UPDATE 9:33: Cal staged a last-minute mini-rally, but it fell woefully short. Jackson fouled out to Braunecker to lead off the inning, but Dylan Tonneson cracked a solid single into left center field to give the Bears some hope. Canha came up and dunked a dying quail down into right field to advance Tonneson to third, and B.J. Guinn, in his first at-bat of the game, flied out to center to score Tonneson on the sacrifice. But that was all she wrote, as designated hitter Michael Capbarat grounded into a fielder’s choice to the shortstop to end the game.

Cal scored one run on six hits, with five errors, while San Francisco scored five runs on eight hits and committed no errors.

The winner was Evan Fredrickson, who struck out a career-high 13 hitters in seven innings and improved to 3-2 on the year. He allowed four hits and four walks and hit one batter. The loser was Cal’s Chris Petrini, who pitched one third of an inning and gave up five runs, four of them earned. He gave up one walk and four hits and hit one batter. His record drops to 2-2, and his ERA balloons to 7.40. The Bears fall to 18-6-1 on the season, while the Dons move to 17-11.

Cal will next see action tomorrow in yet another midweek game, this time against Fresno State at 2:30 p.m. back across the Bay at Evans Diamond in Berkeley.

Some final thoughts: True freshman Pistoresi was very impressive tonight. He stepped into a very bad situation after Petrini laid an egg in the first frame and performed admirably. He looked far older than his years in his pitch selection, command and composure. Great outing for this kid.

Fredrickson, a Virginia Tech transfer, harnessed some of his wildness that has plagued him this year and really blew Cal hitters away. His fastball was in the low to mid 90s all day, his offspeed stuff was around 70 and he was locating extremely well.  As good as some of the pitching that Cal has seen has been, this was definitely up there in terms of quality. He overmatched some of the best hitters in the country in one of the nation’s best lineups. Had it not been Petrini on the hill, or had Petrini had a better game, this one would have been close up until the end, and who knows how the hitters would have done without the pressure of having to come back from five runs down.

UPDATE 9:19: It’s now or never for the Bears, as they go into the top of the ninth still down 5-0. Nick Nunez just came in and set down the Dons in order - sort of.  Dane Braunecker got on base on an error by Jeff Kobernus at third, and then was part of a strike-’em-out-throw-’em-out when centerfielder Bobby Ethel struck out looking. Nunez then got shortstop Tavo Hall to fly out to Hanlon in right. Top of the ninth coming up, with Jackson, Tonneson and Canha due up. And the birds have multiplied. 

UPDATE 9:11: These birds are seriously scaring me.  Creepy flying rats.  Anyway, so the whole getting something started idea, total crap.  Cooper grounded out sharply to the right side, Satin hit a screamer right at the third baseman and Kobernus smashed one up the middle that just faded right into Railey’s glove. It’s been that kind of day.  

UPDATE 9:07: OK, this is starting to look like a Hitchcock film.  These seagulls are everywhere.  Glad I’m inside.  Fredrickson was just taken out to start the eighth, in favor of first baseman Mitch Bialosky. Now at first is Stephen Yarrow. The Dons went quietly in the seventh, with only Bialosky reaching base.

If the Bears are to do anything to get on the board, it’s a good time to do it, with Cooper, Satin and Kobernus coming up. These birds are really starting to annoy me now.  I think they can smell fear.  And they’re announcing their pressence.  Somebody hold me.  I’m scared. 

UPDATE 9:00: A flock of seagulls decided to descend on AT&T Park just now.  Maybe they smelled the rotting flesh that is the Cal offense tonight. And just for good measure, the normally-sure-handed Jeff Kobernus just made a throwing error that allowed Mitch Bialosky to make it to second base on what should have been a routine groundout.

UPDATE 8:58: After striking out right fielder Kyle Morgan to lead off the seventh, Cassady was pulled in favor of righty Brian Diemer. 

UPDATE 8:52: Esquer pulled Brady for pinch hitter Scott Schauer, who promptly struck out swinging on a high fastball. Then Michael Capbarat, a team captain, struck out looking. Ryan Hanlon subbed for Cutler and skied a high pop fly to left field to end the inning. Now playing short for Cal is B.J. Guinn, and Hanlon will take over in right field.  

