IRVINE, Calif. — No. 17 Cal State East Bay continued a strong opening weekend Saturday at Great Park, earning a pair of wins on the second day of the Concordia Kickoff Classic. The Pioneers edged Vanguard 3-2 in the opener before riding timely offense and dominant pitching to a 5-0 shutout of Hawai'i Pacific, improving to 3-1 on the young season.

Game One — No. 17 Cal State East Bay 3, Vanguard 2
Cal State East Bay struck first and maintained control throughout a tightly contested opener against Vanguard.

Rylee Gomez led off the second inning with a walk, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and moved to third on a single by Isabel Mercado. Sarissa Block followed with an RBI single to bring home Gomez and give the Pioneers an early 1-0 lead.

Gomez set the table again in the fourth, opening the inning with a single. Mercado delivered once more, driving a triple into the gap to score Gomez and extend the lead to 2-0.

Vanguard answered with a run in the bottom of the fourth, but East Bay responded immediately in the fifth. Jeslyn Cuellar led off with a triple and scored on a sacrifice fly by Jennavee Campos to restore a two-run cushion.

The Lions made one final push in the bottom of the seventh, scoring a run to cut the deficit to one. After the tying run reached, the Pioneers secured the final out to close out the 3-2 win. Marissa Quintero earned the victory in relief, working 3.1 innings and allowing one run with one strikeout.

Game Two — No. 17 Cal State East Bay 5, Hawai'i Pacific 0
The Pioneers carried momentum into the nightcap, capitalizing on defensive miscues and pairing them with outstanding pitching to blank Hawai'i Pacific.

Jasmyn Morales reached on an error to lead off the second inning and scored when Porto doubled to give East Bay a 1-0 lead. Later in the inning, Block tripled and drove in Porto to make it 2-0.

East Bay added another run in the third after Campos reached on an error and eventually scored on an RBI single by Morales. The Pioneers broke the game open in the fifth, loading the bases before Mercado lifted a sacrifice fly to score Campos. Macie Mead followed with an RBI single to cap the scoring at 5-0.

In the circle, Jaidyn Gamble and Ally Fuentes combined on a one-hitter, shutting down the Sharks from start to finish. Gamble earned the win and improved to 1-1 on the season as East Bay completed the shutout and moved to 3-1 overall.

All five runs in the second game were unearned, with errors factoring into each scoring sequence. Mercado turned in a strong opening game at the plate with three hits against Vanguard, while Porto collected two hits in the win over Hawai'i Pacific. East Bay pitching dominated throughout the day, highlighted by the one-hit shutout in the nightcap.

Cal State East Bay closes out the Concordia Kickoff Classic on Sunday, Feb. 1, with an 11:30 a.m. matchup against Chaminade at Great Park in Irvine as the Pioneers look to build on a strong opening weekend.