HAYWARD, Calif. – Sunday marked a series finale between Cal State East Bay baseball and Saint Martin's at Pioneer Baseball Field. The Pioneers held off rallies in the eighth and ninth innings by the Saints to take Sunday's game, 6-5, to split the non-conference series.

The Saints took a quick 1-0 lead in the top of the second on a leadoff solo home run from Evan Nicol, but the Pioneers equalized in the bottom half of the frame. With the bases loaded and no outs, Carson Cripe grounded into a double play, but the at-bat proved to be productive at the same time as Dylan Unangst crossed the plate with the tying run.

East Bay (8-7) broke through in the bottom of the sixth. After Marc DiCarlo Jr and Logan Stelling reached base, Unangst bunted for a single, and an error to follow allowed DiCarlo to score the go-ahead run. The rally continued in the inning, as Gio Martini hit an RBI single to drive home Stelling and two batters later, Cripe hit another productive groundball, an RBI groundout to give the Pioneers a 4-1 lead.

SMU climbed within one by scoring a pair of runs in the top of the eighth, but the Pioneers answered with two of their own. A passed ball allowed Stelling to score and an RBI single from Cristian Angulo drove in Unangst for a 6-3 lead.

But the Saints did not go down easily in the top of the ninth. With the bases loaded and one out, Bransyn Hong hit an RBI single, then Dillon Andres hit a sacrifice fly RBI to bring SMU within a run. But the game ended on a flyball to center field, as the Pioneers staved off a rally for a 6-5 win on Sunday.

In 2.1 innings of relief, Noah Zirkle improved to 1-1 on the season. Lincoln Juarez picked up his second save of the season.

Unangst went 2-for-3 with a double and three runs scored. Martini also had two hits.   

The 2026 CCAA slate for the Pioneers begins on the road this coming Friday with the conference opener at Stanislaus State. First pitch is set for 6 p.m. from Warrior Baseball Field in Turlock.