April 29, 2011

Box Score

BERKELEY -

Freshman Michael Theofanopoulos drove a pinch-hit double to right field off Oregon reliever Kellen Moen with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning, scoring Mitch Delfino and giving California an exciting 2-1 victory over the Ducks Friday afternoon (April 29) at Evans Diamond. The No. 20-ranked Golden Bears improved to 25-13 overall and 10-6 in the Pac-10, while Oregon dropped to 21-19 and 4-9 in league play.

Cal was able to win the tight game when, with one out in the bottom of the ninth, senior center fielder Dwight Tanaka knocked a single past Duck shortstop KC Serna, advancing sophomore third baseman Delfino to second base. Oregon brought in right-hander Moen to replace reliever Scott McGough, and the Bears countered with the left-handed hitting Theofanopoulos, who proceeded to win the game by hitting the first pitch to right field, scoring Delfino.

It has been a big week for Theofanopoulos, a freshman outfielder/pitcher from Pleasanton, as on Monday he hit a three-run homer in the seventh inning at Stanford.

Freshman left-hander Kyle Porter picked up the win in relief to improve to 3-0 for the Bears, throwing the top on the ninth inning with no hits and no runs.

Cal and the Ducks were involved in a pitching battle between two talented starters - junior left-hander Tyler Anderson for UO and junior right-hander Erik Johnson for the Bears. Neither got a decision as Anderson went 7.2 innings with six hits, one run, one walk and eight strikeouts. Johnson threw 8.0 innings with four hits, one run, three walks and tied a career-high with 11 strikeouts.

Oregon had scored first with a run in the top of the first inning on a sacrifice fly to right field by Aaron Jones, scoring Danny Pulfer, who had started the game forcing a walk from Johnson. Cal was able to tie the score at 1-1 when Delfino hit a two-out homer to left field off Anderson in the bottom of the second inning. It was Delfino's fourth home run of the year.

The game remained tied for the next six innings, with both teams leaving runners in scoring position, until Theofanopoulos' heroics. Cal finished with eight hits and Oregon was limited to four hits.

The Bears will next host the Ducks in the second game of the three-game Pac-10 series, Saturday, April 30 at 1 p.m. at Evans Diamond. Sunday's game between Oregon and Cal on May 1 will begin at 12 p.m.