CARSON, Calif. -- The Cal State East Bay baseball team split its doubleheader Saturday at Cal State Dominguez Hills to notch its first win of this California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) series.

The Pioneers fell, 9-8, in the first game on a walk-off home run by the Toros following a back-and-forth contest. They came back to win the second game of the twinbill, 7-0, behind yet another brilliant performance by senior left-hander Alex Vesia. 

One week after becoming the program's all-time leader in career wins and strikeouts, Vesia took claim of yet another school record. After 6.0 scoreless frames on Saturday, he has now pitched the most innings in Pioneer history with 292.1 for his career.

The afternoon started with some sloppy defense by both squads in the first game. The Pioneers and Toros combined for six errors in that contest, and 11 of the 17 total runs were unearned.

A bad first inning doomed CSUEB in Friday's series opener, and the Pioneers were determined not to allow that to happen Saturday. They opened the game with a huge rally, sending 10 men to the plate and taking advantage of a defensive miscue. East Bay had four hits in the inning, highlighted by bases-loaded singles from both Colt Parshall and Evan Steele.

Donavon Ramirez got the start for the Pioneers and worked a scoreless inning in the bottom of the first. Ransome Alexander and Joe Blair allowed a run each in the second and third, but the Pioneers still held a 5-2 lead when head coach Mike Cummins handed the ball over to RJ Hanson in the fourth.

After the Toros made it 5-3, a Pioneer error allowed the fourth Dominguez Hills run to score and extended the inning for Dalton Duarte, who made East Bay pay with a three-run homer to give the Toros the lead.

Another run for the home team in the fifth made it 8-5, but the Pioneer bats kept fighting in the later innings. Adam Hollar helped East Bay get one back in the sixth, leading off with a hit, stealing second, and coming around to score on Dallas Dey's ground out. In the eighth, a double by Raymond Jones and a single by Dakota Conners brought the Pioneers within one, and then back-to-back infield errors by the Toros allowed CSUEB to tie the game.

Unfortunately, the Pioneers left the bases loaded in the eighth, then stranded two more runners in the top of the ninth. That set the stage for Esteban Ortega, who led off the bottom of the frame with a game-ending long ball.

Hanson took a tough loss to fall to 4-3 for the season despite allowing just two earned runs in his five innings of work. Jones finished 3-for-6 in the leadoff spot, and Parshall notched a two-hit game with a run scored and an RBI.

To their credit, East Bay didn't let such a dramatic loss affect them in the second game -- and having their ace on the mound surely aided the squad's confidence. Vesia came out firing, striking out five of the first six Toro batters to set the tone. 

CSUEB's offense took the cue, tallying three runs in the top of the second to stake Vesia to a lead. The Pioneers took advantage of two errors as well as an opposite field double by Aaron Albaum, a run-scoring bunt hit by Brennan Carey, and a two-out RBI single by Steve Robinson.

The Pioneers tacked on two more runs the following inning when Matt Cantelme plated Parshall with a single, and then Carey picked up his second RBI with a squeeze bunt. 

That was plenty of support for Vesia, who struck out a career-high 12 batters and allowed just three hits. The reigning CCAA Pitcher of the Week notched his second straight double-digit strikeout performance and picked up his fourth straight win to improve to 6-2. The southpaw's 1.89 ERA for the season is second-best in the conference among qualified pitchers.

Fellow senior Nick Risucci pitched a scoreless bottom of the seventh to close out the shutout victory. The Pioneers racked up 10 hits in the shortened game, with eight of the nine starters recording at least one. Conners led the way, going 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run. 

The Pioneers will look to salvage a split with the Toros on Sunday when the four-game series concludes with an 11:00 a.m. game.