HAYWARD, Calif., -- The Cal State East Bay baseball team will return to the hills of Hayward for a four-game California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) series against the visiting Chico State Wildcats.
 
The Pioneers will take on the Wildcats with schedule doubleheaders for slated for Saturday and Sunday, March 9-10 at Pioneer Baseball Field.
 
East Bay currently sits at .500 on the season with a 9-9 overall record and a 6-6 mark in conference action.
 
WEEK IN REVIEW
The Cal State East Bay baseball team opened its road series at Stanislaus State on Friday by splitting a doubleheader at Warrior Field. The home team notched a 1-0 walk-off victory in the opener, then the Pioneers rode a huge first-inning output to an 8-4 win on the back end of the twinbill.
 
The split snapped a four-game win streak for the Pioneers, putting them at 9-7 overall with a 6-4 mark in California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) play.
 
East Bay senior Jacob Nelson was brilliant in his fourth start of the season, turning in his best performance in a Pioneer uniform. The right-hander scattered three hits and struck out seven, needing just 67 pitches to breeze through six scoreless innings.
 
Junior Ransome Alexander was excellent as well in relief of Nelson. He held the Warriors off the scoreboard in the seventh and eighth innings before a two-out walk, a stolen base, and a walk-off single plated the game's only run in the bottom of the ninth.
 
All that offensive frustration was exercised quickly in the second game, however, as the Pioneers finally broke out at the plate. Warrior lefty-hander Rylan Tinsley walked the first two batters of the top of the first inning, and then East Bay followed with five hits to chase him out of the game after just 0.1 innings. The Pioneers sent 13 batters to the plate in the opening frame of game two, and when the dust settled they led 7-0.
 
That provided a nice cushion for freshman right-hander Blake Corsentino, who turned in another strong effort following his two-hit shutout versus Cal State San Bernardino last weekend. The Warriors got a run back against him in the second, but Corsentino was otherwise effective through the first four innings.
 
After East Bay made it 8-1 on a double steal in the fifth, Stanislaus mounted its biggest rally of the game in the bottom of the frame. The home team scored three time on three hits, capped off by a two-run triple into the right field corner. Sophomore Mark Woinarowicz came out of the bullpen to record the third out and keep the score 8-4.
 
Woinarowicz came back out for the sixth and quickly got into trouble as he allowed two singles, then issued a walk to load the bases with nobody out. But the right-hander put a damper on Stanislaus's comeback hopes, getting two harmless shallow fly balls for the first two outs, then striking out Jack Large to escape the jam.
 
Nicholas Enrico was the only Pioneer with multiple hits in the game. The senior filled up the box scored going 2-for-2 with a double, a walk, an RBI, two runs scored, and a stolen base. Fellow senior Joey Dice knocked in a pair of runs as part of CSUEB's seven-run rally to open the game.
 
The Cal State East Bay baseball team dropped both ends of its doubleheader against Stanislaus State on Sunday, which gave the Warriors a 3-1 series victory in California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) competition.
 
The first game saw a great deal of offense, and unfortunately, East Bay couldn't hang onto an early advantage. In the first inning, the Pioneers tallied three quick runs on singles by Steve Robinson and Adam Hollar, followed by a triple off the bat of Kyosuke Ushimaru and an RBI ground out by Joey Dice.
 
Stan State scored once in the second off Kyle Basch and twice in the third against Brian Martinez to even the score, but East Bay answered right back with two runs to re-take the lead. They were aided by an infield error after Brock Bueno and Matt Cantelme set the table with singles. Another Warrior error in the fifth led to a sacrifice fly for Bueno and a 6-3 lead for the Pioneers.
 
Hollar, Ushimar, Bueno, Cantelme all notched two hits for the Pioneers in the loss.
 
The second game of the day was much more of a pitcher's battle, but unfortunately for the Pioneers, it followed a similar script to game one. Freshman Ethan Brodsky got the nod from head coach Mike Cummins and turned in an excellent outing on the mound, holding the Warriors scoreless through the first five innings.
 
Once again, the Pioneers struck first as Bueno led off the top of the third with a walk, which was followed by a single by Nicholas Enrico. Ryan McSwain then doubled, scoring Bueno for the first run of the game. Steve Robinson and Hollar each followed with RBI singles to put the visitors ahead 3-0.
 
Stan State finally pushed across a run against Brodsky in the sixth, but he would have escaped with limited damage if not for a costly error that brought home a second run and extended the inning. Ransome Alexander then came in for Brodsky and allowed a two-run triple, then balked in another run. When the dust settled on the sixth inning, the Warriors led 5-3.
 
East Bay's offense was quiet over the latter half of the game as they were unable to mount a comeback. McSwain finished 1 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored and Robinson knocked in a pair, but the Pioneers totaled just five hits in the game-two loss.
SENIOR SLUGGERS
The Pioneers are batting .274 with a .372 on-base percentage as a team through 18 games, both of which rank and seventh in the CCAA. East Bay's senior hitters have been leading the way, with Kysosuke Ushimaru (.361), Dakota Conners (.359), Adam Hollar (.317), and Robinson (.300) all hitting over .300. Joey Dice isn't quite there in terms of average, but he leads the team with 17 runs batted in. Junior Jacob Eder (.333 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 29 stolen bases in 39 attempts. Individually, Ushimaru (5 SB), Hollar (4 SB), and McSwain (4 SB) have three of the top six stolen base totals in the league.
 
HOW DO YOU PRONOUNCE THAT?
CSUEB has an unremarkable 5.20 team ERA thus far this season. Third-year reliever Ransome Alexander (3.09 ERA) and newcomers Kyle Basch (3.12 ERA) and TJ Myers (5.40 ERA) have all been effective out of the bullpen, but the most impressive work has been done by sophomore Mark Woinarowicz. The right-hander has a 0.79 ERA in seven appearances, is holding batters to a .216 average, and has converted all three of his save opportunities.
 
SCOUTING CHICO STATE
The Chico State Wildcats enter the matchup against the Pioneers with a 6-7 record on the season with a 2-6 showing in league play after splitting their home series 2-2 against Cal State Monterey Bay last week. Dustin Miller (.406), Eddie Zavala (.364) and Michael Lagier (.357) are all batting over .350 on the season to lead the Wildcats. Zavala leads Chico with 16 hits, 1 HR and 7 RBI. Dalton Smith is tops on Chico State with a 1.04 ERA through four appearences. Grant Larson has compiled 2-0 wins with a team-high 30 strikeouts for Chico State.