HAYWARD, Calif. – A three-game non-conference series started Friday at Pioneer Baseball field between Cal State East Bay Baseball and Academy of Art and continued into Saturday. The series opened with a 13-8 win for the Pioneers. In game two though, the Urban Knights won 13-5. To decide the series, the Pioneers defeated ART U on Saturday, 7-6 in 10 innings.
Cal State East Bay 13, ART U 8 - Friday
Both teams were even throughout the first two innings at 4-4, but the bats for the Pioneers continued to produce in the next three innings for a 13-4 lead after five innings. All runs for the Pioneers were scored through the first five innings of action.
ART U scored four in the sixth, but relief pitching held the Urban Knights scoreless in the final three innings, as the Pioneers cruised to a 13-8 win to open the series.
Ethan Brodsky picked up his first win of the season with 5.2 innings on the mound allowing four earned runs and striking out seven. With three innings of work,
Tristin Tatum picked up his first save of the season.
ART U 13, Cal State East Bay 5 (7 innings) - Friday
After two scoreless innings, ART U scored four in the top of the third to begin a stretch of five innings in which the Urban Knights scored in each.
The Pioneers scored a run in the third and fifth inning, and in the bottom of the seventh, added three, but was well short of what was needed to come back, as ART U took game two, 13-5.
Cal State East Bay 7, ART U 6 - Saturday
An error by the Urban Knights allowed
Essex Brown Jr. and
Luke Brown to score the first run of the game in the bottom of the first inning for an early 2-0 lead.
ART U got one run back in the top of the fifth, but in the bottom of the inning, Brown Jr. scored his second run of the game on a sacrifice fly RBI from
Luke Novitske.
The next four runs were scored by the Urban Knights to lead 5-3 through seven innings.
In the bottom of the eighth, Novitske delivered a single to drive in two runs, as the game was tied 5-5.
Without a run in the ninth inning, the game went to the 10th inning. ART U went ahead 6-5 on an RBI single from Peter Torres.
Needing a run to prolong the game, Novitske picked up his fourth RBI, as he drove in
Samuel Esparza for the tying run in the bottom of the seventh. With Novitske and
Manny Garcia on base,
Luke Brown was intentionally walked to load the bases.
Matthew O'Mahony hit a single for the game winning RBI, as the Pioneers took the series finale, 7-6.
As a relief pitcher, Tatum picked up his first win of the season on the mound.
- Essex Brown Jr., Manny Garcia, Luke Brown, Cole Coffey and Novitske had two hits each in game one.
- Brown Jr. finished with three RBIs, while Garcia and Coffey had two each in the first game.
- In the fourth inning of game one, Coffey hit the first home run of the season for the Pioneers, a two-run shot.
- In game two, entering as a pinch hitter, Robert Ellwanger went 2-for-2 with a pair of RBIs.
- Novitske went 3-for-5 in the third game, with four RBIs.
Cal State East Bay: 6-4
Academy of Art: 3-5
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UP NEXT FOR CAL STATE EAST BAY |
CCAA action in 2023 for the Pioneers begins on Friday, February 24 when they open a four game series at San Francisco State. It will also be the first road game for Cal State East Bay this season. First pitch is set for 2 p.m. from Maloney Field on the SF State campus.
