CARSON, Calif. -- The Cal State East Bay baseball team was unable to overcome a rough first inning in its series opener at Cal State Dominguez Hills, falling by a final score of 7-4 on Friday afternoon.

The Pioneers fall back below the .500 mark with the loss to 17-18 for the season with a 14-15 record in California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) games, as they look to remain in a tight conference race.

The bottom of the first was a bit of a nightmare inning for the Pioneers and senior Andrew Fernandez on Friday, as the Toros had seven straight batters reach base before an out was recorded. They ended up scoring seven times in the frame, capped off by a three-run triple from Kai Gomez.

CSUEB's pitching was outstanding after that, holding CSUDH off the scoreboard the remainder of the game. Stas Kuntz, Mark Woinarowicz, Jordan Milligan, and Jacob Nelson combined to allow just five hits over seven scoreless innings. 

Unfortunately, the Toros didn't need any more offense, as the Pioneer bats weren't quite up to the task of erasing their early deficit. 

The Pioneers got on the scoreboard against Dominguez Hills starter Rigo Fernandez in the fourth inning with a pair of runs, highlighted by doubles from Dakota Conners and Colt Parshall and an RBI ground out by Dallas Dey. 

The score remained 7-2 into the ninth inning when East Bay mounted its best rally of the afternoon. A walk to Evan Steele, a single by Raymond Jones, and an error on a grounder by Adam Hollar loaded the bases with no outs. That brought up Conners, and the Pioneers caught a tough break when his line drive went right to the shortstop. Dey followed with an RBI single, and then Parshall was hit by a pitch to plate another run. That made the score 7-4 with the tying runs on base, but East Bay couldn't quite complete the comeback. CSUDH's Ian Codina got Paul Bryniarski to pop out, then struck out Matt Cantelme to end the game. 

The Pioneers totaled nine hits in the contest and drew five bases on balls. Parshall led the way, going 3-for-4 with a pair of runs driven in, and Jones also had a three-hit game out of the leadoff spot. 

The four-game CCAA series continues on Saturday with a doubleheader scheduled for 12:00 p.m. Senior Alex Vesia will likely toe the hill at some point during the twinbill one week after becoming CSUEB's all-time leader in career wins and strikeouts, and needing just 2.0 innings pitched to break the career record in that category as well.