HAYWARD, Calif. -- After an impressive showing in non-conference play, the Cal State East Bay baseball team opens the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) schedule today with the first of four games against North Division rival Cal State Monterey Bay.

The teams will play Friday afternoon at 2 p.m. and Sunday afternoon at 12 p.m. in Seaside, sandwiched around an 11 a.m. doubleheader on Saturday in Hayward.

The Pioneers began the season by taking three out of four games in each of their first three series against Academy of Art, Central Washington, and Holy Names. In all three cases, East Bay dropped the opener, only to win three straight to finish the series. 

They have managed to play all 12 games so far as scheduled, despite heavy rain in the Bay Area throughout the month of February. The outlook is optimistic for this weekend as well, although there is a chance of rain in the forecast for Saturday afternoon.

The Pioneers and Otters are both represented in this week's Division II Sports Information Directors Association (D2SIDA) West Region media poll. CSUEB is ranked No. 7, while the Otters are tied with Cal State L.A. at No. 8. Click here to view the full set of Regional & National Rankings.

East Bay has impressed on both sides of the ball during their non-conference slate. The team is batting .304 with a .397 on-base percentage and averaging 6.3 runs per game. They have hit just one home run in 12 games, but they rank second in the CCAA with 28 doubles. The Pioneers are the toughest team in the conference to strike out, and they're the only one of the 12 squads to record more walks than strikeouts. 

Individually, several members of the Pioneer lineup have been swinging hot bats, with Wyatt Foreman (.423), Michael Thomas (.400), Dallas Dey (.379), Zack Perugi (.367), Troy Resch (.367), and Pablo Artero (.349) all batting over .300 while getting regular playing time. Thomas leads the team with 16 hits, 11 runs, and 12 RBI thus far.

On the pitching side, the staff has a 2.76 ERA, an 81-33 strikeout-to-walk ratio, and a .224 opponents batting average. Junior Jacob Call has been outstanding in three starts, going 2-0 with a 0.60 ERA and 16 strikeouts in 15.0 innings. Most recently, he fired five hitless innings at Holy Names. Newcomers Joel Lamont (1-0, 2.35 ERA, 15.1 IP) and Joey Portugal (0.00 ERA, 2 SV, 8.0 IP) have been been tremendous additions. The East Bay bullpen has been an area of strength, with four different pitchers recording at least one save.

The area where the Pioneers have excelled most is on the base paths. They lead the league by a wide margin with 31 stolen bases on 33 attempts. They have the top two individual base stealers in the CCAA in Marcus Wise (10-for-11) and Kris Bartlett (7-for-8), as well as six other players who have combined to go 14-for-14 on steal attempts. Wise, who already holds the school record for stolen bases in a career, is also on pace to break the program's single-season record of 29.

Last year, the Pioneers won three out of four games against the Otters in the final series of the regular season. They finished tied with CSUMB atop the CCAA North standings and shared the division crown with identical 21-16 conference records.

Monterey Bay is off to a good start to 2017, winning two out of three games against defending West Region champion Cal Poly Pomona, and handing Azusa Pacific its only loss of the season so far. They are batting .292 as a team and lead the league in walks. Offensively, their top players are Max Sanderson (.407 avg, .543 obp, 10 RBI) and Hayden Duer (.313 avg, 3 HR, 13 RBI). The Otter pitching staff has a 4.65 ERA, led by starters Jeffrey Ahern (1-0, 1.64 ERA, 11.0 IP) and Bryan Granger (1-1, 4.40 ERA, 14.1 IP).