HAYWARD, Calif., -- The Cal State East Bay baseball team will make a visit to San Francisco for their annual Bay Bridge series against California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) rival San Francisco State. The Pioneers and the Gators will play four games this weekend beginning with single game Friday afternoon, April 20. The team will then play a doubleheader on Saturday, April 21 with a noon first pitch before wrapping the series up with a contest Sunday, April 22. All games will be played at Maloney Field on the campus of SF State.
 
This is a crucial series for East Bay as the top six teams in the conference advance to the annual CCAA Tournament, and with three series remaining the Pioneers and Gators are currently tied for seventh place with identical 16-16 records in CCAA play, just one game behind Cal Poly Pomona in sixth.
 
LAST ACTION
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 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 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 Cal State East Bay baseball team closed out its series at Cal State Dominguez Hills on Sunday with a dominant 11-0 victory over the Toros, as five Pioneer pitchers combined to hurl a two-hit shutout.
 
Jordan Milligan, Stas Kuntz, and Mark Woinarowicz each tossed a scoreless inning to open the game for the Pioneers. Senior Jacob Call took over in the fourth and breezed through five frames, striking out three and throwing just 57 pitches.
 
The Toros didn't get their first base runner until the fifth with an infield single off Call that ended up being the only hit the right-hander would allow, as he earned the victory to improve to 4-2. Fellow senior Andrew Fernandez struck out the side in the ninth to secure the shutout victory, East Bay's fifth of the season as a team.
 
The Pioneers tallied 11 runs on 11 hits, with nine different players recording at least one. Dakota Conners and Adam Hollar led the way with two hits apiece, and Dallas Dey knocked in a team-high three runs.
 
CSUEB didn't need to do anything, however, to plate their first run. Four straight walks to open the second inning made it 1-0, and then Jacob Eder hit a sacrifice fly to double the lead.
 
The Pioneers broke it open in the fifth after Hollar and Joey Dice were both hit by pitches and Conners singled. Dey roped one down the third-base line for a bases-clearing double, and then Aaron Albaum followed with an RBI single to complete the four-run inning.
 
They scored three more times in the sixth on four singles and a walk, then tacked on two more in the ninth on an RBI double by Dice and a two-out single through the hole by Steve Robinson.
 
 
PIONEER POINTS
Senior Raymond Jones (San Diego, Calif.) is second on the Pioneers with a .333 batting average with 38 hits, 16 RBI, 47 total bases, 21 runs scored. He also has .412 slugging percentage and .401 on-base percentage.
 
Junior Paul Bryniarski (Fountain Hills, Ariz.) has appeared in 32 games and is fifth on the Pioneers with 31 hits. Bryniarski is batting .267 with 21 runs scored, 16 RBI and 40 total bases. He also has a .345 slugging percentage with four doubles, a triple and one homerun.
 
Senior Dallas Dey (Tustin, Calif.) (.354 avg, .401 obp, .496 slg) and leads the Pioneers with four home runs and is tops on the team with 45 hits.
 
Returners Adam Hollar (Livermore, Calif.) (.333 avg, .454 obp) and Dakota Conners (Manteca, Calif.) (.316 avg, .459 slg, 15 RBI) have been excellent, while newcomers Jacob Eder (Prescott, Ariz.) (.211 avg, .339 obp, 19 R, 21 RBI) and Kyosuke Ushimaru (Tokyo, Japan) (.273 avg, .364 slg) have provided some pop in the Pioneer lineup.
 
The pitching staff has a collective ERA of 5.07 through 38 games, despite solid strikeout numbers (247 punchouts and 140 walks in 314.1 innings).
 
Senior southpaw Alex Vesia is 6-2 with 66 strikeouts and a 1.87 ERA. Vesia earned his second consecutive CCAA Pitcher of the Week after capturing his third school record.
 
A week after becoming CSUEB's all-time leader in career victories and strikeouts and nabbing his first CCAA weekly award of the season, Vesia broke the program record for innings pitched with 6.0 scoreless frames to beat Cal State Dominguez Hills this past weekend. He now has 292.1 for his career, surpassing the previous mark held by Nick Krell.
 
The left-hander allowed just three hits and recorded a career-high 12 strikeouts in a 7-0 win over the Toros. Vesia is in the midst of the most dominant stretch of his prolific career -- he has not allowed an earned run over his last 32 innings dating back to March 9. During that time, he's 5-0 with 40 strikeouts.
 
Vesia now has a 6-2 record with a 1.87 ERA for the season, the second-lowest in the CCAA.  
 
RJ Hanson is third on the team with a 3.54 ERA and is second on the team with 43 strikeouts with four wins. Jacob Call is third on the Pioneers on the squad with 37 strikeouts and has only given up three homers this season.
 
SCOUTING SAN FRANCISCO STATE
The San Francisco State Gators will enter the series with a 17-21 mark on the season with a 16-16 record in CCAA play after going 3-1 in their road series against Cal State San Bernardino. Jackson Kritsch leads the Gators with a .396 batting average and 61 hits. He is tied for second on the team with four home runs and a .545 slugging percentage. Matthew Hernandez leads the SF State staff a 2.48 ERA and a 3-4 record. He has retired 65 batters through 58 innings tossed.