April 20, 2012
Box Score
BERKELEY -
Senior center fielder Chad Bunting hit two home runs and finished with five RBI, helping lead Cal baseball to a 9-4 victory over Pac-12 foe Utah Friday (April 20) afternoon at Evans Diamond. Sophomore right fielder Andrew Knapp also homered for the Golden Bears, who pounded out 17 hits. Sophomore left-hander Michael Theofanopoulos earned the win (5.1 innings, 10 hits, three runs, four walks, six strikeouts) to improve to 3-3, while junior right-hander Logan Scott earned his seventh save by throwing the final three innings (no hits, no runs, no walks, one strikeout).
Cal improved to 21-15 and 5-8 in conference play, winning its fourth game in the last five outings. Utah dropped to 10-26 overall and 5-11 in league.
Bunting had a two-run homer over the left field fence in the second inning after junior first baseman Mitch Delfino had reached base on an infield single off of Utah starter Joe Pond (2-7, 2.2 innings, nine hits, six runs). Junior left fielder Darrel Matthews followed with a bunt single and then scored on freshman shortstop Chris Paul's RBI double down the right field line.
Utah responded with a run in the top of the third inning on Trey Nielsen's RBI single through the middle of the infield off of Theofanopoulos, but the Bears exploded for three more runs in the bottom of the third. Knapp led off with a home run to right field. Delfino reach on another infield single and Bunting hit his second two-run homer of the day to left field.
Cal added a run in the fourth inning on Bunting's RBI bunt single, and two runs in the eighth inning on RBI singles for junior second baseman Tony Renda and Delfino.
Utah had gotten within 7-4 on a bases loaded walk and a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning, and a home run by Shaun Cooper in the seventh inning, before Scott held the Utes hitless in the last three innings.
Bunting and Delfino each had three hits on the day; while Knapp, Renda, Matthews and senior catcher Chadd Krist had two hits apiece. Krist hit a double down the left field line in the fourth inning for his 58th career double. He is now only three doubles away from tying Jon Zuber (61 doubles from 1989-92) for the Cal school record for career doubles.
The Bears next play Utah in the second game of the three-game series versus Utah, Saturday, April 21 at 1 p.m. at Evans Diamond. KNEW 960 AM, part of the IMG Sports Network, will broadcast the April 21 and April 22 Utah-Cal games, while Cal's student radio, KALX 90.7 FM, is broadcasting all three games of the series. Game time is 1 p.m. Sunday as well.
