HAYWARD, Calif. -- The Cal State East Bay baseball team returns home from its trip to San Bernardino last week to continue CCAA play with a four-game series against Sonoma State. The Pioneers will host the first two games this Friday, starting at 11 a.m., then the teams will travel to Rohnert Park for another 11 a.m. doubleheader on Saturday. 

WEEKEND RECAP
East Bay opened conference play on the road last weekend by splitting four games at Cal State San Bernardino. The Pioneers won the opener 8-5 behind 7.0 innings from Sean Becker and a three-hit game by Ellis Stephney. The following day, the teams split their doubleheader, with CSUEB dropping the early game 7-4 despite out-hitting the Coyotes 10-5.

East Bay bounced back to win the second game of the twin bill as Nick Hudson tossed a seven-inning complete game en route to a 6-2 win. The Pioneers held a 5-3 lead into the eighth inning of Sunday's finale, but San Bernardino mounted a late rally capped off by a grand slam to pull away for the 9-5 win. 

PIONEER POINTS
Brandon Alexander enters the weekend crushing the ball after going 7-for-15 in the CSUSB series. For the season, he leads the team in batting avergae (.440), on-base percentage (.545), hits (11), doubles (4), and RBI (6).

Zac Chuvala is hitting .435 through the first eight games, fifth-best in the conference. The Pioneer shortstop is tied for the team lead with four doubles.

Junior transfer Kelly Starnes was 5-for-11 with 5 walks and a pair of sacrifice bunts in the series against the Coyotes, posting a remarkable .647 on-base percentage. 

The Pioneers are hitting .271 as a team with a .349 on-base percentage. They hit .301 with 40 hits and 15 walks in the four games against CSUSB, all of which topped the CCAA during the opening week of conference play.

East Bay has stolen 12 bases as a team and has only been caught once. Starnes (3 steals), Stephney (3 steals) and freshman leadoff man Marcus Wise (4 steals) have done most of the damage.

The Pioneers have a team ERA of 3.18 in the young season. In eight games, they have held opponents to a .209 batting average, best of any pitching staff in the conference.

Becker (2-1, 2.65 ERA) and Hudson (2-0, 3.27 ERA) are expected to be East Bay's starting pitchers for the first two games of the series on Friday. The pair has combined to issue just three walks in 28.0 innings this season.

WHERE DO WE STAND
CSUEB was one of six CCAA squads to split four games in the opening weekend, so they currently sit in a huge tie for second place at 2-2 behind No. 15 Cal Poly Pomona, which swept Cal State Monterey Bay in four games.

The Pioneers were ranked No. 5 in the latest National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) West Region poll, which is up two spots from their preseason ranking. Cal Poly Pomona (10-0), Cal Baptist (10-0), Chico State (6-3), and Western Oregon (5-3) round out the top four. 

SCOUTING THE SEAWOLVES
Like East Bay, Sonoma State's non-conference schedule has been limited by weather this season. The Seawolves split a pair of games with Western Oregon to open the season and weren't able to play again until last week. Sonoma went 2-2 at Cal State L.A., out-scoring the Golden Eagles 24-19 in the series. They're hitting .283 with a .382 team on-base percentage and a 3.33 team ERA so far in 2014. Senior Justin Serrao (.368 avg, .478 obp), junior Eric Ehlow (.455 avg, 1.273 slg, 2 HR, 6 RBI), and freshman Daniel Caresio (.412 avg, .524 obp) have been the Seawolves' top hitters. Senior pitcher George Asmus (1-0, 0.00 ERA) has not allowed a run in 10.0 innings and is expected to start on Friday.