UPDATE 8:45: Cassady struck out Railey looking on that infamous outside corner, and then forced left fielder Zack Kim to ground out to Brady.  Still 5-0, San Francisco. 

UPDATE 8:38: Mike Cassady will come in for Pistoresi with one out in the bottom of the sixth. Pistoresi allowed his second rocket up the middle to start the inning, and then got shortstop Tavo Hall to ground out weakly to Brady. But back to that single by centerfielder Bobby Ethel - it nearly took his left leg off. For the second time this game. He needs shinguards. Anyway, Pistoresi is still responsible for Ethel, now at third base, as Cassady works on second baseman Joey Railey. 

UPDATE 8:31: Will someone please tell Cal hitters to stop swinging at these high fastballs?  I know they’re inviting, and I know they look hitable, but it’s the hardest pitch to hit in baseball.  And will you look at that, Mark Canha just swung at two straight high ones to end the inning with Fredrickson’s career-high 11th strikeout of the game. The offense is sputtering, badly.  They just look like they have no clue how to solve Fredrickson.

Mike Cassady was warming in the pen earlier, and is back out there again to start the bottom half of the sixth, but for the moment, it looks like Esquer will stay with the hot hand of Pistoresi, who has not allowed a run other than two inherited runners that scored on Brady’s error in the first. 

UPDATE 8:28: Cal is having a lot of trouble getting leadoff men on base.  Brett Jackson just got on with an infield single (Fredrickson forgot to cover first on a grounder to Bialosky), but there are already two outs.  And the only two times the Bears have gotten the leadoff man on, he’s been picked off and then stranded. But there is a little ray of sunshine, as Dylan Tonneson just laid down a bunt single to put men on first and second for Mark Canha … with two outs. 

UPDATE 8:20: After an error by first baseman David Cooper on a grounder hit by right fielder Kyle Morgan, and a single by first baseman Mitch Bialosky, Pistoresi got back down to business, striking out catcher Ryan Lipkin on a paralysis cutter on the outside corner, then sitting down pinch hitter Matt Lieb and finishing off third baseman Dane Braunecker with some high heat to end the inning. Pistoresi has gone 4 2/3 strong innings in relief, striking out four and scattering three hits. Maybe he should have started. After five, it’s still 5-0 San Francisco, with Satin, Kobernus and Jackson coming up.

UPDATE 8:05: This umpire has a very liberal strike zone.  He just punched out Cutler on a slider that was a ball if you ask me. In fact, several of the pitches the .359-hitting Cutler looked at were balls, and personally, I trust his eye.  Fredrickson has been taking advantage of that plump zone, and has struck out nine Bears hitters so far. The fifth started out with so much promise, with Brady dropping down a bunt single to lead it off. But then Fredrickson struck out Gorman on a high fastball  and Cutler on that alleged slider for a strike. Cooper finished off the inning with a weak grounder to second. Through four and a lahf, the Bears have two hits, no runs and one error, while the Dons have five runs, six hits and no errors. 

UPDATE 7:49: Cal is being overmatched at the plate. Fredrickson has definitely learned from his prior experience against the Bears, and is just humming along, allowing only Satin’s single in four innings of work.  He is changing the eye level of the hitters very well, working low and away with curves and change ups, and then bringing the heat up and in to entice the Cal bats. Through three and a half, it’s still 5-0, San Francisco. 

UPDATE 7:41: Pistoresi is showing off some very good stuff.  His 12-6 curve is a thing of beauty and his offspeed pitches are freezing hitters. The young righty is also showing some veteran presence on the hill.  With one out and a man on third, Dons third baseman Dane Braunecker dribbled a single to the mound, and Pistoresi held it and looked catcher Ryan Lipkin back to the bag before making the throw to first.   Still 5-0, San Fran.

UPDATE 7:32: With two outs in the top of the third, David Cooper walked, followed by a single from Josh Satin. The two advanced on a curveball to third baseman Jeff Kobernus that slipped out of Fredrickson’s hand. But Kobernus was caught looking at a questionable strike three on the inside corner to end the inning.  After two and a half, it’s still 5-0, San Francisco.

UPDATE 7:21: OK, maybe I was premature in criticizing the lack of Smith in the lineup.  The sophomore outfielder normally throws himself around the yard with little regard for his own body, and so is a great asset on defense.  But Charlie Cutler just did his best Smith impression in right, sprinting in to make a sliding catch on his backside for the third out in the bottom of the second.  Not too bad for a catcher.  That followed a typically-spectacular over-the-shoulder catch by centerfielder Brett Jackson.   

