Jan. 25, 2000

Box Score

BERKELEY, CA - The California baseball team opened the 2000 season on a strong note as the Golden Bears defeated visiting San Francisco, 9-5, Tuesday in the season-opener at Evans Diamond. Cal goes to 1-0 under first-year head coach David Esquer, who replaced long-time head coach Bob Milano in June. San Francisco goes to 0-1 after losing a game that was originally scheduled to be played at USF, but was switched to Cal because of field conditions.

The game was tightly contested as the Bears jumped to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the second on a two-run triple by Jason Williams off of Dons starter John Herbert. Williams later scored on a passed ball by USF catcher Rigo Lopez. The Dons were able to come back by scoring a run in the top of the third inning on an RBI single by Jared Carvalho, and then scored on a wild pitch and a ground out RBI by Pat Walsh to tie the score 3-3 in the top of the fourth.

Cal again took the lead in the bottom of the fourth on a lead-off home run by Rob Meyer and a sacrifice fly by Xavier Nady. Again USF came back and was able to tie the game 5-5 in the top of the fifth on an RBI double by Dustin Delucchi and a sacrifice fly by Taggert Bozied.

Finally the Bears were able to put the game away by scoring three times in the bottom of the fifth on a RBI single by Meyer and a key two-run double by Tommy Callen. Cal added an insurance run in the sixth inning with a solo home to right field by Clint Hoover.

The winning pitcher for the Bears was sophomore Trevor Hutchinson, who threw 5.0 innings with six hits, three earned runs, three walks and two strikeouts. The losing pitcher for San Francisco was reliever Phil Polanco, who came in in the fourth inning and pitched 1.7 innings with three hits, three runs, three walks and three strikeouts. Senior Brad Steele did an outstanding job in relief for Cal, replacing Hutchinson in the sixth inning and pitching 3.0 innings with one hit, no runs, one walk and one strikeout.

Leading hitter for the Bears was Meyer, who went 4-for-5 with a home run and two RBI. Williams, Hoover and senior designated hitter Sam Petke (2-for-3, double) each had two hits for Cal. Carvalho and Delucchi had two hits apiece for the Dons.

"I had mentioned to the team that the conditions weren't ideal, but that they needed to come out ready to play and they were," said Esquer, who came to Cal after stints as an assistant coach at Stanford and Pepperdine. "If we can continue to win games when Nady and Tonis aren't hitting then we are going to be okay because they are going to get their hits. Effort-wise, I was real pleased with our performance."

Cal will next travel to Santa Clara, Wednesday, Mar. 2 at 2 p.m. at Buck Shaw Stadium.

Home Runs: San Francisco: None.

Cal: Meyer, solo home run in the fourth. Hoover, solo home run in the sixth.