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HAYWARD, Calif. (Feb. 6) -- Junior Joe Castro (Union City, Calif./James Logan HS) was 1 for 4 and scored a pair of runs and the Central Washington University pitching staff allowed just four earned runs, but the Wildcat baseball team suffered its fourth straight loss, 12-2, to California State University East Bay on Wednesday afternoon at Pioneer Field.

The Wildcats (0-4) were swept in the four-game series by the Pioneers, and will try to break into the win column as they open a four-game set at California State University Monterey Bay beginning Thursday at 2 p.m.

Castro scored the game's first run in the top of the first after leading off the game with a single. Four batters later, senior Justin Peterson (Tacoma/Life Christian Academy) drove him home with a bases-loaded RBI single to give CWU a 1-0 lead.

The lead was short-lived for senior Randy Button (Allyn/North Mason HS), as the CWU defense committed two errors behind him defensively in the bottom of the inning. The Pioneers capitalized, scoring four unearned runs and taking a sizeable 4-1 lead into the second inning.

Neither team scored again until the fourth, when errors once again became a factor as CSUEB scored a pair of unearned tallies to extend its lead. The Pioneers didn't score the first earned run of the game -- by either team -- until the bottom of the fifth. CWU had scored a single run in the top of the inning as Castro came home on a wild pitch after reaching on an error.

Cal State East Bay scored twice each in the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh innings to turn the final margin into a 10-run differential.

CWU, who was outscored 28-8 in the four-game series, managed just five hits. Junior Joel Johnson (Olympia) was the lone player with more than one hit in Wednesday's contest, going 2 for 4.

Each team finished the game with five errors and double-digit totals for runners left on base, as CWU stranded 10 and Cal State East Bay left 11 on base.

Button (0-1), the first of five Wildcat pitchers on the day, suffered the loss despite not allowing an earned run in 3 1/3 innings of work. Zachary Wong was credited with the win for Cal State East Bay, earning his second relief victory in the series.

CWU visits Cal State Monterey Bay (3-0) in Seaside, Calif., for single games on Thursday (Feb. 7) and Friday (Feb. 8), with a doubleheader on Saturday (Feb. 9).