UPDATE: 7:15: A masterful pitching performance by Fredrickson in the clutch.  He establishes the zone with a first-pitch fastball, then kisses the outside corner with a paralyzing curve. Brady fouled two straight back, and then Fredrickson gave Brady some high cheese away. Brady waved at it and missed to end the threat. USF 5, Cal 0 heading into the bottom of the second.

UPDATE 7:12: The Bears have loaded the bases with two outs on two walks and a hit batter.  Shortstop Michael Brady has a chance to make up for his error. 

Update 7:03: The bleeding is over. Pistoresi came in and got a few groundballs, one of which went right through shortstop Michael Brady’s legs as he was trying to turn the double play.  Two runs scored on that play, only one of them earned. Petrini’s final line: four hits, four earned runs, one walk and one hit batter in 1/3 of an inning. 

UPDATE 6:55: Wow, this is looking rough.  Petrini has no command and is throwing very soft, giving up four hits and three runs, not to mention a walk and a hit batsman.  After he got senior second baseman Joey Railey to groundout to lead off the inning, the wheels just came off.  Righty Steve Pistoresi is being brought in after Petrini was only able to get that one out.  Pistoresi enters with a 2-0 count on the eighth place hitter, Bobby Ethel.

UPDATE 6:41: Well, it looks like Fredrickson learned from last time.  He just struck out the side in order in the top of the first, with Cutler and Cooper looking at strike three. Gorman swung on an offspeed pitch away.  Great pitch by Fredrickson. 

UPDATE 6:24: Woops, almost forgot to mention something pretty big.  Junior ace righty Tyson Ross and junior first baseman David Cooper took Pac-10 Pitcher and Player of the Week honors for their work last week.  As far as we can discern, the Bears have never swept the weekly awards, at least not in recent memory. 

UPDATE 6:18: Starting right fielder Blake Smith will not start tonight’s game, as head coach David Esquer’s lineup has just been announced.  No word on why the choice was made, but it’s likely that since Charlie Cutler’s return, true freshman Mark Canha has been getting very little playing time since Cutler is easing back in to the lineup as an outfielder before resuming catching duties. Canha has a pretty solid bat, so getting him in is probably a good idea, and the fact that he is a right-handed hitter as opposed to the southpaw Smith is also another likely reason. Right field here isn’t so inviting for a line-drive hitter like Smith.

UPDATE 6:07: Cal is taking infield.  Pretty cool, considering how half the starting lineup wasn’t here the last time the Bears played the Dons in 2006.  Just to give those playing the home game a little insight into our lives as reporters, Matt Kawahara and I are sitting in the press box - a luxury not afforded me the last time Cal played in the Benedetti Classic.  The park has opened some concessions, and I bought some of the Giants’ pattented Gordon Biersch garlic fries, which I can never finish, but never pass up.  But I digress.  Center field is bathed in sun, while the rest of the field is in shadows, so Bears centerfielder Brett jackson will have an interesting time negotiating fly balls.

For those who have never been to AT&T Park, and remember, this is a Dodgers fan saying this, the place is gorgeous.  Beautiful lines, a few funky corners in the outfield that give the place character, and of course, that brick wall in right field. If only USF would wear appropriate jerseys.  They’re wearing home whites with some wierd shoulder and under-arm black gussets.  Pretty horrid.  Cal is going with the standard grey pants and their navy blue away tops.

The starting pitchers for tonight are the Bears’ hefty lefty, Chris Petrini, who sports a 5.75 ERA in four starts and 20 1/3 innings pitched. For the Dons, left-hander Evan Frederickson - who Cal lit up the last time the two squads met - will take the mound with a 6.84 ERA in six starts and 26 1/3 innings. 

UPDATE 5: 45: The No. 7 Cal baseball team (18-5-1) is warming up in the outfield of the Giants’ AT&T Park as I type, waiting to take their turn on the infield before they take on San Francisco (16-11) tonight with first pitch scheduled for just before 6:30 p.m. More updates as the game gets underway.

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Tags: Blake Smith, Cal baseball, Charlie Cutler, Chris Petrini, Mark Canha
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