California Sports Journal

Starting seven underclassmen, including four freshmen, the Bears failed to close-out on defense after getting two outs and were anemic on offense. In the first of a three game home stand versus the Anteaters, Cal (0 –2), which lost ten players to the draft or graduation last year, allowed runs early and often.

The Bears left six men stranded and no runner even got a whiff of second base until the eighth inning, when Irvine was already up 8 – 0.

"We are a young team, and we look like it," Cal Coach David Esquer said. "We have some good players in the middle of the line-up that need to grow up quick."

The four freshmen in the starting line-up, Mike Van Winden, Josh Satin, Jason Corder and Kyle Spraker, were a combined 1 – 14 with three strikeouts.

Irvine played near perfect in their season opener, stifling the Bear’s offensive rallies with solid pitching and clutch defense. In a match up between the two teams’ top starters, the Anteater’s Mike Nicoll came out ahead giving up no runs on just three hits in six innings.

"I was locating my fastball well, and mixing the slider in effectively," the junior pitcher said. "After we took a 3 or 4-run lead there wasn’t a lot of pressure on me."

While Nicoll thrived in his new role as the Anteater’s ace, Cal starter Adam Gold struggled through out the game with his control, allowing seven runs on nine hits.

In what became a pattern for the junior hurler, after quickly retiring the first two batters of the game Gold hung a slider to Irvine catcher Mark Wagner that was blasted over the right-field wall.

All of the seven runs Gold allowed came when Irvine was batting with two outs.

The Anteater’s had all the runs they needed by the fourth inning when their 6’5", 240 lb. mountain of a first baseman, Jaime Martinez, lined a two-out, two-RBI scorcher into right field to give Irvine a 3 – 0 lead.

"We have to execute pitches better," Esquer said. "[Gold] was leaving pitches up in the strike zone."
Irvine deftly manufactured runs the entire game. In the sixth inning, already leading 4 – 0, Irvine right fielder David Miramonte laid a sacrifice bunt down the third base line to advance the runners on first and second.

After Gold forced a grounder to second baseman Josh Satin for the second out, Irvine shortstop Chad Lundahl rocketed a double over Cal leftfielder Chris Errecart to score two and all but put the game away.

"You can’t play a much better baseball game," Irvine’s new head coach Dave Serrano said of his veteran team. "There was some uncertainty coming in to our first game with a whole new coaching staff, but they executed fabulously."

Gold was pulled after the Lundahl double, but his teammates did not fair any better. Alex Trafton, Michael Copper and Jeremy Burchett closed out the game allowing three more runs on two hits, two bases on balls and two wild pitches.

The Bear’s lone run came off a pinch-hit homerun over the left-centerfield wall by senior James Holder to lead off the eighth inning. In their first two games, the Bears have only scored in the eighth inning, putting together a four-run rally Tuesday against Pacific before falling 5 – 4.

Holder may be in the starting line-up for the final two games in the series against Irvine as Cal looks to shake up the order to create some offense, Esquer said.

Cal and Irvine finish off their three game series on Saturday and Sunday at Evans Field.