HAYWARD, Calif. -- Despite dealing with rain most of the week in the Bay Area, the Cal State East Bay baseball team will hope to squeeze in a four-game non-conference series against Central Washington this Saturday and Sunday. The teams are slated for doubleheaders both days starting at 11 a.m.

PIONEER POINTS
The Pioneers opened the 2017 season last week by taking three out of four games from Academy of Art. They fell 4-2 in the season opener as Urban Knight starting pitcher Brett Bovee tossed an outstanding game against East Bay. But the Pioneers bounced back the following night at Laney College, outlasting Academy of Art 6-5 in extra innings. Then they swept Saturday's doubleheader back in Hayward, racking up 18 runs on 26 hits in the two games. 

CSUEB was impressive on the offensive side, posting a .310 team batting average and .396 on-base percentage in the series. They drew 16 walks, struck out just 15 times, and were successful on 13 of 15 stolen base attempts. 

Junior newcomer Pablo Artero was outstanding in his Pioneer debut. In addition to playing flawless defense at shortstop, he went 6-for-13 with a walk, two doubles, and four runs in the series. East Bay also got tremendous production from its senior returners, particularly Kris Bartlett (4-for-9, 2 2B, 5 BB, 4 SB), Michael Thomas (4-for-10, 2 HBP, 2 SB, 4 RBI), and Troy Resch (4-for-13, 4 RBI). 

On the pitching side, the team posted a 3.44 ERA in the series and held the Urban Knights to a .236 batting average. All the Pioneers hurlers were on limited workloads in the first series of the season, but there were several encouraging performances. 

Senior reliever Joshua Kubiske turned in three clutch innings of hitless relief on Friday to give the Pioneers a chance to win the game n the 10th inning. Junior starter Jacob Call was effective in four scoreless innings, hitting two batters but striking out five. Maybe the most pleasant surprise of the weekend came from freshman southpaw Joey Portugal, who earned his first career win with four innings of scoreless relief on the first game of Saturday's doubleheader. The San Diego native allowed just one hit and struck out two as his offense pulled away for an 11-4 win. 

Junior lefty Alex Vesia, Call, junior right-hander Nick Risucci, and sophomore righty Joel Lamont were head coach Mike Cummins' four starting pitchers this past weekend. The Pioneers are expected to go with the same quartet this weekend against Central Washington.

WILDCAT WATCH
Central Washington will be playing its first series of the year, coming off a 2016 season in which the Wildcats finished 27-23. They went 23-17 in Great Northwest Conference games, missing the playoffs by just one game. This season, they were picked to finish third in the GNAC preseason coaches poll. CWU returns its best starting pitcher from 2016, left-hander Mackenzie Gaul (4-3, 2.13 ERA, 55.0 IP) who led the GNAC in ERA. Offensively, the Wildcats are led by All-GNAC honorable mention third baseman Dylan Freyre (.308 avg, 9 2B, 27 RBI) and utility man Kyle Stahl (.379 avg, .426 obp 8 SB). The Pioneers and Wildcats last met to open the 2013 season, a four-game series that ended in a sweep by Cal State East Bay.