March 14, 2008

Box Score

Sacramento - Aided by a Sanoe Kekahuna grand slam in the bottom of the fourth inning, the California Golden Bears opened up the 2008 Capital Classic with a commanding 11-2 win over the Princeton Tigers on Friday morning.

This was the second game in a row that a Cal player has hit a grand slam (Shannon Houston hit one against Sacramento State on Tuesday at Levine-Fricke Field).

Cal (21-9) takes on Northern Colorado later today at 3:00 p.m. The Bears have won eight of their last nine games and 13 of their last 15 since Feb. 23.

Kekahuna, who has seven round-trippers on the season, finished the game by going 2-for-3 with six RBI, raising her RBI total to 38 - 20 away from tying the single-season school record held by Haley Woods in 2005. Gina Leomiti tallied two hits on two plate appearances with a pair of runs and three RBI, while Julie Meyer hit her third home run of the season - a two-run shot also in the fourth inning.

Senior Erika Racklin tied Vicki Galindo's career record in stolen bases (61) after a pair of thefts against the Tigers as well today. Her 61 steals now ranks No. 2 all-time in program history (Keri Kropke ranks No. 1 with 74 stolen bases).

Sophomore Brittany LaRosa earned her sixth win in the circle, allowing two runs on three hits and a season-high six strikeouts. LaRosa has 12 strikeouts in her last two outings.

The Tigers jumped out to an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning on a solo home run, before Cal responded in the bottom half of the stanza with a run to know the score at 1-1. Racklin, who reached on a fielder's choice, stole second and third base, before crossing home plate on a Leomiti RBI single down the right field line.

Cal added three more runs in the third inning, including a big two-run base knock by Kekahuna which scored both Leomiti and Racklin, giving the Bears a 4-1 advantage.