March 22, 2000

Box Score

BERKELEY - Timely hitting and outstanding pitching propelled fifth-ranked California to 5-1 and 6-0 victories over Cal Poly Wednesday afternoon at Levine-Fricke Field. The Golden Bears improved to 36-4 overall, while the Mustangs dropped to 10-13.

"I thought we played pretty well today," said Cal head coach Diane Ninemire. "We did have too many errors in the infield. We won't be able to get away with that against Stanford this weekend.

"Our pitching did a nice job today with Nicole throwing a no hitter. Heading into this weekend, we have to continue to work on our defense and keep our bats sharp."

In the opener, third baseman Candace Harper went two-for-two from the plate and drove in three runs to lead the Bears to victory. In the two games, Harper went 5-for-6 with four RBIs. She helped Cal jump out to a 2-0 lead, which it never relinquished, by driving in Pauline Duenas in the first and third innings with a single in the first and a sacrifice fly in the third.

Cal Poly cut the deficit to 2-1 in the fourth after Cal center fielder Amber Phillips lost a Jackie Wayland high fly ball in the sun, driving in Christie Wells. Bear pitcher Joselyn Forest went the distance, giving up five hits and striking out 10 batters. Two of the strikeouts came in the fifth inning with Cal clinging to a 2-1 lead and Cal Poly having runners on second in third with one out. The Bears added two insurance runs in the fifth and one in the sixth innings.

In the second game, Nicole DiSalvio (4 1/3 innings) and Jennifer Deering (2 2/3 innings) combined for a no hitter, and the Bear bats rocked the Mustang pitchers for 13 hits. The Bears got all of the scoring they would need with two runs in the first innings. First baseman Veronica Nelson jumpstarted the Bears with two outs and nobody on base when she belted her Cal record 12th home run of the season. With the Bears up 2-0 in the fourth, right fielder Paige Bowie drove in three runs with a bases loaded double.

Cal opens Pac-10 play at home against Stanford, March 25, at 1 p.m.

Softball Results
Cal vs. Cal Poly Double Header

Game 1
Cal Poly		000	100	0	--	1	5	2
California	        101	021	-	--	5	7	0
W - Forest 16-2. L - Blankenbeckler 6-6.

Game 2
Cal Poly		000	000	0	--	0	0	0
California	        200	301	-	--	6	13	1
W - DiSalvio 12-2. L - Del Rio 4-6.

Records
California	36-4
Cal Poly	10-13