May 4, 2012
Box Score
PULLMAN, WASH. -
Cal took a 3-2 lead in the third inning on a home run by sophomore right fielder Andrew Knapp and an RBI ground out by senior catcher Chadd Krist, but Washington State responded with five runs in the bottom of the third on the way to a 10-4 victory over the Golden Bears Friday night (May 4) at Bailey-Brayton Field in Pullman, Wash.
Cal lost its fourth game in-a-row to drop to 23-19 overall and 7-12 in the Pac-12. The Cougars improved to 23-18 and 9-9 in league play.
The Bears had started the evening's scoring with a run in the top of the first inning off of WSU freshman right-hander Tanner Chleborad (4-1, 5.0 innings, four hits, three runs, two earned runs, four walks, three strikeouts). Junior designated hitter Vince Bruno led-off the inning with a single to left field. Junior second baseman Tony Renda advanced Bruno to second base with a one-out single to center field, and both Bruno and Renda moved up a base on Chleborad's wild pitch. Junior first baseman Mitch Delfino then scored Bruno with a sacrifice fly to right center field.
The Cougars came back with a run in the bottom of the first inning on Taylor Ard's home run to left center field off of Cal's sophomore left-hander Michael Theofanopoulos (3-4, 3.2 innings, eight hits, nine runs, two walks, four strikeouts) and took a 2-1 in the second inning when Theofanopoulos' wild pitch scored Tommy Richards.
The Bears were able to rally with two runs in the third inning on Knapp's one-out homer to right center field, and after Renda had walked and advanced to second base on a fielding error and to third base on a wild pitch, scored on Krist's ground out to third base.
But down 3-2, WSU scored five runs in the bottom of the third inning to take control of the game, highlighted by P.J. Jones two-run double. The Cougars added two more runs with two outs in the fourth inning on an RBI single and a Theofanopoulos wild pitch for a commanding 9-3 lead.
Cal scored another run in the eighth inning when freshman shortstop Brenden Farney had a one-out double to left center field and was plated by Bruno's RBI single to left field. WSU tacked on another run in the bottom of the eighth for the final 10-4 margin.
Bruno was the Bears' top hitter, going 3-for-5 with an RBI. Renda was 2-for-4 with a double to raise his average to .374. Freshman Chris Muse-Fisher did a nice job of relieving Theofanopoulos in the fourth inning, going 1.2 innings with one hit, no runs, two walks and a strikeout.
Cal next plays WSU in the second game of the three-game Pac-12 series, Saturday, May 5 at 5:30 p.m. at Bailey-Brayton Field. KNEW 960 AM, part of the IMG Sports Network, and Cal's student radio, KALX 90.7 FM, will be broadcasting all of the weekend's contests.
