WEEK IN REVIEW
Last weekend, East Bay split their home CCAA doubleheader against #7 UC San Diego before having Sunday's series finale cancelled due to unfavorable weather conditions.
Saturday's morning game was an outstanding pitcher's dual between UC San Diego's Preston Mott and CSUEB reigning CCAA Pitcher of the Week
Alex Vesia.
East Bay got on the board first when
Marcus Wise scored, after stealing second base, on a throwing error on the Tritons third baseman from a
Troy Resch at bat. The Tritons won the opening game 9-4.
Game two was an entirely different story as the Pioneers scored early and often, tallying four runs in the second inning of play. They ended up scoring six runs on nine hits and took advantage of two Triton errors in the blowout win.
East Bay opened the second inning with a single by
Wyatt Foreman followed by a double by
Zack Perugi and junior
Dallas Dey knocked in the first two runs with a single to deep right field scoring Foreman and Perugi.
Junior
Jackson Foss, who reached on an error by the second baseman, scored the third run of the inning off of a wild pitch. Then junior
Pablo Artero capped of the inning with a RBI double to left field that brought home Dey and gave the Pioneers a 4-0 lead headed into the third inning.
UC San Diego answered with one run after a home run from Tim White. That would be the only blemish in a great game from
Joel Lamont. Lamont (W, 3-0) recorded his third win of the season after tossing five innings, retiring five UC San Diego batters and walking just three.
East Bay scored runs in the six and seventh innings as sophomore
Joey Dice scored on a throwing error by the UCSD third baseman in the bottom of the sixth.
Senior
Wyatt Foreman pushed a RBI single to right field, scoring
Michael Thomas to help claim the 6-1 victory for the Pioneers.
Relief pitchers
Joey Portugal and
Andrew Fernandez helped seal the game for East Bay in the closing innings with five combined strikeouts and no walked batters.
LEADING THE NATION
East Bay has done several things well to jump out to a 12-6 start to the season, but when it comes to swiping bases, they have been the best team in the country. Heading into this weekend, the Pioneers are the top team in Division II with 49 stolen bases. Even more impressively, they've only been caught six times in 55 attempts.
Marcus Wise leads East Bay and is third in the nation with 16 stolen bases so far on the season, while only being caught twice in 18 attempts.
KEEP THE K'S DOWN
The Pioneers have been solid offensively, batting .275 with a .367 on-base percentage as a team.
Michael Thomas (.383 avg, 7 2B, 16 RBI),
Dallas Dey (.340 avg, .439 obp 1 HR, 12 RBI) and
Wyatt Foreman (.444 avg, .500 obp, 20 Hits), who leads the CCAA is bating average, have all gotten off to hot starts. But as was the case in 2015, one of their biggest strengths is drawing walks and putting pressure on defenses. They rank third in the league in walks, and they are the one of two teams (Sonoma State) in the CCAA with more walks than strikeouts. Individually, Bartlett leads the conference and ranks fifth in the nation with 19 free passes.
STIFLING STAFF
The Pioneers have a 3.44 team ERA with 65 walks and 119 strikeouts in 149 innings. Their top three starters –
Alex Vesia,
Joel Lamont and
Jacob Call – have combined for a 2.78 ERA. Meanwhile, relievers
Andrew Fernandez,
Nick Sergi,
Brandon Acosta and
Joey Portugal have combined to allow just one earned run in 39.1 innings.
SCOUTING CAL STATE SAN MARCOS
The Cougars completed their weekend series against Cal State Monterey Bay with a 1-2 mark, picking up a win the series finale on Sunday, March 5. They are batting .308 with a .410 on-base percentage, highlighted by six players batting at least .300. San Marcos pitching staff has a 2.58 team ERA, led by starters Marc Vela (1-0, 0.75 ERA) and Taylor Ahearn (3-2, 2.80 ERA), who lead the conference with 35.1 innings tossed. When the teams last met in Hayward, the Pioneers won two out of three games against the Cougars.
