HAYWARD, Calif. — The Cal State East Bay baseball team plays a crucial four-game series this weekend against Sonoma State, currently ranked No. 13 nationally by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper. The Pioneers are coming off a 3-1 series victory over Cal State Stanislaus last week that resulted in multiple CCAA and NCBWA awards, while the Seawolves will be playing their conference opener. The teams open the series on Friday in Rohnert Park with an 11 a.m. doubleheader, the second game of which will be scheduled for seven innings. Then on Saturday, East Bay will host a pair of nine-inning games at Pioneer Field, also starting at 11 a.m.

WEEKEND RECAP
It was an outstanding weekend for the Pioneers, with the exception of a brief defensive breakdown on Saturday afternoon. They set the tone on Friday, though, as senior Ben O'Bryan (2-1) and junior Nick Hudson combined on a 5-0 shutout at Pioneer Field. The Pioneers put up four runs in the fourth, which was plenty for O'Bryan, who scattered four hits in 7.0 scoreless innings to pick up his second win.

On Saturday, the East Bay bats were the story in the first game, as the Pioneers banged out 18 hits and won 13-2 to help Michael Pope improve to 4-0 on the season. Eren Miravalles had a remarkable game, going 5-for-6 with a double, a triple, three RBI, and four runs scored. But the second game of the doubleheader was a frustrating one for the Pioneers, who made five errors and allowed five unearned runs. They erased a 5-1 deficit with a four-run sixth, but came up short in the 6-5 loss.

East Bay claimed the series on Sunday, cruising to an 8-0 win behind a dominant performance from starting pitcher Sean Becker (2-1), who tossed a complete game and struck out nine batters. Kyle Zozaya was 4-for-5 in the game with a pair of doubles and a two-run home run, his first of the season.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Kyle Zozaya (C/INF, Sr.) — The senior was named Rawlings/CCAA Player of the Week, as well as National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) Player of the Week for Feb. 18-24. Zozaya batted .647 with a 1.059 slugging percentage in the series. He had multiple hits in every game, and finished with five extra base hits, seven RBI, and 18 total bases in the four games. He is the first Pioneer to be named West Region Player of the Week since East Bay joined NCAA Division II.

PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Sean Becker (RHP, Jr.) — With apologies to O'Bryan, who shut down the Warriors on Friday, Becker was nearly flawless in Sunday's shutout. The junior helped East Bay sweep the weekly awards by receiving both Rawlings/CCAA Pitcher of the Week and NCBWA Pitcher of the Week honors. In nine scoreless frames, Becker scattered five hits and allowed one walk. 85 of his 109 pitches (78 percent) were strikes, as the right-hander never allowed Stanislaus to mount a rally. Only once the entire afternoon did they put a runner on second base. This is the first time a Pioneer pitcher has ever earned the West Region award.

STINGY STAFF
Led by starters O'Bryan, Pope, Becker, and Matt Fontaine, the Pioneer pitching staff has had an outstanding first month. They rank first in the CCAA in opponents' batting average (.199), second in ERA (2.07), and second in strikeouts (103). As a team, their strikeout-to-walk ratio is an impressive 2.4 to 1.

Pope is tied for the conference lead in wins and ranks third with 23 strikeouts. Becker (18) and O'Bryan (17) are also in the top-20 in K's. Senior Charlie Sharrer leads a Pioneer bullpen that has allowed exactly one earned run the entire season. Sharrer has three saves and a 0.00 ERA in 8.1 innings. Another senior, Zachary Wong, has made a team-leading five appearances out of the bullpen and has allowed just one earned run in 7.1 innings. Hudson (4 G, 5.0 IP), Chris Schmalz (3 G, 4.0 IP), and Bryce Vidmar (3 G, 2.1 IP) have all contributed scoreless relief.

TO CATCH A THIEF
The ability to cut down base stealers has been one reason for the success of the East Bay hurlers. Senior David Castillo leads a group of catchers, along with Zozaya and junior Chris Porter, that has allowed the second-fewest stolen bases in the CCAA this year (8). The Pioneers have thrown out 57.9 percent of would-be base stealers, which also ranks second in the conference.

ON-BASE MACHINE
Slightly overshadowed by Zozaya's standout weekend was senior Jordan Wilder, who delivered an impressive performance of his own. He batted .500 (6-for-12) in the four games and was on base 11 times. He's batting .356 for the season, ranking him as one of the CCAA's top-20 hitters. In eight conference games, Wilder is second with seven walks and fourth with a staggering .545 on-base percentage. And just for good measure, he's also fourth in the CCAA with six steals this year. 

LEADERBOARD WATCH
Lead-off man Andrew Rodriguez has swiped seven bags of his own, which places him just above Wilder as the conference's third-best base stealer. Junior Naea Kalehuawehe has produced consistently for East Bay with the bat, as he's tied for the team lead and ranks third in the CCAA with 14 RBI.

Last but not least, Zozaya has been one of the top hitters in the conference in the early part of the season. He ranks fourth in batting average (.435), fourth in slugging (.717), first in doubles (8), first in extra base hits (10), third in total bases (33), and fourth in RBI (14).

SCOUTING THE SEAWOLVES
The Seawolves moved up to No. 13 in the national rankings after winning a pair of games against Fresno Pacific last week. They're also rated No. 3 in the West Region by the NCBWA. The perennially competitive Seawolves are once again considered a favorite in the CCAA under head coach John Goelz in his 28th season. This will be an excellent test for East Bay as the two teams match up well statistically. Sonoma is batting .287 with a .393 on-base percentage, compared to a .309 avg and .383 obp for the Pioneers. The two squads have also been arguably the two best pitching staff in the CCAA this year. The Seawolves are the only team with a lower team ERA (1.91) than East Bay and they're tied for the conference lead in opponents' batting average (.199).

Sonoma State is a team laden with seniors this year, led by Sam Montgomery, Justin Serrao, Devon Zenn, and Steven Filippi, who are all batting over .420. Montgomery leads the conference in bating average at .467. The Seawolves' top hurlers are all seniors as well, with the exception of freshman closer Steven Zaharias, who has not been scored upon in 7.0 innings. Seniors George Asmus (2 ER in 15.2 IP), Glenn Wallace (0 ER in 13.0 IP), Harem Sidhu (1 ER in 12.0) and Taylor Herbert (1 ER in 8.0) have tossed 57 percent of the team's innings this season. The Pioneers have lost six games in a row to the Seawolves dating back to 2010.