HAYWARD, Calif. -- The final game of the 2019 season for the Cal State East Bay baseball team was also one of the longest, as the Pioneers came up short in a 17-12 slugfest against No. 5 ranked UC San Diego a the home finale that lasted just under four hours. 

The Pioneers celebrated "Senior Day" with their annual ceremony prior to first pitch, honoring the 11 members of the class of 2019 before their final game. Each one of them saw action on Sunday, and nine were in the starting lineup.

The Tritons continued an impressive offensive weekend to finish off a series sweep and will enter the CCAA Tournament as the top seed. The Pioneers wrap up with a final record of 22-28, closing the season with a seven-game win streak followed by a five-game losing streak.

The loss on Sunday was not for lack of offense, however. Senior Dakota Conners got it started in the third inning, crushing a three-run homer to left field. It got the Pioneers on the board and evened up the score at 3-3 at the time. 

Ryan McSwain knocked in senior Paul Bryniarski with a single in the fifth, then the Pioneers put together their largest rally of the day the following inning. A Triton defensive miscue helped as the Pioneers sent 10 batters to the plate, tallied five hits, and scored five runs in the sixth. McSwain had a two-run single in that frame, and Conners ripped an RBI double into the left field corner.

CSUEB hung three more on the scoreboard in the eighth in what would be their last scoring rally of the season. Kyosuke Ushimaru got things started off with a double, and Bryniarski and senior Joey Dice both lined run-scoring singles.

Unfortunately, the Tritons scored in each of the first eight innings. They hit five home runs and always seemed to have an answer no matter how many times the Pioneers battled back. The only inning with a zero on the board for UCSD was the ninth, in which senior Jordan Milligan closed out his career with a scoreless inning.

The Pioneers racked up 15 hits in the loss, and six players notched multi-hit games. Ushimaru went 3-for-6 to finish the year with a team-best .337 batting average. Conners tallied four RBI and six total bases. And Bryniarski had his best game of the season, going 2-for-3 with two RBI, two runs, and two walks.