HAYWARD, Calif. — The 25th-ranked Pioneer baseball team embarks on its first road trip of the 2013 season this weekend. Cal State East Bay (22-8, 12-8 CCAA) will visit defending regular season champion UC San Diego (15-12, 10-10 CCAA) for a four-game series. The teams will get it started on Thursday at 6 p.m. under the lights, followed by a doubleheader at noon on Saturday and the series finale at 11 a.m. on Sunday.

The Pioneers have played 23 of their first 30 games at home, posting an impressive 19-4 record. Now they finish up their CCAA schedule with 14 of their final 20 games on the road, including three trips to Southern California. East Bay hasn't played a four-game road series yet in 2013, so they'll have to be able to get it done away from Pioneer Field in order to stay in the race.

WEEKEND RECAP
The Pioneers had a bye at the midway point of their CCAA schedule last weekend and finished up their non-conference schedule with a three-game series against Holy Names. On Friday, East Bay slugged its way to a 16-2 win at Laney College in Oakland. Ben O'Bryan (3-2) tossed six scoreless innings to get the win, and Kyle Zozaya went 4-for-6 with seven RBI. It was the most runs driven in by a Pioneer batter in a game this season, and Zozaya's three doubles tied a CSUEB single-game record.

The teams played a doubleheader in Hayward the following day, and the first game was much more tightly contested. The Hawks grabbed an early lead by scoring three unearned runs against Sean Becker, but the junior was able to hold HNU at bay until the middle innings, when the East Bay bats took over. The Pioneers came back to take the lead, capped off by a five-run sixth inning. Zozaya knocked in three more runs, and Charlie Sharrer and Brandon Alexander both posted three-hit games in the 8-5 victory. Becker (6-1) struck out seven in six innings to earn his fifth straight win.

The Pioneers completed the sweep in the second game of the doubleheader with an 11-1 victory. They took the lead in the first inning and essentially put the game away with six runs in the fourth. It was a staff day for the Pioneer pitchers, as six hurlers combined to allow one runs on four hits. Chris Schmlaz, Taylor Kruger, Billy Wardell, Zachary Wong, and Sharrer each pitched one inning. Michael Pope (7-0) threw four hitless frames to pick up the win. Sharrer had a career game at the dish, going 4-for-5 with two home runs, a double, and five RBI.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Charlie Sharrer (P/OF, Sr.) – Prior to last week, Sharrer's primary role was as a bullpen stopper (where he has excelled, posting a 1.59 ERA and four saves), but this week, his bat did the talking. The senior was 9-for-13 on the weekend (.692 avg) with three doubles, two home runs, six RBI, and 18 total bases.

He notched the first two-homer game of his four-year career, in the process moving up to 10th place on the all-time Pioneer career rankings with 15 dingers. He also ranks third all-time in doubles (42), seventh in hits (160), and 10th in RBI (81). Sharrer put up Ruthian figures with a .714 obp and 1.385 slugging against Holy Names, and he was awarded with both CCAA and West Region Player of the Week honors.

PITCHER OF THE WEEK
Ben O'Bryan (RHP, Sr.) – It was a workmanlike outing for the senior right-hander as he got the Pioneers off to a good start in the series. O'Bryan gave up just three hits and struck out six Hawks in six innings of work, allowing no earned runs. He has made a team-high eight starts this year and has gotten the call in every series opener. The Pioneers are 6-2 in those games.

STILL RANKED
After not appearing in a national DII poll for more than 35 years, the Pioneers have now been nationally ranked two weeks in a row. In the Mar. 25 ABWA/Collegiate Baseball Top-30 Poll, Cal State East Bay occupies the No. 25 position. They received 74 vote points and moved down three spots from last week's No. 22 ranking. The Pioneers are one of three CCAA teams to appear in the top-30, joining No. 13 Chico State and No. 20 Sonoma State. The full rankings can be viewed here: Collegiate Baseball Top-30 Poll.

NCBWA WEST REGION TOP 10
For the fifth straight week, the Pioneers moved up in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) West Region Top-10 rankings. They set a new program best, reaching the No. 4 position for the week of Mar. 25. East Bay has the most wins of any team in the entire region. Below is the full poll:

Rank	School (1st place votes)	Record	Vote Points	Last Week's Rank
1.	Chico State (5)	19-5	50 pts	1st
2.	Grand Canyon	20-5	42 pts	7th
3.	Cal State Monterey Bay	20-10	39 pts	2nd
4.	Cal State East Bay	22-8	35 pts	5th
5.	Dixie State	16-6-1	27 pts	8th
6.	Sonoma State	18-8	25 pts	6th
7.	Cal State L.A.	17-13	23 pts	3rd
8.	Hawaii Pacific	17-9	14 pts	4th
9.	Cal Poly Pomona	17-10	11 pts	9th
10.	Cal Baptist	14-8	8 pts	10th

Also receiving votes: Cal State Dominguez Hills (15-14), 1 pt.

LEADERBOARD WATCH
The Pioneers improved their team stats a bit this past weekend, batting .430 and posting a 1.33 ERA. For the season, the pitching staff leads the CCAA and ranks seventh in the nation with a 2.25 ERA. They're also tops in the conference with a .210 opponents' average.

Pope leads the CCAA and ranks second in the nation with seven victories, putting him in range of the all-time CSUEB single-season record of 10. Matt Fontaine (1.24) and Becker (1.45) are both in the top-7 in the conference in ERA.

Offensively, the Pioneers are fourth in the CCAA in batting average (.296) and sixth in obp (.367). They also rank third in runs, second in doubles, and third in total bases. Zozaya is East Bay's leading hitter at .353. The senior leads the CCAA in doubles (13) and RBI (28), and rates as the third-toughest hitter in the conference to strike out.

SCOUTING UC SAN DIEGO
This is an important series for the Tritons, who are currently tied for sixth in the conference at the halfway point. They've won four of their last five games, including three out of four last weekend against Cal State L.A. UCSD is batting .264 with a team ERA of 4.10. The Tritons walk a lot (second In the CCAA), strike out a lot (first in the CCAA), and steal a lot of bases (second in the CCAA). Their team on-base percentage is an impressive .374. They only have three batters hitting over .300, but they have five guys with obp's of .400 or better.

Senior Danny Susdorf, a transfer from USD, is the seventh-leading hitter in the conference at .365 and he leads the CCAA with 17 steals (having only been caught once). Susdorf leads the team in hits, doubles, and runs, batting in the three-hole. Cleanup hitter Richard Seigel leads the conference in slugging (.632) and total bases (60) and ranks second in home runs (6). Senior ace Ryan Goodbrand, already a two-time CCAA Pitcher of the Week this season, leads UCSD with a 6-1 record, 2.49 ERA, and 45 strikeouts in 43.1 innings. Goodbrand and O'Bryan will match up in Thursday night's series opener.

Blake Fassler (4-1, 3.68 ERA), Dan Kolodin (1-1, 2.97 ERA), and Troy Cruz (1-1, 2.04 ERA, 3 saves) are also strong candidates to start this weekend. The Pioneers lost three out of four to the Tritons the last time they visited La Jolla in 2011. The teams split four games last year at Pioneer Field.