STOCKTON, Calif. -- The Cal State East Bay baseball team has made its first ever appearance in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) Tournament a memorable one through the first two days of action. The Pioneers defeated Cal State Monterey Bay in a 9-8 thriller on Thursday night, putting them in the driver's seat as the only remaining undefeated team in the tournament.

East Bay erased an early 5-0 deficit and won the game thanks to a three-run rally in the ninth inning. The 2016 Pioneers have now tied the program record with their 32nd victory of the season, matching the win totals of the 1977 and 2013 squads.

This was the fifth contest of the week between the Pioneers and Otters, who closed out the regular season with a four-game series last weekend. CSUEB has had the upper hand in the matchup, winning four of the five games.

Jacob Call got the start for East Bay after an impressive sophomore season in which he earned All-CCAA honors, but the right-hander struggled a bit with control in the early going. The Otters scored two runs in the first, then loaded the bases in the second. Call got a ground ball that might have ended the inning, but Rudy Navarro's throw was wide and got away down the right field line, allowing three runs to score.

Trailing 5-0, head coach Bob Ralston turned to senior southpaw David Elzig, who quelled Monterey's offense for 1.1 innings. In the top of the third, the Pioneer bats finally got to Otter freshman Jeffrey Ahern and took advantage of some poor defense. A pair of fielding gaffes gave East Bay two on with two outs, and Chris Porter got the Pioneers on the scoreboard with an opposite field single. Dakota Conners followed with a two-run double to make the score 5-3.

CSUEB scored a run in the fourth on a sacrifice fly by Marcus Wise and another in the fifth to tie the game on a two-out RBI single by Michael Frantz. The Otters regained the lead in the sixth on a solo home run by Kevin Davidson, but the Pioneers answered right back, trying the score again when Conners roped a single into right-center to plate Porter.

Joshua Kubiske came out of the bullpen after Elzig and turned in an outstanding performance to allow East Bay to get back in the game. The right-hander allowed just one run on three hits in 4.0 innings of relief with five strikeouts and no walks.

Andrew Fernandez took the ball for the bottom of the eighth in a tie game, 6-6. With one out, Matt Urakami struck out, but reached base on a wild pitch. Then a single on a hit-and-run put runners on the corners with one out. Fernandez got Davidson to chop a grounder to third, but the Pioneers were unable to turn the double play as Conners' throw to first base was in the dirt and got away from Troy Resch, allowing Urakami to come around and score the go-ahead run.

But as they have all season, the Pioneers refused to go quietly into the night. Zack Perugi led off with a pinch-hit walk. Bryan Mason ran for him, immediately moved up to second on a wild pitch, then advanced to third as Porter lined out to deep center. With one out, Conners chopped a ball toward the middle, and the CSUMB shortstop made a nice play and came home with it. Mason, who would have been out by a mile, stopped halfway down the base line and got in a rundown. He stayed in it long enough for Monterey's catcher to drop the ball, allowing Mason to return safely to third and Conners to advance all the way to second.

After the Otters brought in their closer and intentionally walked Myles Babitt to load the bases, pinch-hitter Kris Bartlett shot a single up the middle, just past the diving shortstop, to bring home two runs and give the Pioneers their first lead of the night. Wise followed with another sac fly to make it 9-7, an insurance run that proved vital.

Monterey Bay got an infield single, an error, and a sacrifice fly to plate a run in the ninth, but Fernandez struck out Josh Thorpe to end the game and seal the victory. The redshirt sophomore earned the win to improve his record to 5-2 this season. 

Conners, Porter, and Frantz each finished with three hits to pace the Pioneer offense. The bottom of their order did most of the damage on this night, with the 6-9 hitters combining to go 11-for-18 with seven RBI. 

Navarro, the CCAA Most Valuable Player, went 1-for-3 with two walks. He now has 80 hits for the season, putting him just two away from tying the single-season program record, held by Nick McManus (2010). As a team, the Pioneers have 538 hits this season, putting them well in range of the school record of 547.

CSUEB (32-18) remains in the CCAA Tournament winner's bracket and will take on the winner of Friday morning's elimination game between CSUMB (33-18) and Chico State (31-20). It will be the back end of a doubleheader for East Bay's opponent with first pitch scheduled for 7 p.m. at Banner Island Ballpark.