HAYWARD, Calif. -- The Cal State East Bay baseball team split its doubleheader with visiting San Francisco State Saturday on a gorgeous afternoon at Pioneer Field.

The Gators won the first game of the day by a score of 8-3, but the Pioneers rallied back in game two for a 7-1 victory on the strength of Brian Martinez's fourth complete game of the season. SFSU leads the four-game series 2-1 heading into Sunday's finale. 

The split gives the Pioneers an overall record of 15-21 with a mark of 12-18 in the team's first 30 California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) games.

The first game of the day saw the Gators take an early lead with a run in the first off starter Ethan Brodsky. The freshman hung a couple zeroes on the scoreboard after that, allowing the Pioneers to tie the score with a run in the third. A double by Omar Sanchez and an opposite field single by Robert Lujan made it 1-1, and started off an impressive day at the plate for Lujan.

SFSU re-took the lead in the fourth, then broke it open with five runs in the fifth. It took three Pioneer pitchers to record three outs despite the Gators getting just two hits in the frame. They took advantage of three walks, two hit-by-pitches, an error, and six wild pitches to grab control of the game.

East Bay did manage to answer with a scoring rally of their own in the bottom of the fifth. Joey Dice ripped a solo home run into the trees beyond left field to lead things off, then the Pioneers manufactured another run on a triple by Dakota Conners and an RBI single by Kyosuke Ushimaru.

Unfortunately, that was all the offense they could muster in game one. Ushimaru, Sanchez, Lujan, and Dice all finished with two hits as the Pioneers tallied 10 total hits in the loss.

Martinez took the ball for game two, and the reigning CCAA Pitcher of the Week picked up right where he left off. The left-hander retired the Gators in order in the first and got a double play to escape a jam in the second on a nifty play by shortstop Nicholas Enrico. Then in the bottom of the second inning, the Pioneers finally came up with a big hit to take their first lead of the series.

Ushimaru and Lujan opened the frame with back-to-back singles, but they were still standing on first and second two batters later after a pair of strikeouts. That brought up Matt Cantelme, who blasted his first home run of the season over the left field fence to bring both runners home and give the Pioneers a 3-0 lead.

That was enough support for Martinez, although the Pioneers provided him with even more in the fifth. CSUEB scored four runs on six hits in that inning -- including doubles by Lujan, Adam Hollar, and Steve Robinson -- to break the game open.

For the second straight week Martinez was effective and efficient, needing just 89 pitches to go the distance. He scattered five hits and issued one walk, the only blemish coming on a solo home run in the top of the sixth. His four complete games this year lead all CCAA pitchers, and his five victories tie him for fifth in the conference.

The Pioneers only batted six times in the second game of the twinbill, but they nonetheless banged out 11 hits. Lujan was a perfect 3-for-3 with a pair of doubles, while Ushimaru and Robinson both went 2-for-3.

CSUEB will now look to secure a split of the four-game series when the teams meet again at Pioneer Field on Sunday at noon.