HAYWARD, Calif. – The Cal State East Bay baseball team will host Bay Area rival San Francisco State for a California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) weekend series at Pioneer Baseball Field. The squads will play four games in three days beginning on Friday, April 21 through Sunday, April 23.
 
This series will be huge for the Pioneers (23-14, 14-11 CCAA) as they enter the matchup up second in the North Division standings just ahead of Monterey Bay and Sonoma State.
 
WEEK IN REVIEW
The Pioneers completed their series with against the Sonoma State Seawolves with a 2-2 split to vault into the second seed of the CCAA North Division Standings.
 
Left-hander Joey Portugal got the start for the Pioneers after a 30-minute delay to work on the soggy field, still wet from rain the last few days. Portugal was effective early, holding SSU off the scoreboard for the first three innings and allowing East Bay to grab a lead in the second. 

The Pioneers had Troy Resch on first base with two outs when back-to-back singles by Colt Parshall and Matt Cantelme plated the game's first run. The visitors then scored twice more without a hit in the second inning, taking advantage of two walks and an error by the SSU pitcher.

The Seawolves tied the game with three runs on four hits in the fourth, but East Bay answered right back the following inning. Kris Bartlett started the frame with an opposite field hit, Dallas Dey followed with a bunt single, then Zack Perugi drove in the run with a base knock to center field. 

The first four SSU batters reached base in the fifth, prompting head coach Mike Cummins  to turn to his bullpen for senior Brandon Acosta The right-hander got a double play, then retired the next batter to end the inning, but not before the Seawolves scored a pair of runs to take the lead.

The Pioneer bats went right back to work in the sixth, again answering the Seawolf rally with an impressive one of their own. With two outs and no runners on base, leadoff hitter Marcus Wise came up, hitless in the game at the time. The SSU third baseman crept in several steps, guarding against Wise's ability to bunt for a hit. That worked to his advantage, as Wise shot a ball past the third baseman down the line for a two-out double. Bartlett sliced a single into the gap two pitches later, and the game was tied 5-5. Dey followed with another double to left, and then after a pitching change, Resch gave the Pioneers the lead with a two-run single to right.

Acosta and Joshua Kubiske combined to get through the seventh inning unscathed, and then Cummins turned to closer Andrew Fernandez in the eighth. The junior side-winder allowed a run in the eighth and a pair of base runners in the ninth, but he escaped the jam to clinch the dramatic one-run victory and earn his seventh save. 

Acosta picked up the win to improve to 2-0 after working 2.2 scoreless innings and allowing just one hit. 

Four Pioneers finished the game with multiple hits, and eight of the nine starters had at least one. Bartlett led the way, reaching base three times, scoring twice, and knocking in a pair. 
 
he Cal State East Bay baseball team pulled off a five-run sixth-inning rally to steal a win on the back end of Saturday's doubleheader, 6-5, over Sonoma State. The Pioneers earned a split of the twinbill after the Seawolves won the first game, 7-1. 
 
The first game of the day started well for CSUEB, though the home team eventually got its bats going. The Pioneers actually held a 1-0 lead after scoring four batters into the game. Michael Thomas reached on an infield single with two outs, stole second, and scored on Troy Resch's double into the right-field corner.

Pioneer starter Nick Sergi allowed an unearned run in the second to tie the game, but overall he was outstanding through the first five innings. 

The Seawolves finally took control in the sixth, however. A home run by Grant St. Martin sparked a three-run inning, and the Pioneers weren't able to answer back. SSU tacked on three more insurance runs in the eighth to seal it. 

East Bay was out-hit 14-7 in game one, as Kris Bartlett, Thomas, and Resch all notched two-hit games in the middle of the order, but the Pioneers weren't able to piece together a sustained rally.

The Pioneers turned the page quickly onto game two, however, and this time they were able put up the crooked number necessary to erase a late deficit. 

The Seawolves struck first, grabbing the lead on a two-run double by Nathan Mann. But Colt Parshall knocked in a run for the Pioneers in the second, and CSUEB right-hander Joel Lamont put up three straight zeroes on the board to keep the score tight early in the scheduled seven-inning game.

Southpaw Alex Vesia came in to escape a jam in the fourth, but the following inning, he allowed a three-run homer to Joshua Montelongo. That put to the Seawolves up 5-1 and seemed to give them the momentum in not only the game, but the entire series. 

But Cal State East Bay refused to allow that to happen, displaying the resiliency that has defined the team over the last two years. After being held to just two runs over the first 14 innings of the doubleheader and down to their last six outs, the Pioneers immediately rallied back in the sixth. 
 
