Box Score POMONA, Calif. — The Pioneer baseball team picked up a road win on Friday, outlasting Cal Poly Pomona 7-6 in a back-and-forth affair that featured lots of offense from both teams. Matt Fontaine pitched seven innings for Cal State East Bay (31-16, 21-16 CCAA) to pick up the victory. Charlie Sharrer had three hits, including a two-run homer in the sixth inning that proved to be the difference in the game. The Pioneers are now just one victory away from matching the school record of 32.

East Bay jumped on the board early against Bronco left-hander Ryan Dunn. Sharrer and Brandon Alexander both hit singles to lead off the second inning. An error by the shortstop brought in the first Pioneer run, and an RBI ground out by Andrew Rodriguez made it 2-0. David Elzig followed with a line drive back up the middle to plate another run.

Trailing 3-0, Cal Poly Pomona answered right back and showed why they're the top offense in the CCAA. The Broncos got three singles and a hit batter against Fontaine and scored runs on a sac fly and a ground out. After two long innings, East Bay led 3-2.

Alexander laced an opposite-field single in the third to bring home Kyle Zozaya, who had doubled. But the Bronocs came right back in the bottom of the inning and scored a run on a two-out double.

It was more of the same in the fourth, as the two teams combined to score in six straight half-innings. Zac Chuvala walked and Eren Miravalles legged out an infield hit to put two runners on. After a sac bunt, Zozaya picked up the RBI with a sacrifice fly to make it 5-3.

CPP answered back again and mounted another two-out rally to tie the game. After an error allowed the inning to continue, Donald Walter belted an RBI double, and Bo Walker followed with a run-scoring single.

Fontaine and Dunn were finally able to hang zeroes on the board in the fifth inning, giving the Pioneers a chance to take the lead back in the sixth. After Zozaya got a base hit, Sharrer came up with two outs and launched a ball over the left field wall for his team-leading fourth home run of the year. It's the 16th of Sharrer's career, which is the ninth-most in Pioneer history.

Fontaine got through the sixth unscathed, but the Pioneers were unable to extend their lead in the seventh. Then, in the bottom of the frame, Jordan Whitman blasted his fourth home run of the season to left field, drawing the Broncos within one.

Fontaine (6-1) exited after seven strong innings. He allowed 12 hits and four earned runs (both season highs), struck out two, and didn't walk a batter. Bryce Vidmar relieved the senior for one-third of an inning, and then right-hander Ben O'Bryan came in to record the last two outs of the eighth.

The Pioneers went to the bottom of the ninth inning clinging to a one-run lead, and O'Bryan went back out to finish it. The junior issued two walks, sandwiched around a pop-up, to put runners on first and second with one out.

With the tying run on second, O'Bryan attempted a pick-off play and caught Whitman off the bag, forcing him into a rundown between second and third. Carlson moved up from first to second base during the rundown, and Whitman managed to dive back into second as well. With two runners now standing on second, the Pioneers tagged both of them. The umpire called one runner out (by rule, Whitman would have been safe as the lead runner), but both Broncos stepped off the bag in confusion. Miravalles then tagged both of them for the unorthodox double play that ended the game.

O'Bryan pitched 1.2 scoreless frames to earn his first save of the season. Sharrer finished 3-for-4 with two runs scored and the two-run dinger. Zozaya also scored twice, going 2-for-4 with an RBI. Miravalles, Alexander, and Rodriguez each went 2-for-5. Elzig and Chuvala both reached base twice with a single and a walk apiece.

The series continues Saturday in Pomona with a doubleheader scheduled to start at 11 a.m. East Bay is expected to send Sean Becker to the mound in the first game and Michael Pope to the hill in the nightcap, as they attempt to become the winningest team in CSUEB history.