March 13, 2009

Box Score

BERKELEY, CALIF. - Trailing 3-0, the Cal baseball team scored eight runs in the third inning and went on to defeat No. 24 Cal Poly, 12-8, Friday afternoon at Evans Diamond. The Golden Bears, behind three RBI days from juniors Blake Smith and Jeff Kobernus, improved to 9-5, while the Mustangs dropped to 9-4. The winning pitcher for the Bears was freshman right-hander Matt Flemer, who improved to 2-0 by throwing 5.0 innings with nine hits, four runs, no walks and three strikeouts. Smith excelled both at the plate and on the mound, going 2-for-4 with a two-run homer in the seventh inning. He also struck out the side in the top of the ninth inning to preserve Cal's win.

Second baseman Kobernus finished the day 2-for-4 and had a two-run double in the Bears' eight-run third inning. Another hot hitter for Cal was sophomore first baseman Mark Canha, who went 3-for-4 with an RBI and now leads the Bears with a .429 average. Freshman left fielder Danny Oh (2-for-4) and sophomore shortstop Brian Guinn (2-for-3, double, RBI) also had multiple hits for Cal, while senior third baseman Michael Brady had an RBI triple in the eighth inning. Every one of the Bears' starters got at least one hit, as both teams finished with 15 hits apiece.

Junior center fielder Brett Jackson kept his hitting streak alive with a single up the middle in the first inning. Jackson has now hit safely in all 14 of the Bears' games this season and is batting .424 overall.

The Mustangs had jumped out to a 3-0 lead with three runs in the top of the third inning, highlighted by Wes Dorrell's two-run homer off of Flemer. Cal Poly later got within 9-8 with four runs in the top of the seventh, but Cal pulled away on Smith's two-run homer in the bottom of the seventh inning and Brady's RBI triple in the eighth inning. The losing pitcher for the Mustangs was starter Jared Eskew (3-1, 2.1 innings, nine hits, eight runs, seven earned runs, two walks, one strikeout).

Cal will next host Cal Poly in the second game of the three-game series, Saturday, March 14 at 1 p.m. at Evans Diamond.

Home Runs:

Cal Poly: Wes Dorrell, two-run homer in the third inning.

Cal: Blake Smith, two-run homer in the seventh inning.