HAYWARD, Calif. -- The Cal State East Bay baseball team shut out visiting Academy of Art on Sunday afternoon by a final score of 10-0 to capture the four-game series. This was the final non-conference tune-up for the Pioneers (3-1), who begin their California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) schedule next weekend.
Freshman pitcher
Alex Vesia was outstanding in his first career start. The left-hander breezed through 7.0 scoreless innings on 87 pitches, allowing just four hits. He walked one and struck out two to earn his first victory as a Pioneer.
East Bay's offense racked up 10 hits and drew 11 walks in the series finale. They posted a .405 team on-base percentage in the four games, while out-scoring Academy of Art 30-12.
The Pioneers grabbed a 2-0 lead in the second inning without hitting the ball out of the infield. They took advantage of two walks and two wild pitches, then
Chris Porter chopped an RBI single in the hole between third and shortstop.
Michael Frantz executed a safety squeeze to knock in the second run.
The home team tacked on two more runs in the third inning with just one hit. Urban Knight starting pitcher Yoshi Uemura issues four walks, sandwiched around an RBI single by
Daniel Carney to make it 4-0.
A pair of Academy of Art errors led to another run for the Pioneers in the sixth, and then they broke the game open in the bottom of the seventh by bringing five more runs across home plate.
Rudy Navarro led off with a double, then Carney,
Marcus Williams,
Wyatt Foreman, and
Rob Link all followed with run-scoring singles. It was the first collegiate hit for Foreman, who was one of 18 Pioneer position players to see action today. The team batted around in the seventh, with Navarro coming back up to draw an RBI walk in his second plate appearance of the inning.
Senior right-hander
Julian Garcia pitched the final two innings to close out the win, allowing just one hit in his first appearance of the season.
Carney finished 2-for-3 in the game with a walk, two runs, and two RBI. The senior batted .417 in the series to lead the team.
Navarro was on base three times and scored twice, tallying three bases on balls to go along with his double. Williams,
Ryan Kochan, and
Kelly Starnes each posted one hit and one walk. Junior
Ryan Wheat also saw his first action of the season and laced a single into right field in the eighth.
By taking three out of four again the Urban Knights, Cal State East Bay improved its home record to 45-16 since the start of the 2013 season.
The Pioneers hit the road next weekend for a crucial series against conference-rival Cal State Monterey Bay, which starts on Friday, Feb. 20 at 2 p.m. in Seaside, Calif.