Marcus Wise reached on an error to lead off the frame, then Resch shot a single through the hole. Dallas Dey knocked in a run with a ground out, then the Pioneers scored again when the SSU third baseman made his second error of the inning on Thomas's grounder. After two straight walks to load the bases, Parshall got the biggest hit of the day for East Bay, lacing a two-run single to left to tie the game. Then after Bartlett walked to re-load the bases, Wise drew the fourth free pass of the inning to bring home the go-ahead run.

Vesia shut the Seawolves down after that, giving up just one hit over the final two scoreless innings to preserve the one-run victory. The junior picked up the win to improve to 3-4 this season.

Once again the Pioneers were out-hit, tallying just five base hits in the comeback win. Parshall finished 2-for-3 with three RBI, and Resch notched his second multi-hit game of the day.
 
The Cal State East Bay baseball team finished their weekend road CCAA series against the Sonoma State Seawolves with a 6-0 shutout loss on Saturday afternoon April 15 at Seawolf Diamond.
 
Senior Wyatt Foreman led CSUEB going 3-for-4 from the plate with a double. Senior Kris Bartlett also turned in a multi-hit performance and added East Bay's conference leading 75th stolen base.
 
The Pioneers were only out-hit 10-8 by the Seawolves but strong pitching from starting pitcher Mitch Combs (W, 2-0) and tough Sonoma State defense prevented East Bay from converting hits into runs. Combs finished with four strikeouts and only one walked batter through 71 pitches.
 
The Seawloves got off to a strong start offensively scoring three runs in the opening inning a and opening up a 4-0 lead after the second.
 
Jacob Call (L, 5-3) received the start on the mound for the Pioneers fanning one batter through two innings on action. Senior Brandon Acosta  retired a season best three Seawolf batters and led East Bay with three scoreless innings allowing only two hits and no walks.

Andrew Fernadez and Ransome Alexander also saw action on the mound for CSUEB. Fernandez did not surrender any runs tossing 14 pitches through two innings. Alexander picked up a strikeout in his only inning of play. 
 
A Sonoma State two-run homer from Joshua Monelongo gave the Seawolves the 6-0 victory. Marcus Wise, Colt Parshall and Daniel Goodrich all turned in one hit apiece for the Pioneers.
 
TOPS IN THE NATION
East Bay has done several things well to jump out to a 23-14 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 15th in Division II with 75 stolen bases. Even more impressively, they've only been caught 21 times in 96 attempts. 
 
Marcus Wise leads the CCAA and is tied for 12th in the nation with 23 stolen bases so far on the season, while only being caught five times in 28 attempts.
 
KEEPING THE K'S DOWN
The Pioneers have been solid offensively, batting .289 with a .378 on-base percentage as a team, both are in the top half of the conference. East Bay has four players in the top-25 of the CCAA in batting average.
 
Michael Thomas (.367 avg, 12 2B, 30 RBI), who is 10th in batting average, is 9th with a .555 slugging percentage, 6th in doubles and 8th in RBIs. Wyatt Foreman (.349 avg, .421 obp, 37 Hits) is currently 16th in the conference in batting average and is second on the team in batting average and on-base percentage. Troy Resch (.341 avg, .455 slg, 11 2B, 42 Hits) is 20th in the conference in batting average, and second on CSUEB in slugging percentage, RBIs and total bases. Dallas Dey (.402 obp, .319 avg, 37 Hits), is 25th in the CCAA in batting average, and fourth on the Pioneers in batting average and fifth in 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 (154), and they only have eight more strikeouts (162) than walks. Individually, Kris Bartlett is fourth in the conference with 24 free bases.
 
STIFFLING STAFF
The Pioneers have a 4.51 team ERA with 178 walks and 195 strikeouts in 313 innings. Their top three starters – Alex Vesia, Joel Lamont and Jacob Call – have a combined for a 4.02 ERA. Meanwhile relievers, Andrew Fernandez, Nick Sergi, Brandon Acosta and Joey Portugal have combined to allow 35 earned runs through 97.6 innings tossed for a 3.23 combined ERA.
 
SCOUTING SAN FRANCISCO STATE
The San Francisco State Gators are currently 12-27 on the season with a 7-12 mark in CCAA action after splitting their series against Cal State Monterey Bay 2-2. The Gators are batting .261 on the season with a .336 on-base percentage highlighted by eight players batting over .250. Jacob Lopez lead SF State with a .358 batting percentage, 9th in the CCAA, and has racked up 38 hits.
 
The SF State pitching staff has a combined 4.17 ERA. Andrew Najeeb-Brush is third on the Gators with a 3.51 ERA and leads the Gators with 38 strikeouts through 56.1 innings tossed.
 
The Pioneers and Gators split their series 2-2 during the 2016 campaign.
 
ASI will be hosting a tailgate with free food this Friday, April 21 before the series opening game against SF State beginning at 2:30 p.m. at Pioneer Baseball Field.