HAYWARD, Calif. -- The Cal State East Bay baseball team defeated visiting Cal State Dominguez Hills by a final score of 3-1 on Sunday to secure its first series victory of the season in California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) competition.

By taking three out of four games from the Toros at home, the Pioneers improve to 7-13 for the season and 4-12 in league play.

East Bay received yet another impressive performance by its starting pitcher, as freshman Alex Vesia tossed eight innings to notch his second victory of the season. The left-hander scattered eight hits and issued just one walk while striking out five.

For the fourth contest in a row, the Toros got on the scoreboard first. Daryl Donerson led off the third inning with a double, then Adrian Guzman lined a single to right-center to make it 1-0. Guzman tried to take an extra base, but third baseman Ryan Kochan took the cut-off throw and alertly flipped it to second to gun down Guzman and prevent Dominguez Hills from putting up a crooked number.

That was the only damage the visitors managed to do against Vesia, who proceeded to post five straight zeroes on the scoreboard before exiting after 102 pitches. 

The Pioneers tied the game in the bottom of the fourth against Toro starter Jeffrey Gogue. Marcus Wise led off with a bunt single, then stole second base. Kochan followed with a line drive into the left-center gap, easily scoring the CSUEB leadoff man.

East Bay took the lead for good the following inning thanks to more outstanding bunting and a huge two-out hit. Rob Link and Marcus Williams led off the frame with back-to-back bunt singles, and Chris Porter advanced them into scoring position with a well-placed sacrifice. Then with two down, Wise ripped a single up the middle to make the score 3-1 in favor of the home team.

Left-hander Angel Lara relieved Vesia in the ninth and pitched a perfect inning to close out the victory. Lara recorded three saves in the series and did not allow a base runner in 4.0 innings of work.

CSUEB had just five hits in the game, but they made them count. Wise led the way with a 2-for-3 performance, knocking in two of East Bay's three runs and scoring the other one. The sophomore batted .429 with a .500 on-base percentage for the weekend.

Next up, the Pioneers have a week off from CCAA competition as they visit Fresno Pacific for a three-game series, starting Friday Mar. 20 at 3 p.m.