Box Score LOS ANGELES – Cal State L.A.'s baseball team made sure a lot of extra effort didn't go for naught Friday in the opener of a four-game California Collegiate Athletic Association series against Cal State East Bay.
 
The Golden Eagles pushed across the winning run with two outs in the 12^th inning to edge the Pioneers, 5-4, at Reeder Field. Cal State L.A. (22-13, 19-6 CCAA) got an outstanding relief performance from Ryan Cooperstone and a clutch two-out rally in the final inning.
 
After two quick outs, James Wharton lined a single to right field and moved to second on a walk to Cody Doyle. Tyler Christian followed with a sharp grounder deep in the hole at short that went off the glove of shortstop Zac Chuvala and into left field as Wharton steamed home with the winning run.
 
The game featured outstanding pitching from both sides. Cal State L.A.'s Jordan Sechler went seven innings and gave up 11 hits and four runs, while Cal State East Bay starter Matt Fontaine went eight innings and gave up 10 hits and four runs.
 
The bullpens were outstanding as well as Cooperstone allowed only four hits in five scoreless innings. He didn't walk a batter and struck out four to get his first win of the season.
 
Ben O'Bryan allowed just the unearned run in the 12^th inning in 3 2/3 innings of strong relief for Cal State East Bay. He gave up three hits, walked two and struck out four.
 
Jeremy Weber had three hits to pace a 14-hit attack for Cal State L.A., while Kyle Zozaya and David Elzig had three hits each to pace a 15-hit attack for Cal State East Bay (24-11, 14-11 CCAA).
 
Of the 29 hits in the game, only six went for extra bases. Zozaya, Jordan Wilder, Brandon Alexander and David Elzig had doubles for the Pioneers, while Weber and Cooperstone had doubles for the Golden Eagles.
 
The Golden Eagles struck early and had a 3-0 lead after two innings. Scott Masik singled and scored on a groundout by Wharton and Doyle singled home Weber to make it 2-0 in the first, while a run-scoring single by Casey Ryan made it 3-0.
 
Cal State East Bay got two runs in the third on a run-scoring single by Zozaya and a run-scoring double by Alexander and tied it at 3-3 in the fifth on a run-scoring single by Elzig.
 
The Golden Eagles regained the lead in the bottom of the fifth on a sacrifice fly by Wharton that drove in Masik, but Cal State East Bay tied it in the seventh on a two-out single by David Castillo.
 
Both teams threatened after that, but came up empty until the 12^th. O'Bryan stranded a runner at third with one out in the ninth with a strikeout and grounder and then got out of a first-and-third with two out jam in the 10^th.
 
Cooperstone, meanwhile, got out of a two-on, one-out jam in the 10^th and left a runner at third base in the 11^th.
 
Cal State L.A. will return to action on Saturday with a doubleheader against Cal State East Bay at Reeder Field beginning at 1 p.m.