California Sports Journal

"I don’t think we have a lot of experience, and we played inexperienced," said Cal head coach David Esquer. "We’re looking for that good feeling instead of coming in with it."

Gold made only one mistake in the first three innings, a hanging slider over the plate to Irvine catcher Mark Wagner that was promptly belted over the left field wall. But things really came unraveled for the junior in the middle innings, when Gold allowed six runs and did not strike anyone out.

"[His pitches were] mislocated, and it’s hard to keep teams down when you do that," said Esquer. "You’d like not to have so many loose ends to a performance."

As much as Cal’s pitching struggled, so did its offense. The Bears mustered only six hits for the game, and did not even reach second base until the eighth inning when senior pinch-hitter James Holder hit a solo home run.

For the second game in a row, the Golden Bears failed to score until the eighth inning. Moreover, the Bears failed to make good contact on most of the pitches.

Irvine starter Chris Nicoll was on fire, earning the win by allowing no runs in six innings of work. The only reason he came out of the game was because he was limited to 90 pitches by Irvine head coach Dave Serrano.

"I thought he set the tone for our team," said Serrano. "We’re going to try to keep good hitters off balance at all times, and we’re not going to give in with fastballs all the time on fastball counts."

Fastballs, curveballs and sliders were all on point for Nicoll, even as Irvine fans grumbled about the umpire’s tight strike zone. He forced Bear hitters into weak foul outs twice in both the second and sixth innings, and faced three ball counts only four times, walking two.

"Once we got about a three or four run lead I didn’t really feel any pressure," said Nicoll. "I just knew I had to go do my thing."

Esquer said the lack of offense contributed to Cal’s pitching woes. "When you’re not scoring, sometimes it gets to the point where the pitcher feels like he’s got to make perfect pitches in order to keep the game close," he said. "If we’d have put up two more runs and [Gold] was pitching with a little more relaxation and freedom, it might have been easier to execute."

None of the Golden Bears had more than one hit, while there were several offensive standouts for the Anteaters (1-0). In addition to Wagner’s home run, first baseman Jaime Martinez had a 2 RBI single and an RBI groundout, and Tim Stewart added a pinch-hit home run in the ninth.

Serrano said he was especially proud of the seven runs his team scored with two outs. "That’s always a sign of a good team," he said.

The Golden Bears look to even the series today with sophomore starting pitcher Brandon Morrow on the mound. Morrow was 1-3 with a 6.07 ERA last season. Irvine will start sophomore Justin Cassel.

"I think we’re coming along defensively, but we have to give our defense a chance to play," said Esquer. "We need to find some things out about some players."