HAYWARD, Calif.-- In a matchup with CCAA Southern Division powerhouse, Cal Poly Pomona, Cal State East Bay was unable to get past the Broncos in both ends of a doubleheader Saturday at Pioneer Field. East Bay dropped game one, 11-4, and suffered a heartbreaking defeat in game two 5-4. The Pioneers record falls to 5-8 in CCAA action and 14-10 overall. The Broncos improved to 11-6 in the conference and 19-9 overall.

GAME ONE: Cal Poly Pomona 11, Cal State East Bay 4-

The story of the opener Saturday was the third, fourth, and fifth innings for the Broncos as they scored eight runs in those three innings to take an 8-2 lead.

Pomona continued to add on in the later innings by scoring a run in the seventh and two in the eighth. Down 11-2 heading to the ninth, the Pioneers didn't go down without a fight as they sent eight batters to the plate and forced the Broncos to make three pitching changes. They plated two runs to reduce lead to 11-4, but the deficit proved too much to overcome.

Kris Bartlett went 2 for 4 with a run for the Pioneers in the first game. Rudy Navarro and Michael Frantz both had RBI's in the game. Joshua Kubiske got the start for East Bay and took the loss (1-2).

GAME TWO: Cal Poly Pomona 5, Cal State East Bay 4-

The game got off to a rollicking start for the Pioneers. With Michael Thomas at first and Joey Dice at third, Thomas took off for second and drew a throw from Bronco catcher Cody Martin. Dice, seeing the throw to second took off from third and made it home safely for a 1-0 Pioneer lead. Thomas was safe at second on the Dice steal of home and came home himself when Troy Resch singled to right field to make it 2-0.

The game would remain 2-0 until Pomona was able to score in the fourth and fifth to tie it at 2. 

In the home half of the seventh, the Pioneers took advantage of two Bronco errors to take a 4-2 lead. With Raymond Jones on third, Thomas hit a grounder to Bronco shortstop Ryan Webberley who misplayed the ball and allowed Jones to score and Thomas to reach first. Three batters later, Dakota Conners hit a ground ball to third that was muffed by Nicholas Bruno and plated Navarro to give the Pioneers a 4-2 advantage.

East Bay got the first two outs in order in the ninth, but saw the Broncos reel-off five hits consecutive hits to take a 5-4 lead. The Pioneers put runners on first and second in the bottom of the ninth, but couldn't tie it and had to swallow a difficult loss.

Resch and Thomas both had two hits in the game. Jacob Call got the start and went seven innings and allowed two earned runs on three hits with four strikeouts. Nick Sergi took the loss (1-1) for the Pioneers.

The Pioneers next play at San Francisco State Wednesday. First pitch is slated for 3:00 P.M.