Friday, April 6
vs. Cal State San Bernardino (16-23, 9-15 CCAA)
Pioneer Field | Hayward
1 p.m. | 3 p.m.
Live stats
Saturday, April 7
vs. Cal State San Bernardino
Pioneer Field | Hayward
11 a.m. | 1 p.m.
Live stats
HAYWARD, Calif. – Following 11 games on the road last week, the Cal State East Bay softball team returns to Hayward for a four-game series with Cal State San Bernardino this weekend. The Pioneers (23-18, 10-14 CCAA) will meet the Coyotes for the first of two doubleheaders on Friday at 1 p.m. before reconvening on Saturday at 11 a.m.
East Bay is coming off its best-ever finish at the Mizuno Tournament of Champions last weekend, where it claimed second place in the Silver Bracket to finish sixth overall in the field of 24 teams – nearly every squad in the entire West Region. The Pioneers posted a 5-2 record during the weekend and nearly upset No. 9 Cal State Dominguez Hills in extra innings in the Silver Bracket finale on Sunday. As a team, East Bay led the tournament in runs and homeruns, while
Talia Ferrari claimed All-Tournament Team honors and
Sara Holdridge led all players with three homeruns on the weekend. In addition to the successful weekend at the Tournament of Champions, the Pioneers also grabbed a series split with then-No. 14 UC San Diego earlier in the week, picking up a pair of victories on the road to pick up their 10th win in the CCAA.
The Pioneers are among the league leaders in batting, hitting .298 as a team with six of their starters batting better than .300. Having already broken the program record for homeruns, East Bay ranks second in the CCAA and 15th in Division II in homeruns per game, averaging 1.12 per contest with a total of 46 on the year. The Pioneers are also third in the league in slugging percentage and boast a 3.41 team earned run average.
Taylor Neumann's 14 homeruns lead the team and the conference and rank sixth in all of Division II, while Holdridge's three homeruns last weekend brought her season total to 11 to rank second on the squad.
Jamie Yaller shares the team lead with Neumann with 37 RBI and her .379 batting average ranks 13th in the CCAA. Yaller also leads the team with 34 runs scored and a .453 on-base percentage. Six Pioneer players, including starters
Emily Montanez,
Devin Salmones and
Taryn Thomas, have driven in double-digit runs this season.
In the circle, East Bay has relied on senior
Talia Ferrari and junior
Lauren Zweigle of late, as the pair has combined to claim each of the Pioneers' seven victories in the last 10 games. Ferrari leads the starters with a 2.64 earned run average and a team-leading 53 strikeouts and brings a 9-3 record into this weekend's action, while Zweigle is 6-5 with a 2.93 ERA and two saves on the year. Meanwhile,
Heidi McAllister made her first pitching appearance of the season last weekend, allowing no runs on one hit in 1.2 innings to claim her first victory and
Kelly Lowe has made 18 appearances, striking out 52 in 52 innings of work and matching Zweigle with two saves on the year.
Catching Up with the Coyotes
Cal State San Bernardino enters the weekend with a 16-23 overall record and a 9-15 mark in CCAA play. Last weekend, the Coyotes went 3-3 at the Tournament of Champions, claiming a tie for third in the Gold Bracket. CSUSB has gone 3-5 in their last eight CCAA games and come into the weekend one game back of Cal State East Bay in seventh place in the CCAA. Alex Mitchell is leading the Coyotes with a .402 batting average and 31 runs, while Britney Butler has hit 12 homers and driven in 41 runs, both of which lead the team. In the circle, Carly Land is 7-11 with 62 strikeouts and a 5.71 earned run average. Last season, the Coyotes and Pioneers split a four-game series, with CSUSB posting a pair of shutouts in its two wins.
Century Club
Head Coach
Barbara Pierce not only led her team to its best-ever finish at the Tournament of Champions last week, but also passed the 100-victory mark in the process. Pierce, who is in her sixth season at the helm, earned her 100th career win with a 6-1 victory over Hawaii Hilo on Friday and now has 103 wins to her name. Pierce is now second in career victories in Pioneer softball history and is just eight wins away from posting the most wins for a Pioneer squad since 2000.
What's Next
The Pioneers will hit the road again next week, as they play their final non-conference games of the regular season on April 10 at Notre Dame de Namur before heading to Arcata to take on Humboldt State for four games on April 13 and 14. East Bay will then close out the regular season with four games at home against third-place Chico State on April 20 and 21.
