HAYWARD, Calif. -- The Cal State East Bay softball team has had the early part of its schedule affected heavily by weather, but the Pioneers will finally open California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) play this week with four games against Cal State San Marcos. 

Due to unplayable conditions at Pioneer Field, the series as been moved to San Francisco State. The game times will remain the same, with first pitch set for 12 p.m. on Friday and 11 a.m. on Saturday. 

The Pioneers had their first two games of the season versus Holy Names rained out, then last week's series at Cal State San Bernardino was cancelled due to heavy precipitation in the Inland Empire area. As such, CSUEB has played just five games fo far this season.

East Bay traveled to chilly Utah two weeks ago to compete in the Dixie State Classic. They played some extremely high-scoring games in the thin air and took on a tough set of opponents, which included a pair of nationally-rankled squads. 

The Pioneers were outlasted by Chadron State in the season opener and fell to No. 13 Dixie State and No. 22 Colorado Mesa as well. In between those, they out-slugging Colorado State Pueblo to notch their first win of the year by a final score of 13-9. They finished the tournament on a high note, defeating Central Washington 8-4 in the finale behind a complete-game effort by Abby Greer.

The trip to Utah was an impressive one for the Pioneer offense, which collectively hit .386 and racked up 17 extra base hits. Junior Sarah Fukushima led the way with a monster performance, going 12-for-16 with two home runs and eight RBI. She posted a pair of four-hit games and was subsequently named CCAA Player of the Week, her third career weekly honor.

Freshman Madi Greco made a big impression in her collegiate debut, going 6-for-10 and belting three home runs for the tournament. She hit two of those round-trippers and drove in six runs in lifting the Pioneers to victory over CWU. Returners Jennifer Palmares (5-for-7), Desiree Jimmy (4-for-7), and Emilie Portesi (4-for-8) also swung the bat well, as did newcomer Jackie Najera (.313 avg, HR, 5 RBI). 

Cal State San Marcos enters the series with a 1-5 record. They were swept in four games by Cal State San Bernardino to open the season, the split a non-conference doubleheader with Concordia-Portland last weekend. The Cougars are batting .281 with a 6.28 team ERA through six games. Junior Melody Forstie has been the team's top hitter thus far with a .476 batting average. The Cougars took three out of four games against the Pioneers when the teams met last season in San Marcos.