HAYWARD, Calif., -- The Cal State East Bay baseball program will open California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) action with a four-game series against Cal State San Marcos at CSUSM Baseball Field this weekend.
 
The Pioneers are 3-2 on the season after having games canceled and postponed due to inclement weather and unplayable field conditions.
 
East Bay baseball has announced that Friday's starting pitcher will be Dylan Dudley. Brian Martinez will get the start on the mound for game one of Saturday's doubleheader and Blake Corsentino will follow up with a start in the following game. The Pioneers have yet to announce a starting pitcher for Sunday's series finale.
 
WEEK IN REVIEW
Today saw the continuation -- and conclusion -- of the series opener between the Pioneers and Holy Names that had started Friday at College of Alameda. They only made it through two innings before the game was suspended due to rain, but in that time CSUEB grabbed a 2-0 lead.
 
The Pioneers loaded the bases with no outs, scored the game's first run on a hit-by-pitch, and added another on a double-play ground out. Junior right-hander Dylan Dudley worked two hitless frames before conditions became unplayable.
 
Kyosuke Ushimaru went 3-for-4 to lead the Pioneers offensively. Eder had two hits and knocked in a pair, and newcomer Omar Sanchez finished 2-for-5 with a double.
 
Sophomore Mark Woinarowicz pitched the final two scoreless frames following the rain delay.
 
The teams quickly got going with game two, and it moved at a brisk pace in the early going, thanks to solid pitching. The Pioneers struck first as they loaded the bases with one out in the bottom of the first, then Adam Hollar got them on the scoreboard with a sacrifice fly.
 
Junior starter Brian Martinez was outstanding for East Bay from the outset. The southpaw allowed three hits and struck out three in five scoreless innings as the Pioneers clung to their 1-0 advantage.
 
The rain came back in the sixth and Kyle Basch came out of the bullpen to make his Pioneer debut. An infield error extended the inning, and then another error on a pick-off attempt allowed the tying run to score for the Hawks. Shortly thereafter, the umpires called the teams off the field as the rain became too heavy.
 
The Cal State East Bay baseball team earned a series victory over Holy Names this weekend after securing a pair of wins Sunday at the College of Alameda. The Pioneers edged the Hawks by a score of 3-2 in the completion of yesterday's suspended game, then their bats exploded in the finale and the pitching staff hurled a shutout in a 19-0 rout.
 
These were the first three completed games of the season for the Pioneers after last weekend's action was entirely washed out by rain. The weather impacted this series as well, but clear skies this afternoon allowed the teams to complete their series.
 
They made it to the sixth inning of Saturday's game at Pioneer Field before play was halted. Adam Hollar put the Pioneers ahead in the first with a sacrifice fly, and they clung to that lead as starting pitcher Brian Martinez worked five scoreless innings. In the sixth, the rain started and the Hawks pushed across an unearned run against reliever Kyle Basch.
 
When the contest resumed today, Holy Names grabbed a lead with three singles to plate a run in the seventh. But the Pioneers answered back in the bottom of the inning. A walk to Brock Bueno and a single by Dakota Conners set the table, and then Omar Sanchez tied the game with a base hit to left.
 
Then with the score tied 2-2 in the eighth, East Bay staged a two-out rally. Joey Dice ripped a single, then moved up to second on a wild pitch. Ryan McSwain then laced the next pitch for an opposite-field hit to bring Dice home with the go-ahead run.
 
After pitching a 1-2-3 frame in the eighth, right-hander Ransome Alexander stayed in for the ninth and retired the Hawks to notch the team's first victory of the year.
 
The Pioneers tallied seven hits in the contest, with Conners posting a 3-for-4 performance to lead the way.
 
After a pair of tight, low-scoring affairs in the first two games, East Bay broke out in a big way offensively in the finale. It started slowly, as the Pioneers took a 1-0 lead in the first on an RBI double by Conners. Two innings later, Dice tripled and came in to score on McSwain's sac fly to make it 2-0.
 
Then in the fourth, the floodgates opened. Dice had the biggest knock of the inning, a bases-clearing three-run double down the left field line. Two batters later, Steve Robinson ripped a two-run double to break the game open and put the Pioneers ahead 8-0.There were three hit batters, three walks, and five hits in the frame, as the Pioneers sent 15 batters to the plate and hung 11 runs on the scoreboard.
 
East Bay tallied four more hits and five more runs the following inning, and Dice capped it off with yet another three-run double. The senior finished 3-for-3 and drove in seven runs. He was one of five Pioneers to notch multiple hits in the win.
 
