April 25, 2009
Final Stats
BERKELEY -
The No. 15 California Golden Bears (31-15, 7-7 Pac-10) defeated the Oregon Ducks (15-28, 2-12 Pac-10) 7-2 Saturday afternoon at Levine-Fricke Field. Valerie Arioto drove in three runs for the Bears.
The Bears took advantage of four Oregon errors to earn their 31st victory of the season, drawing even at 7-7 in Pac-10 play.
The Bears worked to stretch three errors in the third inning into three runs. Freshman right fielder Elia Reid reached on an error by the first baseman who could not hold onto a throw from short. Reid stole second, putting herself in scoring position for junior second baseman Shannon Thomas, who reached on another error by the first baseman. Reid raced around from second to score on the play, with Thomas advancing to second as the Ducks threw home, trying to get Reid at the plate. Junior short stop Taylor Kelly had the Bears only clean hit of the inning, smashing a drive into left field, advancing Thomas to third. Kelly moved up to second on a sac bunt. Freshman center fielder Frani Echavarria grounded to second with a ball that should have ended the inning, but the Ducks second baseman threw the ball away, allowing Thomas to score and Kelly to race around from second to put the Bears up 3-0.
The Bears had a similar time in the fourth inning. After getting a quick two outs, the Ducks watched Kelly connect for her second hit of the game. Junior third baseman Verna Sevilla hit a ground ball to short that was misplayed, allowing both runners to advance. The next batter, Echavarria, hit a slow-roller through the infield that neither the first nor second baseman could get to, allowing her to reach first. As the two fielders lackadaisically picked up the ball, Kelly raced home from third to score another Bear run. Sophomore pitcher Valerie Arioto helped her own cause by lacing a single to center field to plate two more runs, giving the Bears a 6-0 lead.
The Ducks, who had been stymied at the plate, not getting their first hit in the game until the fifth inning, finally found their offensive stride in the sixth, plating a pair of runs on three hits. The Bears got one of the runs back in the bottom of the inning, after Thomas opened the frame legging out a single to short. She came around to score on a sac fly by Arioto.
The Ducks threatened again in the seventh inning. After getting two quick outs, Oregon had two on, one via a walk and the other a strong single through the left side. The Bears went to the pen, bringing in junior pitcher Marissa Drewrey to close out the game. Drewrey faced one batter, striking out a Duck pinch hitter to end the game.
Arioto earned the win, going 6.2 innings, allowing two runs on five hits, walking two, and striking out six. She improves to 14-5 on the season. She also had the only three RBI in the game for the Bears, going 1-for-3 at the plate. Taylor Kelly was a perfect 2-for-2 with two runs scored. She also drew a walk.
The two teams will wrap up their season series Sunday at 12 p.m. at Levine-Fricke Field.
