HAYWARD, Calif. – The Cal State East Bay baseball team will return to Pioneer Field for a California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) weekend series clash against the visiting Cal State Dominguez Hills Toros.
 
The squads will will compete in a doubleheader on Saturday, April 1 beginning at 12:00 noon and a series finale single game on Sunday, April 2 with a 11:00 a.m. start time.
 
WEEK IN REVIEW
The Pioneers captured their third consecutive series victory with a 2-1 series win on the road against Cal State L.A. CSUEB clamed a 2-0 shutout win and a 6-3 victory in the doubleheader before falling in the series finale 12-1.
 
In the opening game Nick Sergi, Alex Vesia, Joel Lamont and Andrew Fernandez combined to hold CSULA to just three runs in 18 innings.
 
East Bay also out-hit the Golden Eagles in both games, tallying 21 base hits in the doubleheader.

The Pioneers struck quickly to start the afternoon. With two outs and no one on base, Michael Thomas, reached on an infield error and stole second. A double by Troy Resch, followed by a single by Wyatt Foreman gave the visitors an early two-run lead.
 
It was nothing by zeroes on the scoreboard the rest of the way, as CSULA starter Christian Broussard settled down and was outstanding the remainder of the game. The right-hander allowed eight hits and struck out seven in a complete game effort.

East Bay's two-run first inning proved enough to seal a victory, as Sergi and Vesia breezed through the Golden Eagle lineup. The former scattered four hits over 5.0 scoreless innings to earn his second victory. The latter finished the game in dominant fashion, allowing two hits and striking out five over the last 4.0 frames for his first career save.
 
Kris Bartlett was the only Pioneer with multiple hits in game one, going 2-for-4. Collectively, CSUEB swiped four bases without being caught.

Bartlett stayed hot to open the second game, setting the tone early as the Pioneers once again grabbed a lead in the first inning. The senior outfielder belted his first home run of a season, a solo shot to right-center, to make it 1-0 after two batters.

East Bay added another run in the second with two walks, a sacrifice bunt, and an RBI single by Marcus Wise. The following inning, Zack Perugi ripped a two-run double to score Thomas and put the Pioneers up by three.
 
Thomas doubled to lead off the fifth and came around to score on Resch's single to right field. The senior crossed home plate again in the sixth on Foreman's two-out, two-run single.

The Golden Eagles finally got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the sixth, and they added two more in the eighth on Sean Watkins' two-run homer. But they were otherwise shut down by Lamont, who improved to 4-1 on the season by tossing 8.0 innings for the victory. Fernandez retired the side in order in the ninth to earn his team-leading fifth save.

Offensively, the Pioneers totaled six extra base hits and they stole two more bags. The top of the lineup was responsible for most of the damage, as the team's top three hitters combined for nine hits. Thomas led the way, going 4-for-5 with two doubles and three runs scored. Wise finished 3-for-5 to notch his 10th multi-hit game of the season.
 
East Bay's hurlers turned in a dominant effort in the first two games of the series, but the potent CSULA lineup finally broke through for 14 hits in the finale. 

The Golden Eagles took advantage of two defensive errors by the Pioneers to plate three runs in the third inning and take their first lead of the series. The visitors added two more runs in the fourth and another in the fifth, before hanging six on the scoreboard in the sixth to put the game away.

Four L.A. batters had multiple hits, led by Sean Watkins who went 3-for-3 with two home runs and four RBI.
 
Jacob Call suffered his second loss of the season to drop his record to 4-2. The junior worked the first three innings, allowing three hits and three walks, though he was charged with just one earned run.
 
Southpaw Joey Portugal followed Call out of the bullpen for two innings. Derek Oetken tossed two-thirds of an inning after him, followed by fellow senior Brandon Acosta with an inning and a third. Joshua Kubiske closed it out with a 1-2-3 eighth.
 
East Bay tallied just five hits in the game, with Troy Resch accounting for the only runs on the visitor side. With two outs in the fourth, the senior laced a double down the right field line to bring Michael Thomas home. Resch was the only Pioneer with multiple hits, finishing 2-for-3 with a walk. 
 
Dallas Dey stole CSUEB's conference-leading 65th base of the season in the fifth. The junior ranks second on the team and is now a perfect 11-for-11 on steal attempts. 
 
TOPS IN THE NATION
East Bay East Bay has done several things well to jump out to an 18-9 start to the season, but when it comes to swiping bases, they have been one of the best teams in the country. Heading into this weekend, the Pioneers are tied for sixth in Division II with 65 stolen bases. Even more impressively, they've only been caught 14 times in 79 attempts. 
 
Senior Marcus Wise leads the CCAA and is tied for third in the nation with 22 stolen bases so far on the season, while only being caught four times in 26 attempts.
 
KEEPING THE K'S DOWN
The Pioneers have been solid offensively, batting .298 with a .385 on-base percentage as a team, both top three in the conference. East Bay has two players in the top-10 of the CCAA in batting average.
 
Michael Thomas (.398 avg, 10 2B, 30 Runs), who is 2nd in batting average, first in runs scored, tied for 4th in doubles and tied for 5th in RBIs, Wyatt Foreman (.393 avg, .453 obp, 33 Hits), who is 4th in the CCAA in batting average and Troy Resch (.365 avg, .518 slg 1 HR, 19 RBI), who is 11th in the CCAA in batting average, have all gotten off the hot starts.
 
But as was the case in 2015, one of their biggest strengths is drawing walks and putting pressure on defenses. They rank fifth in the league in walks (119), and they are the only team in the CCAA with more walks than strikeouts. Individually, Kris Bartlett is second in the conference
with 20 free passes.
 
STIFFLING STAFF
The Pioneers have a 4.24 team ERA with 95 walks and 151 strikeouts in 229 innings. Their top three starters – Alex Vesia, Joel Lamont and Jacob Call – have combined for a 3.62 ERA. Meanwhile relievers, Andrew Fernandez, Nick Sergi, Brandon Acosta and Joey Portugal have combined to allow 18 earned runs through 60.4 innings tossed.
 
Jacob Call and Joel Lamont are tied for the team lead and tied for 4th in conference with four wins so far on the season. Alex Vesia is 5th in the CCAA with a team best 41 strikeouts. Andrew Fernandez is 2nd in the CCAA with five saves to lead East Bay.
 
SCOUTING CAL STATE DOMINGUEZ HILLS
The Toros are off to a 6-22 start to the season with a 4-14 record in conference action after dropping their home series to Chico State 0-3 last weekend. They are currently batting .279 with a .334 on-base percentage led by Brandon Polizzi who leads the CCAA with a .405 batting average and 47 hits. The Cal State Dominguez Hills pitching staff has a combined 5.93 ERA led by Joe Bresson (3-4, 4.73 ERA) team-leading three wins.
 
The Pioneers secured a 2-1 road series win in the team's matchup last season at Toro Baseball Field in Carson, Calif.