Feb. 27, 2011

Box Score

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - The No. 17-ranked Cal baseball team ended up sweeping its three games at the Caravalle Resorts Tournament, defeating Kansas State, 8-1, Sunday (Feb. 27) at BB&T Coastal Field in Myrtle Beach, S.C. The Golden Bears (5-1) only allowed one run in the three games in South Carolina, shutting out Coastal Carolina, 17-0, on Friday and shutting out North Carolina State, 4-0, on Saturday, to outscore their opponents, 29-1.

On Sunday, Cal produced a produced a 15-hit attack, led by junior catcher Chadd Krist (3-for-5, two doubles, two RBI) and junior center fielder Chad Bunting (3-for-5, double). Sophomore left-hander Justin Jones picked up his first victory of the year, throwing 7.0 innings with three hits, one runs, three walks and three strikeouts.

"This was an outstanding weekend for us," said Cal coach David Esquer. "We were able to defeat three NCAA regional caliber teams on the road. The key for us was our pitching and defense, and that was very encouraging to see. Our focus this year is to win games on the road and this weekend we had great contributions from everyone on the squad."

The Bears scored a run in the top of the first inning on an RBI double by sophomore first baseman Devon Rodriguez off Kansas State starter Levi Schlick (0-1, 4.1 innings, six hits, two earned runs, no walks, two strikeouts). The Wildcats answered with a run in the bottom of the first inning on a sacrifice fly, but that was the extent of the runs Cal gave up the entire weekend.

The Bears took the lead for good when junior shortstop Marcus Semien hit a two-run double in the fifth inning to give Cal a 3-1 advantage. The Bears added a run in the sixth inning on junior right fielder Danny Oh's RBI single, two runs in the seventh inning on sophomore second baseman Tony Renda's RBI single and Krist's RBI double, and two runs in the top of the ninth on another RBI single by Rodriguez and Krist's second RBI double.

Besides Krist and Bunting's three hits, Semien was 2-for-4 with two RBI and Rodriguez was 2-for-5 with two RBI.

Cal will remain on the road next week when it plays four games (University of San Diego, San Diego State, Oklahoma, Connecticut) at the San Diego Tournament, March 3-6 in San Diego.