HAYWARD, Calif., -- The Cal State East Bay baseball team will take on rival Monterey Bay for a four-game home and away "Battle of the Bays" California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) series.
 
The Pioneers and Otters will play single games in Seaside at CSUMB Baseball Complex on Friday and Sunday. The two squad will play their lone doubleheader of the season on Saturday at Pioneer Baseball Field. Monterey Bay claims the series 3-1 over CSUEB in 2018.
 
East Bay is currently 9-12 on the season with a 6-9 mark in conference action.
 
WEEK IN REVIEW
The Wildcats took the series 3-0 over the Pioneers as East Bay moved to 9-12 on the season with a 6-9 mark in California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) action.
 
In the opening game of the series, a game that began on Sunday afternoon and ended Monday afternoon, the Pioneers got on the board early and often with all five of their runs in the first four innings.  Junior Ryan McSwain (Redwood City, Calif.) opened the bottom of the first inning with a triple to right field. In the next at bat, Ryan Thomasy (Redding, Calif.) sent a sacrifice fly to right field to bring McSwain home as CSUEB closed the inning with a 1-0 lead.
 
After Chico State added two runs in the top of the third to take a 2-1 lead, the Pioneers added two runs of their own. With two outs on the board, senior Kyosuke Ushimaru (Tokyo, Calif.) blasted his team-leading second homerun of the season to tie the game at 2-2. Omar Sanchez (Winton, Calif.) followed with a singled through the right side in the next at bat. Adam Hollar (Livermore, Calif.) was hit by a pitch in the at bat and both runner advanced a base after a wild pitch and then Sanchez broke the tie after crossing home plate after a throwing error from the third baseman.
 
The Wildcats would add five runs in the seventh inning and two more runs in the eighth to secure the 10-5 series opening win.
 
Jacob Nelson (Jefferson, Wisc.) paced the Pioneers with six strikeouts through four innings of work. Michael Espino (South San Francisco, Calif.) retired three batters without allowing any runs in two innings of action. Ransome Alexander (L, 1-3) compiled one strikeout while allowing four earned runs. Mark Woinarowicz (Yorba Linda, Calif.) saw 0.2 innings of action. TJ Myers (Pleasanton, Calif.) closed the game for East Bay and added two strikeouts.
 
In the opening game of the the scheduled doubleheader, it was Chico State who put points on the scoreboard first with a run in the top of the second inning. East Bay responded with a run in the bottom of the third to tie the ballgame a 1-1.
 
Ryan McSwain singled to center field to get things going to the Pioneers followed by a single to right field by Ryan Thomasy advancing McSwain to third base. In the next at bat, Kyosuke Ushimaru grounded out to shortstop but not before sending MsSwain across home plate.
Similar to the third inning, McSwain got things started with a single to left field and follow with s stolen base. Ushimaru brought McSwain home with a single to through the right side to as East Bay ended the inning down, 5-2.
 
Chico State added one final run in the ninth inning to garner the 6-2 victory over East Bay.
 
Brian Martinez (L, 2-2) (Livermore, Calif.) led the Pioneers with three strikeouts through six innings on the mound. Kyle Basch (San Carlos, Calif.) saw two innings of action for CSUEB. Ethan Brodsky (Mission Viejo, Calif.) finished the final inning for East Bay and notched one strikeout.
 
In the final game of the series, both teams came out with the bats scorching as the Wildcats and Pioneers scored a combined 12 runs through the first two innings. Chico State put four runs on the board to open the game. The Pioneers answered back with three runs in the bottom of the first inning.
 
Ryan McSwain doubled through the left side to open the innings for CSUEB. Ryan Thomasy placed a fantastic bunt in the next at bat advancing McSwain to third base. Ushimaru picked up the RBI after reaching first base on a fielder's choice. After Ushimaru picked up the second out of the inning after a failed attempt to steal second base, Omar Sanchez and Steve Robinson (Yuba City, Calif.) were walked in consecutive plate appearances. Adam Hollar followed with a single to right field to scored Sanchez and move Robinson to third. Hollar then stole second base and Matt Cantelme (Fair Oaks, Calif.) was walked in the next at bat to load the bases for the Pioneers. After a Wildcat pitching change, Nicholas Enrico (Honolulu, Hawaii) was walked to bring home Robinson and cut into the Chico State lead, 4-3.
 
Unfortunately for the Pioneers, that would be their final runs of the ballgame. The Wildcats put in five run in the top of the second inning and scored four more runs in the top of the fifth inning to claim the 13-3 win.
 
Blake Corsentino (L, 2-2) (Ventura, Calif.) saw one inning of action and retired one batter. Jordan Milligan (San Jose, Calif.) picked up a strikeout after tossing 0.1 of action and Connor Fleharty (Redding, Calif.) closed the inning with one strikeout. Dylan Dudley (Newman, Calif.) tied a team high with two strikeouts through two innings. Michael Espino and Ransome Alexander both tossed on the mound for one inning each. Mark Woinarowicz also compiled two strikeouts while not allowing any hit through two innings.
 
SENIOR SLUGGERS
The Pioneers are batting .272 with a .372 on-base percentage as a team through 21 games, both of which rank eighth and ninth in the CCAA. East Bay's senior hitters have been leading the way, with Kysosuke Ushimaru (.342), Dakota Conners (.359), Adam Hollar (.297), and Steve Robinson (.288) all hitting over .280. Joey Dice isn't quite there in terms of average, but he is second on the team with 17 runs batted in. Junior Jacob Eder (.311 avg) has also been solid on both sides of the ball as the primary shortstop.
 
THIEVING WAYS
East Bay leads all CCAA teams -- by a substantial margin -- with 32 stolen bases in 43 attempts. Individually, Ushimaru (5 SB), Hollar (5 SB), and McSwain (5 SB) have three of the top eight stolen base totals in the league.
 
HOW DO YOU PRONOUNCE THAT?
CSUEB has an unremarkable 5 79 team ERA thus far this season. Sophomore Mark Woinarowicz has a 1.38 ERA in nine appearances, is holding batters to a .209 average, and has converted all three of his save opportunities. Starters Brian Martinez (5.29 ERA) and Jacob Nelson (3.15 ERA) lead the Pioneers with 24 and 21 strikeouts on the season. Newcomer Kyle Basch (2.53 ERA) has all been effective out of the bullpen.
 
SCOUTING MONTEREY BAY
The Monterey Bay Otters come into the matchup against the Pioneers at .500 with a 11-11 record on the season with a 9-7 showing in league play after falling 3-1 in their home series against Stanislaus State Bay last weekend. Kyle Dean (.376), Brian Morley (.354) and Kokko Figueiredo (.308) are all batting over .300 on the season to lead the Otters. Dean leads Monterey with 32 hits, 2 HRs and 21 runs scored. Kale Leach is tops on Chico State with a 1.38 ERA through six appearences. Daniel Harris has compiled 2-2 record with a team-high 26 strikeouts for Monterey Bay.