SEASIDE, Calif. -- The Cal State East Bay baseball team pulled off a narrow 2-1 victory to split Friday's doubleheader with No. 15 ranked Cal State Monterey Bay and remain alive in an extremely tight race for the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) postseason race.

Senior RJ Hanson was brilliant in his final outing of the regular season, allowed zero earned runs on just four hits in a seven-inning complete game, improving his record to 6-3.

The Pioneers have hope heading into Saturday's series finale in Hayward, but the day did not start well for them as the Otters took a 2-0 series lead with a 17-5 blowout victory in the first game of the twinbill. 

East Bay actually grabbed an early 4-0 in the second inning of that contest as the visitors tallied four hits, highlighted by an RBI single from Aaron Albaum and a two-run double by Paul Bryniarski.

That lead lasted until the bottom of the third, when CSUMB started scoring in bunches. They scored five times in the third to go ahead by a run. Then after senior Jacob Call retired the side in order in the fourth, the Otters tacked up three runs in the fifth, six in the sixth, and three more in the seventh. The 22-hit barrage featured six doubles and a pair of home runs. 

Call suffered the loss to finish the regular season with a 5-3 record. The four-year senior ranks fourth in program history with 254 innings pitched and 10th with 15 victories. Adam Hollar and Dallas Dey each tallied two hits in defeat.

With a clean slate for the second game of the doubleheader and their backs against the wall in the playoff race, the Pioneers rose to the occasion behind Hanson's gem. He gave up an unearned run in the first, escaped a bases-loaded jam with a double play in the second, and stranded a pair in scoring position in the bottom of the six. 

The Pioneers got their first run on an opposite field single by Matt Cantelme in the second, following a walk to Jacob Eder and a hit by Colt Parshall. Tied 1-1 in the fifth, East Bay got runners on the corners with one out after a walk to Raymond Jones and a single by Hollar. An infield hit by Nolan Jekich then put the Pioneers ahead.

Hanson was able to close out the game without any drama, as the Otters hit three straight ground balls to Albaum at second base in the seventh. East Bay out-hit Monterey Bay 5-4 in a game that took less than two hours to play.

The Pioneers are 24-25 overall with a 21-22 mark in conference play, giving themselves a chance to finish right at .500 with a win in Saturday's regular season finale. That 12 p.m. game will be preceded by the annual "Senior Day" ceremony to honor the 10 CSUEB seniors prior to their final home contest.