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California takes 2 from UA in first Pac-10 series of season

Following a tough weekend series, the UA baseball team now has a day off - and they need it.

The first weekend of Pacific 10 Conference play ended in disappointing fashion for the young Wildcat team, as California took two of three games from Arizona last weekend.

UA, in its first conference series of the season, allowed a total of 51 runs in three games, losing the final games to the Golden Bears, 26-6 and 24-14.

For the Wildcats, the final two games against the Golden Bears marked the low point of a young season.

Despite the bitter ending, the weekend started off on a good note.

Sophomore pitcher Ben Diggins threw his third complete game of the season on Friday, as the Wildcats cruised to a 4-1 victory against the Golden Bears.

The right-handed ace improved to 6-0 with the victory, striking out seven batters and allowing eight hits in nine innings, as the Wildcats won their first Pac-10 game of the 2000 season.

Offensively, Arizona was led by junior third baseman Trevor Mote, who had three hits and one RBI.

Just as the Wildcats began to gain momentum in the series, the Golden Bears appeared to take it all away.

In Saturday night's game, Cal third baseman Xavier Naby drove in seven runs as the Golden Bears defeated UA, 26-6. Sophomore lefty Brian Pemble allowed nine earned runs in 2 2/3 innings - the Wildcats used four pitchers in the night game.

For the Wildcats, it marked the second large defeat in less than a month - UA was drubbed by ASU, 32-3, in Tempe on March 4.

Saturday night's game was played at Tucson's Hi Corbett Field due to a scheduling conflict.

The Wildcats returned to Frank Sancet Field yesterday afternoon, hoping to redeem themselves after splitting the first two conference games of the season.

UA received no such luck, as Wildcat pitching and defense collapsed. The Golden Bears rallied despite constant pressure from Wildcat bats, defeating UA, 24-14.

The Wildcats, down 8-0 after 3 1/2 innings, rallied for nine runs in the bottom of the fourth behind a pair of RBI from Mote, a junior college transfer.

The very next inning, Tony Milo loaded the bases with nobody out, as poor pitching and defense ruined any momentum the team had. After allowing nine runs, the Wildcats were trailing once again, 17-9 to Cal.

For UA head coach Jerry Stitt, the inning marked the turning point in the game.

"We come out after scoring eight runs, and they load the bases with nobody out," Stitt said. "Tony (Milo) usually throws strikes."

For the Golden Bears, junior catcher Mike Tonis homered twice and drove in seven runs in the winning effort.

Stitt believes that UA pitching may be pressing themselves against conference hitting.

"If anything, they may be trying too hard," he said.

Following the game, a visibly angry UA head coach Jerry Stitt harangued his players for Saturday and yesterday's miscues and tried to look forward to Tuesday's game against Grand Canyon.

"They did a pretty good job of hitting with two strikes," he said. "We just want to come out and play well against Grand Canyon."

Center fielder Troy Gingrich agreed.

"We're just trying to focus on Tuesday's game," he said. "We just need to come out and start working on fundamentals. I don't even know who we're playing next weekend."