Feb. 25, 2012

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Box Score

Junior designated hitter Vince Bruno led off the top of the 10th inning with a triple to left center field off of Long Beach State reliever Josh Frye, and then scored on senior center fielder Chad Bunting's sacrifice fly to left field to lead Cal baseball to a 2-1 victory over Long Beach State Saturday night (Feb. 25) at Blair Field in Long Beach. Junior right-hander Logan Scott earned the win (2-0) for the Golden Bears, pitching the final 3.0 innings with one hit, no runs, no walks and two strikeouts.

Cal improved to 4-1 on the season and received another impressive start from senior right-hander Matt Flemer, who threw 7.0 innings with two hits, one unearned run, two walks and four strikeouts. Flemer had thrown 8.0 innings in his Feb. 18 start at Pacific after being the Bears' closer last season. Bruno, sophomore first baseman and junior left fielder Darrel Matthews had two hits apiece for Cal. Bruno also doubled for the Bears.

The Bears and the 49ers will play the rubber match of the three-game series, Sunday, Feb. 26 at 1 p.m. at Blair Field. Long Beach State had won Friday's contest, 7-4, to open the series.

In Saturday's contest it was a pitching dual between Flemer and the 49ers' starter Matt Anderson (6.0 innings, four hits, no runs, two walks, three strikeouts) with neither team scoring until the bottom of the sixth inning when Long Beach State's Matt Duffy reached base on Cal shortstop Derek Campbell's error and eventually scored on Juan Avila's RBI single.

The Bears immediately answered back with a run in the top of the seventh inning to tie the game when junior third baseman Mitch Delfino led off the inning with a double, was sacrificed to third base on a Campbell bunt and scored on Matthews' RBI single to left field.

Cal's pitching was impressive, limiting Long Beach State to only three hits. The Bears finished with nine hits, including three extra-base hits off of five different 49er pitchers.