ArkansasSports.com Articles
Another Rough Outing for Cal in Loss to Razorbacks
Date: 2010-03-07T03:12:26.493
Author: Katie Dowd
Byline: The Daily Californian
Editor note: Hogs take game two from Bears.
Number of Views: 184
Saturday's 9-5 loss to No. 17 Arkansas was a disconcerting one for the Cal baseball team for two very important reasons. First, the Bears had their best starter, Dixon Anderson, on the mound, and he gave up nine runs in five erratic innings. Second, all of Cal's runs were the result of home runs or Razorback errors.
As a result, the Bears are already thinking about the life -- and death -- of their nine-game-old season.
"Sunday is where you salvage your season sometimes. It's a big day," coach David Esquer said. "Tomorrow we gotta come out playing for our lives a little bit even though it's probably not the life of our season."
The game left a lot to mull over for the Bears. Anderson, for instance, came into the game with an ERA of 0.00 and a fastball that was lauded by Arkansas coach Dave Van Horn before the series started. But Anderson couldn't intimidate, or slow down, the Razorbacks (8-1).
"He had good stuff. His fastball was real good," Arkansas second baseman Tim Carver said. "We got to wear him down a little bit and took advantage of it."
Wearing Anderson down took two innings. Third baseman Zack Cox singled up the middle to drive in two runs in the third, opening up the offensive onslaught. In the fourth, Carver hit a solo home run and added a three-run shot in the fifth
Meanwhile, the Bears' bats were barely there. They scored their first run in the third courtesy of a throwing error by the catcher, but needed a three-run home run from shortstop Marcus Semien and a solo shot in the ninth by catcher Chadd Krist to put a real dent in Arkansas' lead.
The Bears (6-3) had particular trouble against starter Drew Smyly. The lefty exploited Cal's weakness for left-handed pitching, forcing the Cal hitters to pop up ball after ball. Four of the five runs the Bears scored came off right-handed relievers.
"We gotta hit the ball on the ground a little bit more," Semien said. "Coach (Esquer) said we had about 11 fly ball outs and five ground ball outs. They made three errors on ground balls."
Cal gets its last shot at Arkansas tomorrow at 1 p.m. at Evans Diamond. Because Erik Johnson is out with muscle tightness, junior Kevin Miller and freshman Joe Kurrasch are the leading candidates for starting the game.
Preseason All-American Brett Eibner is tabbed to start for the Razorbacks, yet another challenge for the offensively starved Bears.
"We just need to execute a little better," Semien said. "Bunt some guys over and make the plays in the infield because (Arkansas has) been making errors. I think we get into lifting (the ball) or just-missed-it type of things, and we need to get away from that."
And fast
Contact Katie Dowd at kdowd@dailycal.org.
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