth. Though the placed runner was forced out on a ground out to third, East Bay had runners on second and third with one out for Devon Mercurio, who hit a hard line drive down the right field line that just stayed fair and hit the chalk behind first base and brought in the go ahead run in Salmones. After a passed ball put the runners on second and third, Mishka Hamor hit a long fly ball to left that allowed Montanez to score and give the Pioneers a 3-2 lead going into the bottom of the ninth.

Though the Red Storm scored their placed runner after a sacrifice bunt and a single, Zweigle got the next batter to hit a pop fly down the left field line where Salmones made the catch and caught the runner on second before she tagged at third to end the game and move the Pioneers on to the Silver Bracket final.

Zweigle earned the win for East Bay after tossing 2.2 innings of one-run, one-hit softball, striking out two and picking up her sixth victory of the year. Ferrari finished with just one run against her in 6.1 innings of work, striking out a pair and walking just one.

Salmones led the Pioneers at the plate, scoring both the tying run in the seventh and the go-ahead run in the ninth. Mercurio went 2-for-4 with an RBI, while Montanez was 1-for-3 and scored the game-winning run for the Pioneers.

Game 2: #9 Cal State Dominguez Hills 2, Cal State East Bay 1 (8 innings)
The Silver Bracket championship game was yet another nail biter and pitcher's duel for Cal State East Bay, which saw Zweigle shut out the No. 9 team in Division II for seven innings, allowing just six hits and striking out five during that span. Zweigle finished as the tough-luck loser with just one earned run and eight hits on her record in 7.2 innings of work, falling to 6-5 on the year.

On the other side, Stephanie Jimenez allowed just one run on four hits in an eight-inning complete game victory, her 17th of the season. Jimenez matched Zweigle, shutting out the Pioneers and allowing just three hits through seven innings of work.

The game got interesting in the top of the eighth, when Thomas drove in Mercurio, who was placed at second, with an RBI single after a sacrifice bunt from Hamor moved the runner to third. Leading 1-0 with two outs, Yaller reached on an error by the first baseman and the Pioneers looked set to put together a two-out rally to extend the lead, but Jimenez fanned Neumann to end the threat and set up the Toros for the walk-off win.

Cal State Dominguez Hills opened their half of the inning by successfully moving the placed runner to third with a sac bunt. A well-place single just onto the grass in center brought in the tying run before Zweigle got a pop foul to Neumann to get the second out. Zweigle followed by hitting Jimenez to put runners on first and second with two outs for pinch hitter Melissa Pacheco. Though Zweigle worked a full count against the pinch-hit specialist, Pacheco fouled off three straight pitches before roping a double to the wall in right center to drive in the game- and bracket-winning run for the Toros.

Despite the loss, the Pioneers improved their all-time Tournament of Champions record to 11-11, while finishing sixth in the tournament with a .311 team batting average. East Bay also led all teams with seven homeruns and 40 total runs in the tournament

Yaller finished the weekend batting .429 with nine RBI and six runs to lead the Pioneers, while Holdridge added eight RBI and a .381 average, in addition to her three homers which tied for the tournament lead. East Bay had five starters hit over .300 for the weekend and every player with an at-bat either drove in or scored at least one run. In the circle, Ferrari went 3-0 with a 1.27 earned run average and two complete games and also hit .333 with four runs and three RBI to collec All-Tournament Team honors. In addition, Zweigle went 1-1 with one save and struck out 17 in 15.2 innings of work.

Cal State East Bay will jump back into CCAA action next week when it hosts Cal State San Bernardino for a four-game series. The Pioneers and Coyotes are set to get underway with the first of two doubleheaders on April 6 at 1 p.m. at Pioneer Softball Field.