HAYWARD, Calif. – On Friday afternoon, the Cal State East Bay baseball team won the series opener against Cal State Dominguez Hills, 6-3 from Pioneer Baseball Field. 

The Pioneers scored first in the bottom of the second inning with a pair of runs – one on an RBI groundout off the bat of Jacob Froess that scored Matthew O'Mahony and one on a wild pitch that allowed Ryan Maciel to score for a 2-0 lead.

The Toros cut the lead in half in the top of the fifth inning on an Eric Smelko single to left field to drive in Emilio Barrera.

In the bottom of the fifth, Cal State East Bay added two runs – one on a Francisco Pedraza single to center field that scored Trevor Munson and one on a Luke Novitske double to center field that scored Pedraza for a 4-1 lead.

In the sixth inning, the two teams traded runs. Although the Toros scored on an Alberto Luevano solo home run, the Pioneers countered with an RBI ground out to the shortstop by Donovan Bailey that allowed Maciel to score giving the Pioneers a 5-2 lead.

In the top of the seventh, Emilio Barrera led off with a solo home run. 

Cal State East Bay added a run in the bottom of the eighth on an RBI single that scored Froess for a 6-3 lead. 

Anthony Perez got the win for the Pioneers with six strikeouts while allowing four hits. Samuel Esparza and O'Mahony went 2-for-4 for the Pioneers.  

The Pioneers and Toros meet on Saturday for a CCAA doubleheader with the first game starting at noon followed by game two at 3 p.m. from Pioneer Baseball Field.