Although it wasn't necessary with the huge lead, the Pioneer pitching staff turned in a stellar collective effort. Seven different hurlers combined on the shutout as they struck out 10 and walked just three. Jacob Nelson and Dylan Dudley tossed two scoreless frames each, then Ethan Brodsky, Jordan Milligan, Connor Fleharty, Mark Woinarowicz, and Michael Espino worked one inning apiece.
 
The Pioneers out-scored HNU 25-6 for the weekend and had five hitters bat over .400. The pitching staff posted a 1.38 ERA with 12 different players seeing action on the mound.
 
On Tuesday afternoon, the Pioneers completed their suspended game against Menlo College that had started back on Feb 1. The teams then played another game at Pioneer Field to make up for the contest that had been washed out Feb. 3. Both squads picked up a victory in the midweek matchup.
 
Menlo had jumped out to a 4-0 lead back in the season opener before the Pioneers rallied back to tie the score 5-5. But the Oaks put together a big offensive performance, hitting three home runs and re-taking the lead 9-6 before the game was called after seven innings. Today, Menlo tacked on another run and kept the Pioneers off the scoreboard in the final two frames to hang on for a 10-6 win.
 
CSUEB tallied 12 hits in the loss, but stranded 11 runners. Jacob Eder finished 3-for-5 to lead the way, while Dakota Conners, Adam Hollar, Kyosuke Ushimaru, and Joey Dice had two hits apiece.
 
East Bay bounced back impressively in the second game and was immediately more effective in situations with runners on base. The Oaks notched a run in the first and another in the second to snag an early advantage, but CSUEB starter Ethan Brodsky did well to minimize the damage, giving the Pioneer bats a chance to go to work in the middle innings.
 
Dice, Ryan McSwain, and Ryan Thomasy led off the third inning with three straight line drive doubles, and in the span of five pitches, the score was tied 2-2. A sacrifice fly for Conners then gave the Pioneers their first lead. Menlo answered back with another run in the fourth, but East Bay quickly snatched the lead again. With one on and one out, head coach Mike Cummins sent up Steve Robinson as a pinch hitter, and the senior hooked the first pitch he saw into the right field corner for a triple. Dice followed with an RBI ground out to make it 5-3.
 
The Pioneers broke the game open the following inning after two singles and a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases. Menlo walked Robert Lujan to force in a run, which brought up Robinson again. Once again he jumped on the first pitch, slicing a three-run double to left.
 
Robinson didn't even start the game, but finished 2-for-3 with four RBI, two runs scored, and five total bases. McSwain went 3-for-3 with a walk out of the leadoff spot, and Conners posted yet another two-hit effort. Dice drove in a pair of runs to continue his hot start to the season.
 
After the Oaks scored their third and final run in the fourth inning, the Pioneer pitchers mowed them down the rest of the way. Michael Espino tossed two scoreless frames to earn his first victory, and then Jordan Milligan, Matt Woinarowicz, and Mark Woinarowicz got three outs each to close the game.
 
 
PIONEER POINTS
Senior outfielder Joey Dice was named CSUEB Player of the Week after he helped power the Pioneer baseball team to a 19-0 win on Sunday, clinching a series victory over Holy Names. The senior went 3-for-3 with a triple and a pair of three-run doubles to finish with seven RBI and seven total bases. He hit .444 overall in the series, scored three runs, worked a pair of walks, and posted a team-high .889 slugging percentage. Dice is third in the conference in runs batted in and fourth in slugging percentage (.875). He also ranks second in triples (2) and six in doubles (3)  
 
Junior Jacob Eder is leading the Pioneers in batting average at .500 which is seventh in the conference. Eder is tied for the team lead with eight hits which has him fourth in on-base percentage (.619).
 
Junior Robert Lujan is batting .444 so far on the season with a .556 slugging percentage while scoring six runs and three RBIs. Senior Dakota Conners is fifth in the CCAA with three doubles and has a .421 batting average. Senior Adam Hollar is has scored a team-high seven runs which is sixth in the league with seven hits and a .412 batting average.
 
As a team, East Bay is third in the CCAA with a 2.86 combined ERA. Brian Martinez is leading the Pioneers with five strikeouts through seven innings of work while boasting a .000 ERA. Senior Jacob Nelson retired four batters in his only action on the season.
 
SCOUTING CAL STATE SAN MARCOS
The Cal State San Marcos Cougars come into the matchup with East Bay carrying a 4-2 record on the season with a series sweep over Metro State – Denver and takin one game in their series to Concordia Irvine. Austin Ott leads the Cougars with eight hits and eight runs scored with a .421 batting average and a .474 slugging percentage. Mike Lopez is leading the CCAA with 16 strikeouts with a 1-0 record and a 1.20 ERA.