HAYWARD, Calif. -- The Cal State East Bay softball team needed just nine innings to sweep a non-conference doubleheader against Notre Dame De Namur on Wednesday afternoon at Pioneer Field.
The Pioneers (22-16) won by scores of 8-0 and 11-3, with both contests ending after four and a half innings due to the eight-run rule. This was a makeup doubleheader of games that had been rained out earlier in the season.
East Bay received solid pitching in both victories to prevent any major Argonaut rallies in the two shortened games.
Abby Greer improved to 10-9 to start the day with a five-inning complete game shutout, allowing just three hits and tallying three strikeouts.
Fellow freshman
Olivia McWhorter got the start in game two and allowed just one run on four hits in 3.0 innings. She exited after the Pioneers had opened up a big lead, and sophomore
Bailee Glover pitched the final two frames to close out the win.
CSUEB scored its first run of the day on an RBI single down the third base line by
Jennifer Palmares in the second inning. They did the rest of their damage in game one during the third inning, when the Pioneers sent 11 batters to the plate and scored seven runs. East Bay took advantage of five hits, three walks and two wild pitches in the inning.
Courtney Leyba recorded two hits in the third, and seniors
Ali Cerminara and
Ashley Allen both knocked in runs with singles.
Leyba led the way offensively in the first game with a perfect 3-for-3 performance, notching three of the team's eight hits.
The Pioneer bats were even more alive in game two, when they banged out 15 hits to once again pull away from NDNU early in the contest. East Bay grabbed a lead with four runs in the second inning, as
Tanya Galvan, Palmares,
Annissa Gonzalez, and
Meghan Araneta rattled off four straight hits. Leyba capped off the rally with an RBI double into the right field corner.
The Pioneers scored four more times in the third, as Galvan, Palmares, and Gonzalez recorded hits for the second straight inning.
Emilie Portesi drove in a run with a single as well, and Allen's RBI ground out made it 8-1 Pioneers after just three innings.
Three more runs in the bottom of the fourth secured the eight-run victory for the home team.
Marisa Lerma led things off with a double. Then after a two-out hit by Gonzalez extended the inning, Araneta doubled to left field to make it 9-1. Portesi followed with a single up the middle to plate two more insurance runs.
Six Pioneers finished with multiple hits in the second game of the doubleheader. Gonzalez led the way going 3-for-3 with three runs scored. Araneta scored twice and drove in a pair, and Portesi paced the squad with three RBI.
CSUEB will look to keep its momentum going from Wednesday's wins when the team returns to CCAA play this weekend with a difficult trip to Seaside. Rain in the forecast has pushed the start of that series back a day, so the Pioneers will take on No. 8 ranked Cal State Monterey Bay (29-4) this Saturday at 1 p.m. to open a four-game series.
