HAYWARD, Calif. -- The Cal State East Bay baseball team was unable to hang onto a late lead on Friday, falling to Stanislaus State by a final score of 4-3 at Pioneer Field in the opener of the four-game California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) series between the two teams.
The Pioneers broke a 2-2 tie with a run in the bottom of the eighth, but Stanislaus answered with a two-run ninth-inning rally to steal the victory. The Warriors improve to 10-7 overall and 6-5 in CCAA games, while East Bay falls to 6-9 with a 3-6 conference record.
The Friday matchup of staff aces lived up to its billing, as senior
Alex Vesia and Stanislaus right-hander Joe Ryan were both excellent. The momentum was in the home dugout early, as Vesia breezed through the first few innings, and the Pioneers were able to grab an early lead off Ryan.
After back-to-back singles by
Kyosuke Ushimaru and
Dallas Dey to open the bottom of the second,
Colt Parshall picked up an RBI with a ground out.
Evan Steele then made it 2-0 by beating out a well-executed bunt single.
Vesia went unscathed into the sixth, when the Warriors finally took advantage of some good fortune. Three ground balls resulted in singles, and a misplay in left field allowed an extra run two come home as Stanislaus scored twice to even the score.
It stayed that way until the eighth, when
Dakota Conners came up with what seemed at the time like the big hit of the day. After a leadoff single by Steele and a sacrifice bunt by
Paul Bryniarski, Conners shot a single up the middle to put the Pioneers on top 3-2. That chased Ryan from the game, but the Pioneers were unable to add to their lead and stranded two runners.
Vesia came back out to start the ninth inning, and retired the leadoff hitter on a long fly ball to the left-center warming track. After a walk and a chopper single that found its way through the right side, head coach
Mike Cummins turned to the bullpen for closer
Andrew Fernandez. Pinch-hitter Jarrett Veiga then ripped an opposite field double into the gap, plating both runners. Those proved to be the game-winning runs as the Pioneers were unable to score in the ninth.
Vesia took the hard-luck loss after allowing three earned runs on seven hits and striking out seven in 8.1 innings, dropping his record 1-2 this season.
The Pioneers tallied nine hits in the game. Dey led the way going 3-for-4 with a double, while Steele and Ushimaru both finished 2-for-4.
The series continues on Saturday as the teams hope for good weather during a doubleheader scheduled to begin at 11:00 a.m.
