HAYWARD – The Cal State East Bay baseball team scored five runs, including a grand slam, in the first inning and Chico State was unable to recover from the early deficit as the Wildcats lost to the Pioneers 7-4 in the finale of the CCAA series Sunday.
 
The Wildcats (24-20, 18-17 CCAA) missed out on securing a berth to the upcoming CCAA Championship in two weeks over the weekend. They remain in fifth place in the standings with a .514 conference win percentage and trail San Francisco State by a half of a game after the Gators lost to Cal State LA on the other side of the bay.
 
Chico State, however, must watch the teams behind it as the Golden Eagles and Sonoma State are in a tie for sixth at 16-20 (.444). The Wildcats can still clinch a spot with a win in the series finale against the Seawolves at Nettleton Stadium. First pitch is on Thursday at 6 p.m.
 
East Bay (22-25, 14-21 CCAA) capitalized on the pitching mistakes by Nolan Meredith, who hit the first two batters, walked the cleanup hitter and then surrendered an RBI single followed by a two-out grand slam.
 
Troy Kent had three of the Wildcats' 10 hits on the day. He was one of two runners that scored on a single by Carson Stevens in the third inning that cut the deficit to three and in the ninth inning Kent hit a two-out RBI double to get to within three.
 
Four relievers were used in the game. Dylan Day went 1.2 innings, Joseph Loubert threw 1.1, Jeremy Keller carried most of the workload with 3.1 innings that includes four strikeouts, and Ryan Silvers pitched a shutout eighth inning.
 
On the other side, Pioneers ace Gabe Tanner picked up his CCAA-leading ninth win and was one out away from completing the game by himself. He struck out three batters and allowed 10 hits and two walks, all while throwing 135 pitches.