HAYWARD, Calif. -- The Cal State East Bay baseball team lost 7-3 to visiting San Francisco State on Sunday in the finale of the four-game California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) series between the two squads.
The Gators (8-10, 7-5 CCAA) trailed 3-1 into the eighth inning, but scored six times in the final two frames to complete the series sweep. The Pioneers fall to 4-12 for the season and 1-11 in conference play.
The game started off great for East Bay on a beautiful afternoon at Pioneer Field. Freshman
Alex Vesia gave the team a strong outing, holding SF State scoreless through the first six innings and striking out a season-high seven batters.
In the bottom of the third, the Pioneer bats had their biggest scoring outburst of the series with three runs against Gator starter Preston Tarter. With one out,
Rob Link drilled his second home run of the season to left field to make it 1-0.
Marcus Williams and
Ryan Kochan then traded doubles to plate another run, and
Michael Frantz lined a two-out RBI single to center to complete the rally.
Unfortunately, that was all the offense CSUEB could muster against Tarter, who lasted seven innings before handing the ball over to closer Cory Davis.
The Gators got a run back in the top if the seventh on a two-out double by Jacob Lopez, but Vesia escaped the inning without any further damage.
The left-hander went back out to start the eighth with a 3-1 lead, but he was removed after issuing a walk and hitting a batter. Head coach
Bob Ralston turned to
Julian Garcia, who gave up a run-scoring single to make it 3-2. The next batter laid down a bunt, but Garcia fielded his position well and cut down the runner at home to reserve the lead. That brought up Danny Souza, who flipped a soft single into left field to plate the tying run.
SFSU had the go-ahead runs on second and third with one out, but Garcia struck out Andrew Breen. Then left-hander
David Elzig came in and induced an infield pop up to escape the jam.
East Bay didn't score in the bottom of the frame, so the teams headed to the ninth tied 3-3, and senior
Jacob Phillips took the hill for the Pioneers. A single, a ground out, and two walks loaded the bases with one out, and coach Ralston brought in freshman right-hander
Andrew Fernandez. Chad Thurston then got the big hit for the Gators, lining a ground rule double to left to give the visitors a 5-3 lead. SF State tacked on two more runs in the inning, and Davis worked a 1-2-3 ninth to close out the game.
The Gators ended up out-hitting the Pioneers, 12 to six, for the game. Kochan was the only Pioneer with multiple hits, going 2-for-3 with a run and an RBI double. Williams and Frantz were both on base twice with a hit and a walk, and both juniors stole a base.
Cal State East Bay is back in action next weekend when the team welcomes in Cal State Dominguez Hills to Pioneer Field for a four-game series, starting Friday, Mar. 13 at 3 p.m.
