HAYWARD, Calif., -- The Cal State East Bay baseball team opened California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) action with a 6-4 home loss to the visiting Cal State L.A. Golden Eagles on Friday afternoon, February 23 at Pioneer Field.
 
With the series opening loss, CSUEB moves to 3-4 on the season with a 0-1 mark in conference action.
 
Pioneer starting pitcher Alex Vesia (L, 1-1) (Alpine, Calif.) was excellent in the early innings of the contest. Vesia compiled three strikeouts in the first two scoreless innings, but the Golden Eagles would rally off five runs in the top of the third inning.
 
Despite being down, Vesia would continue his strong outing on the mound as he finished with 7.0 innings tossed with seven strikeouts through 107 total pitches thrown and no walks.
 
The highlight of the day for the Pioneers would come in the bottom of the seventh inning as junior Adam Hollar (Livermore, Calif.) belted a grand slam over the center field wall. For Hollar it was his first home run of the 2018 season. He finished with one hit, a run scored, four RBI and a stolen base.
 
For East Bay, that would be the only runs scored for the outing. Freshman pitcher Mark Woinarowicz (Yorba Linda, Calif.) also had a solid performance through 1.2 innings pitched. Woinarowicz retired two batters, walked another while giving up no runs.
 
Junior Matt Cantelme (Fair Oaks, Calif.) finished the ball game with a hit and on run scored. Junior Paul Bryniarski (Fountain Hills, Ariz.) added one hit and stole a base as well.
 
Junior Kyosuke Ushimaru (Tokyo, Japan) chipped in a hit in his only at bat, while fellow juniors Dakota Conners (Manteca, Calif.) and Nolan Jekich (Boise, Idaho) each scored a run for the Pioneers.
 
East Bay well continue their CCAA opening series against Cal State L.A. with a Saturday afternoon double header beginning at 11:00 a.m. at Pioneer Field.