HAYWARD, Calif. -- Junior
Ryan Wheat singled home
Rudy Navarro with two outs in the bottom of the 13th inning to give the Cal State East Bay baseball team a walk-off win over visiting Cal State Stanislaus on Sunday in the final game of the 2015 regular season.
The Pioneers swept the Warriors in four games, giving them six straight wins to close out the season. They were the hottest team in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) over the last month, winning 14 of their final 17 games. CSUEB finished at 21-26 overall and 18-22 in league play, good for sixth place in the conference and second among the northern California schools.
The day started with a ceremony to honor the nine seniors who were competing on Pioneer Field for the final time --
Daniel Carney,
Jason Fletcher,
Julian Garcia,
Justin Harr,
Devin Higgins,
Ryan Kochan,
Michael Pope,
Jacob Phillips, and
Kelly Starnes.
Freshman
Jacob Call started on the mound for the Pioneers, and he was brilliant through the first three innings, retiring eight straight to open the game.
In the bottom of the third, East Bay's offense went to work. Wheat got things started with a double to right-center. After a sacrifice fly,
Dakota Conners plated the game's first run with a ground out. With the bases empty, the Pioneers strung together a huge two-out rally to bring three more runs across, as Starnes, Higgins, Kochan, and Navarro hit four straight singles.
The Warriors got one run back in the top of the fourth and two more in the sixth to make it 4-3. Head coach
Bob Ralston went to his bullpen with two outs, and left-hander
David Elzig stranded the tying run at third base to preserve the lead.
Call ended up allowing three earned runs in 5.2 innings with three strikeouts in the final start of his impressive rookie season.
Garcia pitched a perfect seventh inning to keep it a one-run lead, but Stanislaus staged a rally in the eighth to prevent Call from getting a victory. The visitors tied the game on an infield error with one out, then took a 6-5 lead on a two-out single by James Heller.
The Warriors' advantage didn't last for long, however. With one out in the bottom of the eighth, Navarro blasted his fourth home run of the year halfway up the trees in left field to tie the game.
Both bullpens were outstanding as the contest extended into extra innings. Phillips pitched 1.1 scoreless innings, and then freshman
Donavon Ramirez followed with a clutch performance, lasting 3.1 innings without allowing a run.
After East Bay left the potential winning run at second base in the bottom of the 12th, Stanislaus put its first two runners on base to open the 13th. Ralston then turned to
Michael Frantz, who got a strikeout and a double play to escape the jam.
Marcus Williams made a great play on the ball, handling a tough hop near the bag and making a strong throw to get the speedy Dante Broome.
Navarro led off the bottom of the 13th with a single past the second baseman, and
Marcus Wise sacrificed him to second. After Carney lined out the left field, Wheat shot a ball towards the middle that just ticked off the glove of the diving second baseman, allowing Navarro to come around and score the winning run.
The teams combined for 25 hits in the 3 hour, 31 minute marathon. Navarro led the way for East Bay, going 3-for-6 with two runs and two RBI. Wheat and Porter both finished with two hits, and Kochan had an RBI single to end the year on a 12-game hitting streak.
