Evans Diamond looked more like Spieker Aquatics Center by the time the second leg of the Cal-Utah Valley State doubleheader was called on account of darkness Saturday evening, with the Bears and Wolverines tied at 8-8 after nine innings.

Even the fourth layer of Turface on the infield was covered in puddles when the game ended. The rain started falling shortly before first pitch, and just did not let up for the entire game. It reached its worst in the late innings, and the Bears spent as much time trying to dry out the field as they did actually playing on it. All that time spent in field work meant that the game lasted a good four hours, and it was too dark with the cloud cover to finish the game after Cal couldn’t break the tie in the bottom of the ninth.

Good news: 1. The Bears fell behind 6-1 after the third inning, but managed to battle back despite the adverse weather conditions and take an 8-7 lead in the eighth inning. They didn’t panic. They just chipped away at the lead and benefited from the fact that David Cooper is an absolute machine at the plate.

2. Josh Satin looks like the right guy to have hitting behind Cooper, whether it’s in the fourth or fifth spot. With Cal down by two in the eighth inning, Utah Valley decided to intentionally walk Cooper to put two men on rather than give him a chance to tie the game (not a bad idea.) Satin made them pay with a towering three-run shot to left-center. If Satin can keep producing and protecting Cooper, it just makes that lineup all the more dangerous.

3. Sophomore lefty Todd Fitzgerald came in to pitch in the fourth inning after starter Alex Rollin was rocked for six runs in the third. Fitzgerald, a CC transfer from San Jose, did a great job of shutting down the Wolverines offense, allowing just one run in 4 2/3 innings of work.

4. The Cal baseball team makes a solid grounds crew.

5. David Cooper has driven in as many runs through three games (11) as Cal’s opponents combined. The preseason All-American knocked in two runs yesterday against Kansas State, then drove in five and four in the two games of today’s doubleheader. He can hit right-handed and left-handed pitching to all fields, he’s patient at the plate, and he has an incredible amount of pop—the perfect third or fourth hole hitter in a lineup that’s mostly made up of contact hitters.

Bad news: 1. David Cooper has driven in as many runs through three games (11) as Cal’s opponents combined. He may have started out the year relatively under the radar, with all the talent in the Pac-10, but this kind of offensive explosion early in the year means that teams won’t be ignoring his presence in the lineup for long. If teams pitch around Cooper more, it’ll be on Satin and Brett Jackson (or whoever hits in the sixth spot) to back him up.

2. Matt Gorgen took a line drive to the chest in the eighth inning of the second game on Saturday. He immediately bounced off the mound in pursuit of the ball, which richocheted right to Cooper for the putout, but was checked out by coaches and trainers in the dugout during the next half inning. Gorgen came out to pitch in the ninth, but ended up loading the bases and walking in the tying run.

3. It obviously isn’t spring yet.

Weather permitting, Cal and Kansas State will play a rematch tomorrow at 11 a.m. Pray for sun.

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