HAYWARD, Calif. -- With rain finally falling in the Bay Area on Thursday and more scheduled for the weekend, the Cal State East Bay baseball team is hoping to get as many games in as possible as they gear up for the start of Caifornia Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) play, which starts next week. On Friday, the Pioneers will host Menlo College for a doubleheader starting at 11 a.m. Weather permitting, the teams will close out the three-game series with an 11 a.m. game Saturday morning.
This is a change from the original schedule, which listed the doubleheader on Saturday. However, Friday appears to present the better option for playing baseball without dodging raindrops.
WEEKLY RECAP
East Bay has already lost one game to the elements, but they did manage to sweep a doubleheader against visiting Oregon Tech on opening day of the season. Senior pitcher
Sean Becker took the ball in game one and breezed through seven scoreless innings in just 63 pitches en route to a 5-0 shutout victory. He allowed five hits and didn't walk a batter. For his efforts, Becker was selected as the CCAA Pitcher of the Week as well as the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Assocation West Region Pitcher of the Week.
Zac Chuvala was 3-for-3 with two RBI in the game, and fellow senior
Brandon Alexander reached base all four times with two hits and two walks.
The second game against the Owls was a bit more of a nailbiter as the Pioneers took an early lead, but Oregon Tech rallied to go up 3-2 in the sixth. A two-run double by newcomer Daniel Carney was the difference in a 5-3 victory for East Bay.
Ben O'Bryan started the game with five hitless innings, and
Nick Hudson tossed the final four, retiring the last 12 batters he faced, to earn the win. Junior transfer Jason Fletcher was 3-for-4 in his first career start.
The Pioneers hit .297 with a .378 on-base percentage in the two games. The pitching staff held the Owls to two earned runs over 18.0 innings with 14 strikeouts and just eight hits allowed.
SCOUTING THE OAKS
This weekend's series matches up a pair of unbeaten teams, as Menlo enters the weekend with a 6-0 record after sweeping series against Bethesda and Simpson Universities. The Oaks are hitting .330 as a team and are averaging over seven runs a game. Alex Boucher, John Bowling, and Daniel Comstock are all batting over .440 for Menlo. Their pitching staff has posted a 2.52 ERA thus far, with top starters Daniel Chavez (2-0, 0.00 ERA, 13.0 IP, 12 K) and Derek Rodrigues (2-0, 1.93 ERA, 2 CG) leading the way.
