April 25, 2009

Box Score

BERKELEY, CALIF. - The California baseball team came back from a 5-1 deficit by scoring five runs in the fourth inning and then got standout relief pitching, upending No. 2-ranked Arizona State, 10-6, Saturday afternoon at Evans Diamond. The winning pitcher was junior left-hander Chris Petrini, who entered the game in the first inning (2-3, 4.2 innings, six hits, two runs, two walks, three strikeouts) and sophomore right-hander Brian Diemer earned his first collegiate save (3.2 innings, three hits, one run, no walks, five strikeouts). Junior center fielder Brett Jackson (3-for-5, triple, two RBI) and freshman right fielder Danny Oh (3-for-5, RBI) had three hits apiece, while sophomore first baseman Mark Canha was 2-for-3 with four RBI and junior designated hitter Blake Smith was 2-for-5 with a home run and two RBI. The Golden Bears, who pounded out 16 hits, improved to 19-21 overall and 6-11 in the Pac-10. The Sun Devils dropped to 30-9 overall and 14-3 in the conference.

The two teams will play the rubber match on Sunday as ASU defeated Cal, 3-1, on Friday. It will be the first time this season the Sun Devils will be playing a third game to determine a conference series. The Bears also gave standout ASU left-hander Josh Spence his first loss of the season (8-1, 3.1 innings, nine hits, six runs, four walks, four strikeouts).

The Sun Devils had scored three runs in the top of the first inning off of Cal's freshman right-hander Dixon Anderson on RBI singles by Kole Calhoun and Matt Newman, and an RBI ground out by Zack McPhee. Cal answered with a run in the second inning on a two-out RBI single by Jackson. .

ASU extended its lead to 5-1 with a run in the third inning on Newman's lead-off home run, and a run in the top of the fourth inning on Jason Kipnis' sacrifice fly to center field.

But the Bears exploded for five runs in the bottom of the fourth inning to take a 6-5 lead, highlighted by a two-run single by Canha, an RBI double by junior second baseman Jeff Kobernus, and RBI single by Smith and an RBI single by Oh. Cal added an insurance run in the fifth inning when sophomore left fielder Dwight Tanaka led-off with a double and eventually scored on Canha's sacrifice fly to right field. The Bears added two runs in the seventh inning when freshman catcher Chadd Krist led-off with a single and scored on Jackson's RBI triple, and Jackson went on to score on Canha's two-out single to right field.

Cal got its 10th run when Smith hit his ninth homer of the season to lead off the bottom of the eighth inning. Meanwhile, Diemer was superb, coming into the game in the sixth inning and getting Carlos Ramirez and Calhoun to strikeout with runners on second and third base. He then earned his first collegiate save by only yielding a solo home run to Newman and striking out five Sun Devils.

Cal will next host ASU in the third game of the three-game Pac-10 series on Sunday, April 26 at 1 p.m. at Evans Diamond.

Home Runs:

Arizona State: Matt Newman, solo home run in the third inning. Matt Newman, solo home run in the ninth inning.

Cal: Blake Smith, solo home run in the eighth inning.