RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- The Cal State East Bay baseball team's historic 2016 season came to an end on Friday with a 6-4 loss to No. 13 Dixie State in an elimination game at the NCAA Division II West Regional. The Pioneers close the year with a record of 33-22, the most victories in program history.

Unlike Thursday's one-sided loss to Cal Baptist in the tournament opener, today's contest was tight from the outset. Dixie State starter Mason Hilty and Pioneer sophomore Andrew Fernandez matched zeroes through the first three innings. CSUEB finally broke through with its first run of the Regional in the bottom of the fourth, when Raymond Jones singled, stole second, advanced to third in a ground out, and scored on an RBI ground out by Troy Resch.

However, the Trailblazers answered right back with two runs to take the lead. They put runners on second and third with two outs, and Tanner Morache came up with a huge two-run single through the hole. 

The Pioneers finally hung a crooked number on the board against Hilty in the seventh, once again taking over the lead. Senior Rudy Navarro singled to lead off the frame, and then Resch belted a 1-2 pitch over the right field wall for a two-run home run. After a double by Myles Babitt and a bunt single by Chris Porter, East Bay picked up another run on Zack Perugi's sacrifice fly.

Fernandez went back out for the eighth, staked with a two-run lead. But after a leadoff fly out, Dixie State hit back-to-back singles and head coach Bob Ralston went to the bullpen for junior Joshua Kubiske. The next batter drove an opposite field double into the gap to score a run, and then the Trailblazers tied it on a sac fly. A single up the middle and a double to left-center brought in two more runs before the Pioneers were able to escape the inning.

East Bay managed just one base runner in the final two innings as the Trailblazers closed out the win to stay alive in the West Regional. Kubiske took the loss, dropping his record to 4-5. The Pioneers totaled six hits in the game, with Resch going 1-for-3 with a walk and three RBI. The first baseman ends the year with five round-trippers and 42 RBI, both of which lead the team.

Despite the 0-2 finish at the West Regionals, the 2016 season will be a memorable one for this Pioneer squad. They captured a share of the CCAA North division crown and reached the title game of the CCAA Tournament, earning the program's first berth to the NCAA DII Tournament in 39 years.

CSUEB set a school record with 586 hits this season, matched the school record with 354 runs, and led the CCAA with a .315 batting average. Individually, Navarro became the first Pioneer to be named CCAA Most Valuable Player after setting the program's single-season hits record (87) and finishing the year with a .412 batting average. He's also a First team All-West Region honoree and will appear on next week's All-America ballots. Ralston was voted CCAA Coach of the Year by his peers and West Region Coach of the Year by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) after leading East Bay to its third 30-win season in the last four years.