Tritons Power Past Pioneers in Series Opener

LA JOLLA, Calif. -- The Cal State East Bay baseball team dropped the opener of its four-game California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) road series at UC San Diego on Thursday under the lights at Triton Ballpark, as UCSD pulled away to win by a final score of 25-2.

The loss drops the Pioneers a game below the .500 mark at 13-14 for the season.

The Tritons needed just 16 hits to tally their 25 runs, as they scored in bunches. The home team hit six home runs against Pioneer pitching, including a pair of grand slams.

UCSD also took advantage of three East Bay defensive errors, which led to three unearned runs in the first off starter Andrew Fernandez and three unearned in the fourth off Ransome Alexander.

Alexander pitched a scoreless third, and freshman Stas Kuntz retired the side in order in the seventh, but the Tritons scored multiple runs in each of the other six innings.

Offensively, the Pioneers totaled seven hits. They scored their first run in the second inning on singles by Dallas Dey and Kyosuke Ushimaru and an RBI ground out by Jacob Eder. They picked up their second run in the ninth on a single by Nolan Jekich and an RBI double by Matt Cantelme.

Jekich was the only CSUEB player to reach base twice in the game, going 1-for-1 with a walk in two plate appearances off the bench.