SAN FRANCISCO -- The Cal State East Bay softball team began its final series of the season with a pair of narrow, extra-inning losses on the road at SF State on Friday. The Gators won a 2-1 pitcher's dual in the opener, then rallied to hand the Pioneers an 11-10 defeat in game two of the doubleheader.

The Pioneers had a chance to play spoiler at the end of the regular season against a Gator squad that's in third place in the CCAA and ranked No. 4 in the West Region. Junior Abby Greer turned in a tremendous effort in the first game, and the CSUEB bats broke out in the second, but the Pioneers came up just short both times.

The first several innings of the day moved quickly as Greer and SFSU's Emily Mitchell matched zeroes in game one. Greer allowed a few more base runners than her counterpart, but both hurlers carried a scoreless tie into the sixth inning. \

The Pioneers finally broke through in the top of the sixth, loading the bases on singles by Courtney Leyba, Jackie Najera, and Jennifer Palmares, and scoring the game's first run on a sacrifice fly by Sarah Fukushima.

Greer worked a scoreless sixth, then retired the first two batters of the seventh. She was one out away from a shutout victory when the Gators staged a rally, tallying three straight singles to tie the game. That sent the game to extra innings, and with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, SFSU got a single followed by a walk-off double to escape with the win.

Fukushima had two hits in game one, and Najera finished a perfect 3-for-3. 

Game two was a slugfest by comparison. Both teams recorded 16 hits, but they took different paths to get there. The Pioneers started hot in the early innings, scoring in each of the first four frames. 

Maddie Ramirez and Meghan Araneta both drove in runs in the top of the first to put the Pioneers up 2-0, but the Gators quickly answered back with two in the bottom of the inning. Leyba knocked in a run with an infield single to put the visitors back ahead, but SF State evened the score again in their second time at bat. Then the Pioneers hung two runs on the scoreboard in the third and three more in the fourth to open up an 8-3 advantage. That stretch was highlighted by Ramirez's team-leading sixth home run of the season.

The Gators mounted their biggest scoring rally of the day in the bottom of the fifth, notching four runs on five hits to cut their deficit to one. The following inning, a sacrifice fly tied the game at 8-8. 

Neither squad scored in the seventh, force extra innings for the second game in a row. With two outs and no one on base in the top of the eighth, the Pioneers strung together a single, an error, and three walks to bring home two runs. They had a chance to close out the win in the bottom of the frame, but a two-run homer for the Gators evened the score with one out. Four batters later, a double in the gap brought home the winning run as SFSU celebrated another walk-off win.

Ramirez had three hits in the second game of the day and drove in four runs. Leyba finished with her first career five-hit game, going 5-for-5 in the loss. 

If there's a silver lining to the day, it's that the Pioneers had a strong chance to win twice against one of the top squads in the West. They will look to finish off the regular season with a victory when they return to the field at SF State for one more doubleheader on Saturday.