Feb. 25, 2011

Box Score

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - Led by the masterful pitching of senior right-hander Kevin Miller, two home runs from Chad Bunting and a homer by Danny Oh, the No. 17-ranked Cal baseball team shut out Coastal Carolina, 17-0, Friday (Feb. 25) at the Caravalle Resorts Tournament at BB&T Coastal Field in Myrtle Beach, S.C. The Golden Bears (3-1) pounded out 18 hits against the Chanticleers and limited Coastal Carolina to three hits.

Miller, who was a Freshman All-American in 2008, had a phenomenal game against a Coastal Carolina team that was 55-10 last season and advanced to a Super Regional before losing to eventual national champion South Carolina. He threw 7.1 innings of no-hit ball before yielding a double in the eighth inning. Miller finished the day throwing 7.1 shutout innings with one hit, no walks and 10 strikeouts.

On the year, Miller has now pitched 9.1 inning with two hits, no runs, one walk and 13 strikeouts. He earned a save in the Bears' season-opener Feb. 20 versus Utah in the first game of a doubleheader. It was Cal's second shutout of the season after defeating Utah, 7-0, in the season-opener.

The Bears scored six runs in the third inning off Coastal Carolina starter Anthony Meo (0-1, 5.0 innings, 10 hits, nine runs, one walk, six strikeouts) to take an early advantage. Cal had five hits in the third, highlighted by RBI singles by junior shortstop Marcus Semien, sophomore second baseman Tony Renda and sophomore first baseman Devin Rodriguez, and a three-run homer to left field by center fielder Bunting.

The Bears added three more runs in the fifth inning on a three-run homer by junior right fielder Danny Oh. Renda had started off the inning with a single up the middle, later junior catcher Chadd Krist walked and Oh ended up extending Cal's lead with an opposite field homer to left field by the left-handed hitter.

Cal added another run in the seventh inning on Bunting's RBI single through the left side and five runs in the eighth inning on Rodriguez's RBI single to left center field, Krist's sacrifice fly to left and Bunting's second three-run homer of the day. In the ninth inning, Renda added additional runs for the Bears with a two-run double in the top of the ninth for the final 17-0 win.

Bunting concluded his big day at the plate going 3-for-5 with two, three-run homers and a career-high seven RBI. Renda was 3-for-6 with three RBI and Rodriguez was 3-for-5 with two RBI. Senior Dwight Tanaka came off the bench to go 2-for-2 with a double.

"I think a key today was that we strung some hits together early against a pitcher (Anthony Meo) who could be a top draft pick in June," said Cal head coach David Esquer. "Then there was the pitching performance of Kevin Miller. He had outstanding control of his fastball and mixed up his pitches well. This is a good Coastal Carolina team that we played. We know we have to play well on the road to get to where we want to be at the end of the season, and we were able to do that today."

The Bears will next face North Carolina State at the Caravalle Resorts Tournament on Saturday, Feb. 26 at noon at BB&T Coastal Field. Cal wraps up the tournament playing Kansas State at 11 a.m. on Sunday, Feb. 27.