LA JOLLA, Calif. -- The Cal State East Bay baseball team picked up its first victory of the week Friday, splitting its doubleheader with UC San Diego at Triton Ballpark. UCSD erased a six-run deficit to steal the first game, 7-6, but the Pioneers bounced back to win the nightcap, 6-1, behind Alex Vesia's complete game.

Vesia improves to 4-2 this season after notching his 20th career victory, which gives the four-year senior a share of CSUEB's all-time record. 

After one of the most one-sided losses in program history Thursday night, the Pioneers turned the page impressively this afternoon. The CSUEB offense kept the pressure on the Tritons, grabbing early leads in both contests.

The first game was all Pioneers in the early going. Colt Parshall got them on the scoreboard with an RBI single in the second inning, then Joey Dice executed a squeeze bunt to make in 2-0. The Pioneers doubled their lead in the third, scoring twice after a UCSD error. 

Another run-scoring single by Parshall made it 5-0 in the fifth, and then Dakota Conners extended East Bay's lead even further with an RBI double in the right-center gap on a perfectly-executed hit-and-run.

Nick Risucci got the start for the Pioneers and gave the squad exactly what they needed. The senior retired the first six hitters in order and pitched 2.2 scoreless innings before head coach Mike Cummins turned to fellow right-hander RJ Hanson.

Hanson was very effective as well, holding the Tritons off the scoreboard as the Pioneers built their 6-0 lead. That all changed in the bottom of the sixth, however, as CSUEB's defense unraveled. A couple of miscues led to six unearned runs for the Tritons, all of which scored with two outs. 

The following inning, a leadoff double and a two-out infield single put the Tritons ahead with what proved to be the winning run after East Bay failed to score in its final two at bats. 

Hanson took a tough loss to drop his record to 4-2 despite allowing just one earned run in 4.2 innings of work. Parshall and Adam Hollar each posted two-hit games.

The Pioneer offense turned in a similar performance in game two. Again, East Bay took an early lead. And again, they continued to have good at bats to add to their advantage throughout the game. The big difference was, this time Vesia kept UCSD from pulling off any rallies. 

Aaron Albaum put the Pioneers ahead in the second with a two-out opposite field single. They added another run when Albaum attempted to steal, then stayed in a rundown long enough to allow Hollar to come home.

Jacob Eder picked up an RBI in the fourth with a ground out, following singles by Steve Robinson and Dallas Dey. Eder later knocked in his second run of the afternoon with a sacrifice fly, part of a three-run sixth inning for the Pioneers. 

East Bay out-hit UCSD 7-5 in the shortened second game. Hollar notched his second multi-hit game of the afternoon, while Robinson and Dey both went 2-for-3.

The lead was plenty for Vesia, as the senior southpaw shut down the potent Triton bats. The only run scored against him was unearned, as he scattered five hits and struck out six in his first complete game of the year. Vesia's season ERA is down to 2.36, fourth-best in the CCAA among qualified pitchers. 

With his 20th career win, Vesia matches Sean O'Dowd (2005-07) for the all-time lead in the 55-year history of Pioneer baseball. He is also just 7.2 innings and four strikeouts away from becoming CSUEB's career record-holder in both of those categories.

The Pioneers will attempt to pull off a series split with the defending West Region champion Tritons when the four-game set concludes on Saturday with a 12:00 p.m. game.