Bears down Bulldogs 8-5 behind three run 8th

This Cal team may not be NCAA Tourney bound, but they can sure provide some exciting moments. Today, an 8th inning rally led to a close 8-5 victory over the Fresno State Bulldogs.




Early on, the Bears rocked the young Fresno starter Charlie Robertson. Robertson had 2 passed balls in the first inning, allowing Brian Guinn to score easily on a single. Mark Canha would also score, giving Cal a 2 run first inning. The bleeding continued for Robertson, as Canha would come around to score again, with Chad Krist driving him in both times.



Cal starter Chris Petrini turned in a solid performance for the Bears. Other than an unfortunate double that gave up a run in the second, Petrini went 1-2-3 for the first 3 innings. He would only allow 2 hits in the next 3 innings, and going into the 7th he had ceded 1 run in 6 innings. In that time, Cal scored 4 runs, leading to a 4-1 Cal lead.



His run would blow in the 7th as Petrini would give up a run and be pulled shortly. That wouldn’t stop the bleeding, as Fresno would add another run to make it 4-3. Cal would respond with another run to make it 5-3, but the Bulldogs weren’t done yet. They tacked on 2 ore to make it 5-5. Led by Jimmy Bosco’s 2 run single and a Semien RBI, the Bears would score 3 in the 8th to bring the lead to 8-5. Matt Flemer would retire all the Bulldogs in the 9th to pick up the save.



The winning pitcher was Justin Jones (5-2). The losing pitcher was Josh Poytress (3-2). Flemer picked up the save (1).



Petrini deserved a victory in this one, giving up only 2 runs in 6.1 innings. He struck out 4 while giving up a mere 5 hits.



The Bears improve to 13-10, while the Bulldogs fall to 13-12.