HAYWARD, Calif. -- Following a heartbreaking series in which they lost three one-run games to Sonoma State, the Pioneer baseball team has a week off from CCAA competition. Cal State East Bay Bay instead welcomes in Hawaii Pacific for a four-game series starting on Thursday afternoon at Pioneer Field. It's a matchup between the No. 7 and 8 teams in the West Region according to the latest National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association poll.
With rain in the forecast all three days, be sure to check
eastbaypioneers.com and follow the Pioneers on Twitter at
@CSUEBathletics for weather-related scheduling updates.
WEEKLY RECAP
The Pioneers came out on the losing end of an extremely close series with CCAA rival Sonoma State last weekend. They split Friday's doubleheader in Hayward thanks to a five-run rally in the bottom of the ninth inning of game one. After stunning the Seawolves, 6-5, East Bay dropped the second game, 3-2.
It was more of the same the next day on Rohnert Park. The Pioneers scored two in the ninth to force extra innings in the morning game, but a Seawolf walk-off home run sealed their fate in the tenth.
Ben O'Bryan then dominated SSU in the series finale over seven scoreless innings, but the home team rallied in the eighth with a pair of runs to steal a 2-1 victory.
PIONEER POINTS
Junior Ryan Kochan had a breakout weekend for the Pioneers. The infielder started in place of the injured
Eren Miravalles, but he was so hot, he stayed in the lineup even after Miravalles returned on Saturday. Kochan batted .615 with a .688 on-base percentage over the weekend, including a 6-for-8 performance in the doubleheader at Sonoma. He currently leads the team in hitting for the season with a .471 average.
Fellow newcomer Jason Fletcher was nearly as hot against the Seawolves, going 9-for-17 in the series. He's batting .405 on the season, which ranks sixth in the conference, and he leads the Pioneers with 15 hits.
Senior
Zac Chuvala is batting .375 with a .474 on-base percentage so far this year. The shortstop leads the team in slugging (.531), doubles (5), and total bases (17).
Freshman Marcus Wise leads the CCAA in stolen bases. The Antioch native has nine swipes this season and has only been caught once.
East Bay is batting .275 as a team with a .350 on-base percentage, and they're averaging 4.7 runs per game. The pitching staff has a 3.30 collective ERA with a 66-to-36 strikeout-walk ratio, and they're holding opponents to a .228 average, second-best in the CCAA.
O'Bryan allowed just two hits and struck out nine as he carved up the Sonoma State batting order last Saturday. The senior leads the team with a 2.35 ERA. He has allowed just six hits and struck out 16 in 15.1 innings, but has issued 13 walks.
Senior
Sean Becker (2-1, 3.13 ERA) has walked just two batters in a team-high 23.0 innings this season. Fellow right-hander
Nick Hudson (2-1, 3.50 ERA) has tossed complete games in each of his two starts in 2014.
WHERE DO WE STAND
With two weeks of CCAA play in the books, the Pioneers are tied for eighth place with a record of 3-5. 16th-ranked Cal Poly Pomona is in first with a 6-2 mark. East Bay was ranked No. 8 in this week's NCBWA West Region poll, down three spots from the previous week.
SCOUTING THE SEA WARRIORS
Hawaii Pacific opened the season by sweeping Northwest Nazarene in five games, and then winning three out of four at Fresno Pacific. They're currently ranked No. 7 in the West, the second-hghest of any PacWest team after undefeated Cal Baptist. The Sea Warriors are batting .295 with a .366 on-base percentage, and they're averaging 5.8 runs per game. They have seven regulars hitting over .300, led Codey Ellenwood (.435 avg, .533 obp, 8 RBI).
HPU's pitching staff has a 2.79 ERA with a 56-to-27 strikeout-walk ratio, and opponents are batting .250 against them. Joshua Garcia (2 GS, 1.98 ERA, 13.2 IP, 10 K), Doug Christie (1-0, 2.45 ERA, 11.0 IP), Bryson Gauthe (4 G, 10.1 IP, 1.74 ERA), and Wyndam Williams (1-0, 3.72 ERA) are the Sea Warriors' top hurlers.
