RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- The Cal State East Bay baseball team fell into an early hole in its first NCAA Division II Regional game in nearly four decades and couldn't muster any runs against the nation's second-ranked pitching staff on Thursday. Top-seeded California Baptist (40-11) defeated the Pioneers (33-21) by a final score of 14-0 on the Lancers' home field.

For the Pioneers, who lead the CCAA with a .317 batting average, it's just the second time in 54 games this season they have been shutout. The loss puts them one game away from elimination in the NCAA Tournament and sets up a date with Dixie State, which fell to Cal State Monterey Bay, 6-3, Thursday morning.

The Pioneers and Trailblazers will play the first game of Friday's slate at 11 a.m. The loser will be the first of the six teams eliminated from the West Regional. The winner will advance to Saturday to play the loser of Friday night's Cal Poly Pomona vs. Cal State Monterey Bay matchup. 

The Pioneers were riding high heading into their first NCAA postseason appearance of the CCAA era, but the good feelings did not last long on this day. Cal Baptist took advantage of its home ballpark and showed why it has been ranked among the top 10 teams in the nation most of the year. 

The Lancers scored early and kept scoring throughout the afternoon, while the Pioneers couldn't manage to push any runs across against CBU starter Tyson Miller, despite a few scoring opportunities. 

The home team hung five runs on the board in the first inning to put East Bay in an early hole. With two outs, Alex Vesia gave up an RBI single followed by back-to-back home runs. 

The PacWest champion Lancers kept the bats going despite a big lead, hitting a solo home run in the third, a three-run homer in the fifth, and another set of back-to-back homers in the sixth. Vesia was charged with nine runs and took the loss, his first in over a month, which dropped his record to 7-5. Donavon Ramirez struck out three in two innings of relief, and Marcus Williams tossed the eighth inning to finish it off.

The Pioneers totaled seven hits in the game. They loaded the bases in the fifth, but a double play killed the rally. They also put multiple runners on base in the eighth and ninth, but uncharacteristically couldn't string any hits together. 

Dakota Conners was on base three hits, going 2-for-3 with a walk. Chris Porter finished 2-for-4 and was the only other Pioneer with multiple hits. Leading hitters Rudy Navarro and Raymond Jones each went 1-for-4.