HAYWARD, Calif. — Cal State East Bay put together one of its most complete performances of the young season on Friday afternoon at Pioneer Baseball Field, overpowering Saint Martin's 13-4 behind an explosive start at the plate and another composed outing from AJ Gamboa. The Pioneers (7-5) seized control immediately and built a lead so commanding that the Saints never threatened to shift the momentum.
Gamboa opened the day by striking out the side in the top of the first, setting a sharp tone that carried into the bottom half of the inning. Marc DiCarlo doubled with one out, and Logan Stelling drove him in with a ringing RBI double to left-center. Two batters later, Gio Martini provided the first jolt of the afternoon, turning on a pitch and blasting a two‑run homer over the left-field wall—his second of the season—to give East Bay a 3-0 lead through one.
The game truly broke open in the bottom of the third, when a wave of Pioneer pressure mixed with a series of Saint Martin's mistakes turned a simple inning into an eight‑run onslaught. With one out, Dylan Unangst reached on an error, Martini walked, and Alijah Ramos reached on a second miscue to load the bases. Carson Cripe and Caleb Chance were both hit by pitches in back‑to‑back plate appearances, pushing two runs across.
The lineup contined the inning's onslaught. Nick Thomson smashed a two‑run double to right-center, and Dominick Najar followed with a run‑scoring double of his own to make it 8-0. DiCarlo lined an RBI single to bring home Najar, and Stelling punctuated the eruption with his first home run as a Pioneer—a towering blast to left that swelled the lead to 11-0 after three innings.
Saint Martin's briefly dented the scoreboard with a solo home run from Isaac Hoag in the fourth and later scored three in the seventh, but none of it made a dent in the outcome. East Bay added further separation in the eighth when Eli Hernandez scored on a wild pitch and DiCarlo lifted a sacrifice fly to restore a nine‑run cushion. The Pioneers closed out the final inning comfortably to secure the 13-4 win.
Gamboa earned the victory to move to 2-0 on the year after delivering six strong innings, scattering one earned run and striking out five with crisp command.
DiCarlo, Najar, and Stelling each collected three hits from the top of the lineup, repeatedly igniting the offense. Stelling finished with three RBIs, a double, and a home run while maintaining his team‑best .422 batting average—fifth in the CCAA entering Saturday. DiCarlo's two doubles bring his season total to seven, tying him for the second‑most in the conference. As a team, the Pioneers tallied six doubles in the victory.
Cal State East Bay and Saint Martin's continue the weekend series with a doubleheader on Friday beginning at 11 a.m., followed by game two at 2 p.m. at Pioneer Baseball Field in Hayward. The Pioneers look to extend their momentum as the series resumes.
