TURLOCK -- As fitting an end as could be, the Cal State Stanislaus baseball team closed out the 2009 season Sunday where it began -- at Warrior Field -- where the team has dominated all season long, as 12 graduating seniors were honored during a 7-3 win over visiting Cal State Dominguez Hills in game one. The Warriors fell in the doubleheader, series and season finale, 11-2, to the Toros.

The doubleheader split ends the Warriors' season at 31-21 overall and 16-19 in California Collegiate Athletic Association play. The Warriors went 24-7 at Warrior Field in 2009, just one win shy of setting a new team record for home winning percentage. Cal State Dominguez Hills, who will play in the CCAA Championship Tournament next weekend in Palm Springs, ends the year at 34-19 overall and 23-13 in the CCAA.

Cal State Stanislaus has now won 30 or more games in three of the last four seasons (2006, 2008-09). The program has not enjoyed that kind of success since the late 70s when it won 30+ games for six straight seasons from 1975-80, and won 35 more in 1982 to make it seven of eight seasons with 30 or more wins. The Warriors won their only two national championships during that time, bringing home back-to-back NCAA Division III titles in 1976 and 1977.

All 12 Warriors seniors saw action Sunday. Senior Eric Federico started game one and pitched brilliantly in his final appearance as a Warrior, giving up one earned run on four hits while striking out nine in seven strong innings for the win, his fifth of the season and 15 of his career. Federico will leave Cal State Stanislaus in ninth place for career wins and with 170 strikeouts, will finish sixth all-time in career Ks.

The Warriors got on the board in the first inning of game one to take their first lead of the series. Senior Leandro Dottavio knocked in senior Kyle Loretelli with a groundout and an RBI double by senior Joseph Pilatti knocked in senior Jacob Thelen as the Warriors took an early 2-0 lead. They would add an unearned run in the second to go up 3-0 while Federico was dealing.

With a leadoff double in the bottom of the eighth, Loretelli tied the career doubles record at Cal State Stanislaus with 42, evening him up with Adam Hilpert who played at Cal State Stanislaus from 1986-88. Loretelli set the single season record for doubles last season with 28. He will leave the Warriors' program with records in single season doubles, career homeruns (26) and total bases in a season (142, 2008). Loretelli's agressiveness at the plate will also show through his strikeouts in a single season record (60, 2008) and career strikeouts record (103).

After going 2-for-7 in Sunday's doubleheader, Loretelli wrapped up his career with his name among a myriad of career top 10 lists, including: Batting average (.347), slugging percentage (.660), hits (140), runs scored (98), RBIs (100), doubles, homeruns, total bases (266), hit-by-pitch (25) and strikeouts.

The Warriors would get three more unearned runs in the bottom of the sixth and a pinch-hit solo homerun off the bat of Zach Cadet would account for the rest of Cal State Stanislaus' runs in game one.

Thelen was 2-for-5 in game one, and he, too, ended his career Sunday at Cal State Stanislaus with some of the best numbers of all time at the school. His 29 career doubles and 10 career triples place him about midway up the career list, and his 31 career stolen bases at Cal State Stanislaus is good enough for 11th-best all time, just off the top 10 list.

In game two, Cal State Dominguez Hills reasserted its dominance in the series by scoring four runs in the first inning, the final two coming by way of a two-run homerun off the bat of Paul Klingsberg that went over the tall manual scoreboard in right-center field. The Toros would score two runs in each of the next three innings to take a commanding 10-2 lead and never look back.

The Warriors committed five errors in game two, which led to five unearned runs. The loss went to senior Andrew Troncale, who gave up eight runs, four earned, in three innings. The Warriors mustered just two runs on three hits in their season finale, while the Toros pounded out 12 hits and took advantage of every mistake. Seniors Matt Costa and Josh Lewis pitched two innings each in relief of Troncale

Cal State Stanislaus stranded 40 baserunners during the weekend's four-game series against Cal State Dominguez Hills, including 22 on Saturday, where the Warriors lost two games by a total of three runs.

Game one box score
Game two box score