March 29, 2011

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SAN FRANCISCO -

The No. 13 California Golden Bears pitching dominance continued as starter Kevin Miller led the Bears to a 4-0 road victory against the San Francisco Dons. Miller struck out a career-high 15 in the Bears fourth shutout in the last five games.

The Bears got all the offense they would need in the first inning. After a lead-off walk to sophomore right fielder Vince Bruno, a double to left from junior catcher Chadd Krist scored Bruno. Sophomore first baseman Devon Rodriguez tripled to score Krist, giving Cal the 2-0 lead.

Senior right-hander Kevin Miller took the mound and took over the game. Miller had 15 strikeouts in the game. He struck out all but one of the Dons hitters at least once. He struck out six straight batters during the second and third innings. He had seven batters he struck out looking and eight swinging. Miller's previous career-high for strikeouts was 10 which he set earlier this season against Coastal Carolina. Miller allowed just one hit, in the first inning. He walked three. He lowered his season ERA to 0.48.

Miller flirted with the record for strikeouts in a game, but came up short. The Cal record for a strikeouts in a single game is 19, set by Larry Colton in the 1963 season.

Junior right-hander Matt Flemer came into the game to pitch the ninth inning and locked down the shutout.

The shutout was Cal's fourth in the last five games. It also extended Cal's win streak to seven games. The Bears have won 11 of their last 12 games.

The Bears hitters had five extra-base hits among the nine hits in the game, including ninth-inning doubles from sophomore third baseman Matt Delfino and senior designated hitter Austin Booker that plated Cal's fourth run of the game.

The Bears (17-5, 3-0 Pac-10) will be back at Evans Diamond this weekend, hosting USC (9-15, 1-2 Pac-10) April 1-3.