CHICO, Calif. -- The Cal State East Bay baseball team took an unconventional pitching approach on Saturday in its series opener on the road at Chico State, and it paid off with a 5-1 win over the Wildcats at Nettleton Stadium.

The Pioneers out-hit Chico 10-5 for the game, but they tallied just one run batted in as they took advantage of three Wildcat errors to score the necessary runs for victory. East Bay improves to 8-11 overall this season with a 5-8 mark in the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA). 

Chico ace Casey Costello allowed just one earned run, but suffered his first defeat of the season as the visitors found other ways to score. The Pioneers took the lead in the top of the third with a two-out rally. After a pair of fly outs, Raymond Jones singled up the middle. Dallas Dey then surprised the defense with a bunt single, and the Chico third baseman threw the ball away, allowing Jones to score and Dey to advance to second. Another Wildcat error on Kyosuke Ushimaru's grounder allowed Dey to come home and make it 2-0.

Chico got a run back in the bottom of the fourth as a pair of infield errors by the Pioneers put runners at the corners. The Wildcats then scored a run on a squeeze bunt.

But the Pioneers answered right back in the fifth, with Paul Bryniarski and Dakota Conners setting the tables with back-to-back singles. After a sacrifice bunt by Jones, Bryniarski scored on a wild pitch, then Conners scored on another error by the second baseman. East Bay tacked on another run in the eighth as Jacob Eder was hit by a pitch, stole second, and scored on a single by Colt Parshall. 

In an attempt to curtail the team's late inning struggles, head coach Mike Cummins gave the start to his usual closer Andrew Fernandez. The senior worked a scoreless frame to open the game, and then Joey Portugal and Ransome Alexander followed with one scoreless inning each.

With a narrow lead after three innings, Cummins turned to his normal Friday starter to take the Pioneers the rest of the way. Alex Vesia was brilliant over the final six innings, allowed just three hits and striking out seven as he picked up his second win of the season.

The teams combined for just three walks in game that was briskly-paced and lasted just 2 hours and 18 minutes despite shaky defense.

Eight different Pioneers reached back in the victory, with Conners (2-5), Jones (2-3), and Parshall (2-4) notching multi-hit performances.

The series continues on Sunday with a doubleheader between the two teams starting at 12:00 p.m.