HAYWARD, Calif. -- The Cal State East Bay softball team celebrated "Senior Day" on a gorgeous morning at Pioneer Field on Sunday prior to the final games of the 2017 regular season. Unfortunately, the Pioneers were unable to muster much offense against playoff-bound Cal State San Bernardino, losing both ends of the doubleheader by final scores of 3-1 and 4-0.

CSUEB finishes the season 27-25 overall with an even 19-19 mark in California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) play, which is a nine-win improvement from 2016. 

The first game of the day was a phenomenal pitcher's duel between freshman Abby Greer and Coyote ace Cassandra Williams, two of the top hurlers in the conference. San Bernardino strung together a walk and two singles to score the game's first run in the top of the third. The Pioneers answered back in the bottom of the same inning, loading the bases in front of Ali Cerminara's RBI single.

East Bay had a chance to take the lead, but left the bases loaded in the third. After that, neither team could mount a scoring rally for the rest of regulation, and the game when into extra innings. 

Greer wasn't exactly dominant -- she scattered 12 hits and allowed 16 total base runners in her 9.0 innings of work -- but she kept battling for the Pioneers, escaping several jams to keep the score tied.

Finally in the ninth, the Coyotes loaded the bases on back-to-back infield errors. Greer then got a come-backer and started a 1-2-3 double play, and it looked momentarily looked like the Pioneers might escape once again. But the runner on second base never stopped running and came all the way around to score the go-ahead run as the Pioneers completed the double play. The next batter singled up the middle for an insurance run, and the visitors held on for the 3-1 win.

Cerminara and Fukushima both finished 2-for-4 in the loss to lead the Pioneers offensively. The latter wrapped up an incredibly impressive freshman campaign in which she batted .314 with a .415 on-base percentage and tied for the CCAA lead with 14 home runs.

Speaking of stellar rookies, Greer suffered the defeat to finish off perhaps the best season by a Pioneer freshman pitcher in the CCAA era the season with a record of 14-12. She ranks fifth in the conference in ERA (2.20), innings (171.2) and complete games (19) and seventh in wins.

There was far less drama in the second game, as CSUSB's Amanda Ramirez twirled a gem against the Pioneers in the season finale. She needed just 71 pitches to throw a complete game shutout, allowing just three hits and zero walks. Jennifer Palmares, Courtney Leyba, and Belle Placencia each had a single, but East Bay had just one runner advance past first base the entire game.

The Coyotes did all of their damage in the third inning against Pioneer starter Olivia McWhorter, who also capped off a productive freshman year with eight wins under her belt. The visitors opened the frame with three straight hits, and then errors by the Pioneers on back-to-back plays gave San Bernardino a 4-0 lead.

For the second straight day, Bailee Glover was extremely effective working in relief. She entered in the third and finished the game, allowing just one hit and striking out three over the final 4.1 innings.

Four-year senior Marisa Lerma went 0-for-3 in her final career game, which was her 194th career start at third base. She had a strong season to cap off a memorable career, leading the CCAA in hit-by-pitches and ranking among the league leaders with a .467 on-base percentage.

Cerminara was also hitless in game two and finished her final season with a .316 batting average, .397 obp, and 80 total bases. Like Lerma, she has been in virtually every Cal State East Bay starting lineup since 2014, today playing in her 190th career game. Ali will graduate as the program's all-time leader in home runs (32) and runs batted in (124), and next week she has a chance to become the first softball player in school history to earn All-CCAA honors four straight years. It would a fitting distinction for one of the greatest players in Pioneer history.