University of California Athletics

Bears fall, 4-3, series tied 1-1.

March 6, 1999

KNOXVILLE, TN - The University of California baseball team lost a hard-fought 4-3 contest to Tennessee Saturday in Knoxville, TN. Cal falls to 7-14 on the year, while the Volunteers improved to 7-6. The Bears had defeated Tennessee, 7-3, in the first game of the three-game series Friday.

Saturday's game was a pitching battle between the Volunteers starter Jamie Bennett and Cal starter Ryan Atkinson. Bennett (3-1) ended up throwing a complete game with seven hits, three runs, no walks and a career-high 12 strikeouts. Atkinson (1-4) went 7.3 innings with eight hits, three earned runs, three walks and four strikeouts.

Tennessee scored first when Jeff Baumtrog had an RBI double in the third inning and then Josh Morris gave the Volunteers a 2-0 lead with an RBI double in the fourth inning. The Bears battled back by scoring three times in the top of the fifth inning. Junior second baseman Tommy Callen had an sacrifice bunt RBI, followed by a two-run homer by senior left fielder Preston Sharp to give Cal a 3-2 lead.

Tennessee tied the game, 3-3, in the bottom of the sixth inning on an RBI single by Morris. The Volunteers then got the game-winning run in the seventh inning when Donnie Ross hit a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Baumtrog. Morris was Tennessee's top hitter for the game, going 3-for-3 with two RBI.

Sharp was the Bears leading hitter, going 2-for-3 with the two-run homer. Cal had a chance to tie the game in the eighth inning, but Bennett was able to get Mike Tonis to ground out to third base with runners on first and second.

The Bears will play the third game of the three-game series against Tennessee, Sunday, Mar. 7 at 1 p.m. at Lindsey Nelson Stadium in Knoxville, TN.

Home Runs: Tennessee: None. Cal: Sharp, two-run homer in the fifth inning.