HAYWARD, Calif. – Cal State East Bay baseball continued its CCAA series against Cal State Dominguez Hills on Saturday with a doubleheader at Pioneer Baseball Field. The Pioneers won game one 5-4 on a walk-off hit and won game two 3-2 to complete a doubleheader sweep and extend the current win streak to four games.
Game One – Cal East Bay 5, CSU Dominguez Hills 4
The Toros took an early 1-0 lead in top of the second inning on a Caleb Ellis single to left center that scored Emilio Barrera.
The Pioneers tied the game in the bottom of the fifth inning on a fielder's choice RBI by Trevor Munson that scored Jacob Froess to even the game at 1-1. The Pioneers broke the 1-1 tie bottom of the seventh inning on a Francisco Pedraza three-run home run, which was his team-leading ninth of the season.
However, In the top of the ninth inning, the Toros would tie the game with three runs – two coming on a Kevin Moscoso double to center field that scored Alberto Luevano and Matt Mecate and the tying run on a Eric Smelko RBI ground out to second base that scored Ellis.
Tied at 4-4, in the bottom of the ninth, Froess led off with a single, then reached scoring position after a bunt single by AJ Ruoco. With Munson at bat, both runners advanced a base on a passed ball. Then, Munson lifted a pitch into center field for an RBI single and Froess scored the winning run in walk-off fashion.
The win went to Ethan Brodsky for the Pioneers in game one who pitched 7.0 innings with a season-high 10 strikeouts. Froess led the Pioneers' offense going 3-for-4 with three runs scored, inclufing the game winner.
Game Two – Cal State East Bay 3, CSU Dominguez Hills 2 (7 innings)
The Pioneers got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the first on a leadoff solo shot by Francisco Pedraza for a 1-0 lead, which was his second of the day and 10th on the season.
In the bottom of the second, the Pioneers led 2-0 on a Donovan Bailey RBI single to left field that scored Ryan Maciel.
The Toros would cut the lead in half in the top of the third inning on a Scott Ogrin solo home run, his 16th of the season.
Pedraza added another RBI in the doubleheader with a single to center field that drove in Munson for a 3-1 lead.
Down to the final out with a runner on base, CSUDH loaded the bases in the top of the seventh with back-to-back singles, as the tying run was at second base. A wild pitch allowed Mecate to score and cut the CSUEB lead to 3-2. However, the final out followed and the Pioneers finish the day with a 3-2 win to sweep the doubleheader.
The win went to Mark Woinarowicz for the Pioneers, who pitched a complete game of 7.0 innings and struck out seven batters. Donovan Bailey went 2-for-2 with an RBI and Pedraza went 3-for-4 with a pair of RBIs.
Postgame quite from Cal State East Bay head coach Mike Cummins:
"Great team sweep. We did a really good job of executing the small ball game today. Great pitching performances by Brodsky and Woinarowicz."
The Pioneers look to sweep the Toros tomorrow when they host the series finale at 11 a.m. from Pioneer Baseball Field.
