Bears continue hot play with 4 consecutive victories

With the decision on next year’s status coming up, the Bears played their best baseball of the season in a 3 game set against Washington State and then a single game against San Francisco.

The Bears opened up the set with a pair of aces dueling, with Erik Johnson and Adam Conley both pitching. Conley, the likely first round pick, was lit up by the powerful Cal Bear offense for 7 runs. Johnson, the lesser touted of the two, gave up 2 hits in 8 innings of work and struck out 6 in a shutout performance. The offense exploded for 12 hits, and the victory was a relatively easy 7-0 one.

In their next matchup with the Cougs, the pitching stepped up again. The talented southpaw Justin Jones threw 8 innings of shutout baseball and Matt Flemer finished it off in the ninth. Jones struck out 7 and walked none. Despite being out hit 7-5 by WSU, the plate patience and power from the Bears made the difference in the game. A 3-0 victory started the season 2-0 in Pac-10 play.

In the final game of the series, the Cougars finally got a run across. As a matter of fact, they held a lead of 3-1 going into the ninth. But the heroics of Chadd Krist, who had a tying 2 run single in the ninth, and Marcus Semien, who doubled in the winner in the eleventh inning, provided the Bears with a victory. An error from Washington State helped get the rally started for the Bears, as they are now 0-3 in conference play.

San Francisco would be the next victim of a Bear shutout, as Kevin Miller did the deed this time. Miller struck out 15 men and gave the Dons no real hope of getting some runs. A Chadd Krist double in the first inning gave Cal all the runs they would need, but they would tack on more for the 4-0 victory over San Francisco. Miller now has an ERA of .48 on the year and has to be in some consideration to pitch some Pac-10 games down the line.

Cal is on a roll, having won 7 in a row and dominating a quality Pac-10 opponent. The only question if they can keep this momentum going. A 3 game set against USC looms, as the rival will look to take down #13 Cal. Go Bears!