March 20, 2011

Box Score

BERKELEY - Led by a complete-game from junior right-hander Dixon Anderson and a 14-hit attack, the No. 15-ranked California baseball team won game two of a doubleheader over Ohio State, 11-1, Sunday (March 20) at Evans Diamond. The Golden Bears (12-5) had shut out the Buckeyes (6-7), 4-0, in an earlier game Sunday that was the conclusion of a game that had been suspended due to rain on Saturday.

In game two, Cal had scored in each of the first four innings, and then tacked on four runs in the sixth inning and another run in the eighth. Meanwhile, Ohio State only run came on an unearned run in the top of the ninth inning. Anderson was extremely impressive, registering his first collegiate complete game by throwing 9.0 innings with three hits, no earned runs, two walks and six strikeouts.

At the plate in game two, junior shortstop Marcus Semien was 2-for-3 with a two-run homer and an RBI double, sophomore first baseman Devin Rodriguez was 2-for-4 with a solo home run and an RBI double, while sophomore center fielder Darrel Matthews was a perfect 3-for-3. Sophomore left fielder Vince Bruno (2-for-4, double, RBI) and freshman third baseman Derek Campbell (2-for-2, RBI) also had multiple hits for the Bears.

In game one Sunday, sophomore left-hander Justin Jones replaced Saturday starter Erik Johnson and threw 8.0 shutout innings with five hits, three walks and four strikeouts to improve his record to 2-1.

In the second inning in Sunday's first game, Semien knocked in a two-run double off of Buckeye reliever Greg Greve (6.0 innings, three hits, two runs, three walks, four strikeouts), who had replaced Friday OSU starter Dean Wolosiansky (1-2, 1.0 inning, no earned runs, three walks).

Cal scored its original runs in the bottom of the first inning Saturday when junior catcher Chadd Krist placed a hard-hit ball past Ohio State third baseman Matt Streng, allowing Bruno and Semien to score. Bruno had led off the inning with a single to center field off Wolosiansky, before Wolosiansky walked Semien and sophomore second baseman Tony Renda to load the bases.

Bruno led Cal with two hits in game one versus the Buckeyes.

The Bears host Nevada on Monday, March 21 at 2:30 p.m. at Evans Diamond, before starting Pac-10 play with a three-game series versus Washington State, March 25-27 at Evans Diamond.

"Our team played well today," said Cal coach David Esquer. "It was hard to deal with all the rain this weekend, but we were able to get two great pitching performances and we were able to score runs under tough conditions. We have had a diverse pre-conference schedule competing against teams from different conferences. We have played a bunch of strong teams, which will help us prepare against even stronger competition within our conference."