The No. 9 California Golden Bears hit safely 21 times Friday at PK Park, marking the most hits Oregon has given up to an opponent since the baseball program’s reinstatement in 2009.
Starting pitcher Cole Irvin threw the majority of his pitches for strikes, but Cal came out swinging early and often. By the sixth inning the Bears had built a comfortable lead and cruised the rest of the way to a 12-2 victory.
“Every mistake that [Irvin] made they crushed,” Manager George Horton said. “Against a team like them that’s obviously a very good hitting team — and we’ve seen some of them — we’ve got to command the ball a little more effectively in the zone and out of the zone.”
The shelling began with a five-run first inning for Cal. Three consecutive singles brought the first run home and a three-run home run to right field by Brenden Farney followed. With two outs, third baseman Daniel Patzlaff made a diving grab on a ground ball down the base line, but short-hopped Kyle Kasser at first base. The ball trickled into foul territory and Cal scored its fifth run from first on the single and throwing error.
Irvin’s day was done two batters — and two singles — into the sixth, a surprisingly long outing given he allowed 15 hits. The Bears added three runs, including a solo home run by Nick Halamandaris, in the fourth and fifth and had a six-run lead by the time Horton pulled Irvin from the game. Freshman Isaiah Carranza conceded an RBI-double and a two-run single in relief of Irvin, who ended up being charged with 10 runs — nine earned — as his ERA jumped from .240 to 3.69 and record fell to 2-3.
Horton said he takes part of the blame for Irvin’s rough outing because he called the pitches.
“I didn’t think I called a good game and we didn’t execute pitches as well as we should have,” Horton said.
Freshman Parker Kelly relieved Carranza in the seventh and gave up Cal’s 12th run on its 20th hit of the night in the eighth.
Freshman Jake Bennett’s performance was the silver lining on an otherwise ugly night. He came through in a big spot in the bottom of the first, cracking a two-run, opposite-field double over the outstretched glove of the left fielder with the bases loaded in the bottom of the first. In the third, he stretched a two-out flare to no man’s land in left into a double on a full sprint from the batter’s box, but was stranded on second.
Bennett has been a mainstay in the line-up since breaking out for three RBIs, two singles and two walks against Washington on March 24. He hit third in the batting order the next two games and moved into the clean-up spot against Notre Dame, where he’s batted ever since. His .371 batting average ranks second on the team, as does his .463 on-base percentage.
“He’s been doing good,” Horton said. “Him and Kasser have certainly provided us a spark.”
Austin Grebeck notched a double and a single but all-in-all it was another poor day for the offense, which finished with six hits. Cal starting pitcher Ryan Mason tossed a complete game with eight strikeouts. Oregon’s first two batters of the game scored, but its next 31 did not.
The Ducks (12-12, 2-5 Pac-12) have now lost 10 of their last 15 games and sit at the bottom of the conference standings, while the Bears (19-7, 8-2) remain in first place.
“We only have ourselves to blame,” Horton said. “… It’s on me.”
The teams will square off again Saturday, 2 p.m. at PK Park.
Follow Kenny Jacoby on Twitter @KennyJacoby