By Kathryn Bender, Star-Bulletin
Hawaii's Tracy Nakano gets the ball late as Cal's
Curtis Johnson dives back safely into first base on a
pickoff attempt in the fifth inning last night.
But the University of California's Jon Shirley, a 6-foot-2, 185-pound right-hander from Bakersfield, Calif., found a way to retire the top of the order with the bases loaded and save a 6-5 win over the University of Hawaii last night at Rainbow Stadium.
A crowd of 1,000 - the smallest of the season - saw the Rainbows send seven batters to the plate in the ninth and get only one run.
UH fell to 1-7 on the season in the 3-hour, 39-minute game.
The Golden Bears, ranked No. 25 in the Baseball America preseason poll, evened their record at 1-1.
The teams face each other again tonight and Saturday.
Shirley, the fourth pitcher of the game for California, opened the ninth with a 6-4 lead.
He yielded a leadoff single to Tracy Nakano and then walked designated hitter Key Voshell on a full count. Darren Blakely reached on a sacrifice bunt as pinch-runner Jason Takemura beat the throw to third, filling the bases with nobody out.
A hard grounder that went off the chest of second baseman Ivan Lewis was ruled an error, allowing Takemura to score. It was 6-5, the bases were still loaded and there were still no outs.
Shirley didn't panic. He got Neal Honma to fly to center, with the runners holding. A force at home plate nailed Voshell for the second out.
That brought up catcher Robert Medeiros, who began the game batting .500. He went to a full count before striking out on a straight changeup by Shirley to end the game.
"I figured he was looking fastball so I had to change it up and fool him," said Shirley.
"I was very impressed with Jon in the fall, and this was the game we've been waiting for to see if he could get it done," said Golden Bears head coach Bob Milano.
Rainbows head coach Les Murakami said he felt sorry for UH's left-handed freshman starter Jamie Aloy, who scattered 10 hits through seven innings and left with UH trailing, 5-3.
"I think he pitched a great game," said Murakami.
California Hawaii ab r h bi ab r h bi Lewis 2b 4 1 1 0 Honma lf 3 1 1 0 Garfin 3b 4 2 2 2 Masanda 2b 5 0 0 0 Oliver ss 4 0 0 0 Medeiros c 4 0 1 0 Gordnier lf 4 0 2 3 Millichap rf 4 2 2 2 Hill c 4 1 1 0 Murphy 3b 4 0 1 0 Johnson dh 3 0 0 0 Nakano 1b 4 1 1 1 Schnell ph-dh 2 0 0 0 Takemura pr 0 1 0 0 Furstenthal 1b 3 1 2 1 Bergman dh 2 0 0 0 Hernandez rf 4 0 2 0 Voshell pr-dh 0 0 0 0 Johnson cf 4 1 1 0 Blakely cf 3 0 0 0 Dartt ss 3 0 0 0 Konishi ph 1 0 0 1 Takamori pr 0 0 0 0 Totals 36 6 11 6 Totals 33 5 6 4 California 100 120 110--6 Hawaii 200 100 101--5E-C.Johnson, Lewis, Dartt 2. DP-California (Oliver-Lewis-Furstenthal). LOB-California 10, Hawaii 7.
2B-Garfin, Gordnier, Hernandez, Hill, Lewis, Millichap, Murphy. HR-Millichap (2). SB-Gordnier, Honma (3), Medeiros (6). CS-Furstenthal, Honma. S-Hill, Oliver, Blakely.
IP H R ER BB SO Fischer (W,1-0) 5 4 3 3 1 2 Sumner 2 0 1 0 3 2 Cuccias 1 1 0 0 0 0 Shirley (S,1) 1 1 1 1 1 1 Aloy (L,0-3) 7 10 5 4 0 2 Binkie 1/3 1 1 1 1 1 Yoshimasu 1-2/3 0 0 0 2 3BK-Sumner 2. HBP-Furstenthal (by Aloy), Gornier (by Yoshimasu).
T-3:38. A-1,000 (turnstile), 2,461 (tickets distributed).
Umpires-Tomaszewski, Montalbo.
The series: California (0-0) vs. Hawaii (1-6). 7:05 p.m. today, 6:35 p.m. Saturday