HAYWARD, Calif. – The Cal State East Bay baseball team will hit the road to compete in a weekend series against California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) North Division opponent Sonoma State.
 
The Pioneers (21-12, 12-9 CCAA) and the Seawolves (17-13, 13-11) will play four games in three days from Thursday, April 13 through Saturday, April 15.
 
WEEK IN REVIEW
East Bay salvaged the final game of the series to keep pace in a tight race in the CCAA North Division after the defending West Region champion Cal Poly Pomona Broncos swept both ends of Saturday's doubleheader.
 
The Cal State East Bay baseball team dropped both ends of its doubleheader on Saturday against defending West Region champion Cal Poly Pomona, losing by final scores of 4-3 and 10-5 at Kellogg Field.

This marks the first time the Pioneers have lost back-to-back games in more than a month, when they fell 10-0 at Cal State Monterey Bay on Feb. 26 and then 9-4 vs. UC San Diego on Mar. 4.

The series opener was a well-pitched game on both sides, but the Pioneers simple weren't able to generate enough offense. Pomona took a 1-0 lead in the first, then scored two more in the third against CSUEB starter Nick Sergi.
 
In the top of the sixth, the Pioneers put two runners on base with a walk to Marcus Wise and a double by Dallas Dey. Then Michael Thomas came up and tied the game with a three-run home run, his second of the season. 

Unfortunately, that was all the offense the Pioneers could muster. In the bottom of the sixth, Jacob Bernardy knocked in Jason Pablo with a two-out hit to make it 4-3, and that held up as the winning run. 

CPP's Jeff Bain held the East Bay bats down over the final three frames to earn a complete game victory. Alex Vesia allowed just three hits in 3.0 scoreless innings to close out the game for the Pioneers.
 
Things looked promising for CSUEB early in game two, as they used the long ball once again to get on the scoreboard. After falling behind 1-0 in the first, Joey Dice led off the second with a solo blast to left field to tie the game. Two batters later, Daniel Goodrich belted his first career homer, a two-run shot to left to give the Pioneers their first lead of the game.

Unfortunately, the visitors weren't able to keep up with the Bronco bats, which tallied 16 hits in game two. Pomona scored four in the fourth to re-take the lead, then five in the fifth to put the game away.
 
Joel Lamont allowed seven runs in 4.1 innings and suffered the loss to drop to 4-3 on the season. Nick Risucci, Derek Oetken and Ransome Alexander finished the game out of the bullpen. Alexander was effective, giving up just one hit over the final 2.1 scoreless frames. 

The Pioneers finished with 11 hits in the second game, led by Marcus Wise who went 3-for-4 in the lead-off spot. 
Daniel Goodrich and Matt Cantelme both finished 2-for-4. 
 
Sunday's contests were an extremely well-pitched affair in the early going. After a two-out single gave CPP a 1-0 lead in the first, Pioneer starter Jacob Call settled down and hung four straight zeroes on the scoreboard. Meanwhile, the East Bay offense managed just one hit off Henry Omana through the first six innings.

In the bottom of the sixth, a sacrifice fly doubled the Broncos' lead to 2-0. But that's when the momentum flipped, as the Pioneers refused to roll over and accept a three-game sweep. 
 
Jackson Foss doubled to lead off the seventh, moved up on a ground out by Troy Resch, and scored on another ground out by Dallas Dey. Then with two outs, Joey Dice ripped a double into the left-center gap, and Matt Cantelme singled up the middle. After generating virtually no offense the whole afternoon, the Pioneers had suddenly tied the game.

East Bay grabbed the lead the following inning, as Marcus Wise led off with a single and Kris Bartlett drew a walk. Foss then laced another double down the third base line, bringing Wise home to give CSUEB its first lead.

In the top of the ninth, the Pioneers had two on with two out after a single by Cantelme and an infield error. Bartlett made the Broncos pay by yanking a single down the right field line to plate both insurance runs. 

Call pitching into the sixth innings, allowing two earned runs and striking out three. Andrew Fernandez recorded the final 12 outs to earn his third victory. The senior gave up a run in the ninth after East Bay had gone up 5-2, but he was able to close out the victory without much drama. 
 
Jackson Foss, Matt Cantelme and Colt Parshall all finished with two hits for the Pioneers, who out-hit CPP 9-8 for the game.
 
TOPS IN THE NATION
East Bay has done several things well to jump out to a 21-12 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 12th in Division II with 73 stolen bases. Even more impressively, they've only been caught 18 times in 91 attempts. 
 
Marcus Wise leads the CCAA and is eighth in the nation with 23 stolen bases so far on the season, while only being caught four times in 27 attempts.
 
KEEPING THE K'S DOWN
The Pioneers have been solid offensively, batting .294 with a .380 on-base percentage as a team, both are in the top half of the conference. East Bay has three players in the top-20 of the CCAA in batting average.
 
Michael Thomas (.378 avg, 12 2B, 29 RBI), who is 6th in batting average, is 5th in doubles and 3rd in RBIs. Dallas Dey (.435 obp, .350 avg, 35 Hits), is 14th in the CCAA in batting average, and second on the Pioneers in batting average and on-base percentage. Troy Resch (.340 avg, .462 slg, 10 2B, 36 Hits) is 19th in the conference in batting average, and second on CSUEB in slugging percentage, RBIs and total bases.
 
Wyatt Foreman (.333 avg, .405 obp, 34 Hits) is right outside the top-20 in the conference in batting average and is fourth on the team in batting average, slugging percentage and on-base percentage.
 
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 (143), and they only have three more strikeouts (146) than walks. Individually, Kris Bartlett is fifth in the conference with 21 free bases.
 
STIFFLING STAFF
The Pioneers have a 4.29 team ERA with 104 walks and 178 strikeouts in 281 innings. Their top three starters – Alex Vesia, Joel Lamont and Jacob Call – have a combined for a 3.68 ERA. Meanwhile relievers, Andrew Fernandez, Nick Sergi, Brandon Acosta and Joey Portugal have combined to allow 26 earned runs through 78.5 innings tossed for a 2.98 combined ERA.
 
SCOUTING SONOMA STATE
The Sonoma State Seawolves are off to a 17-13 start to the season with a 13-11 mark in CCAA action after sweeping their series over Cal State San Bernardino 3-0. They are currently battling .273 on the year with a .377 on-base percentage highlighted by three players batting over .300. Daniel Caresio leads the team with a .357 batting average, which is 12th in the conference and Mitch West is batting .337 which is second on the Seawolves. The Sonoma State pitching staff has a 3.66 combined ERA, led by Ricky Clark (1-1, 0.71 ERA) leads the team with four saves and has recorded 24 strikeouts.