5:33: I just broke the first rule of being a sports journalist: I cheered in the press box.  Josh Satin, a fellow Southern-Californian and Dodger fan, a senior, just hit a walk-off home run to left-center field to win his last home game ever at Evans Diamond.  The Bears win 7-6 in 10 innings, out-hitting UCLA 16-13, but all that counted was one.  Satin was mobbed at the plate, and lifted up on his team’s shoulders, as he should be.  All four of his grandparents are here, and they all saw his 18th home run to win the game.  Boy, oh, boy, what a game this is, this game of baseball. 

5:28: Back in the mid-1990’s, there was a piece of legislation that would have allowed for lights at Evans Diamond.  The head coach at the time was Bob Milano, and he was told that if it were to pass, that he would have to allow intramural teams and the band to play and practice on the field at night.  Milano said that he would rather play without lights, and there you have today’s state of affairs.  Now back to this one, where Blake Smith is pushing that spring sun back up into the sky just a little bit, setting down the Bruins in order in the top of the 10th inning.  And up now to lead off the bottom of the frame is second baseman Josh Satin, who has 17 home runs. 

5:21: Cutler bounced out to second base to move Canha to third, and on the first pitch he saw, David Cooper lined a frozen rope to the third baseman Curtis to end the threat.  But it’s now a tie game and we’re heading into extra innings with plenty of daylight left.  Smith is back on the hill, though beleaguered starter Craig Bennigson is warming in the pen.  he only threw 2/3 of an inning on Saturday, so he’s fresh, sorta, I guess.  He has performed much better in a relief role this year, so we’ll see what happens with Jermaine Curtis at the plate facing Smith. 

5:16: Canha dug deep and with a 2-2 count, lined a double over the drawn-in infield to score Kobernus, bringing up Charlie Cutler with a man on second and one out, just as it was in the top of the 10th inning on Friday, May 9 at Sunken Diamond, when Cutler came up with a run-scoring single to win the game for the Bears.  Let’s see if history can repeat itself right here, right now. 

5:14: Don’t turn away just yet.  After Smith’s shot, Kobernus walked, advanced to second on a Brady bunt, and just stole third without a throw from new catcher Ryan Babineau.  Freshman Canha now stands at the plate with a 2-2 count and one out. 

5:08: It ain’t over yet, folks.  Leading off the bottom of the ninth, Smith atoned for his mistake in the top of the frame by slugging his second home run of the day the other way over the left-center field fence.  It’s now 6-5 UCLA. 

5:03: Cody Decker finally came through with the bases loaded, lofting a dying quail single over the glove of a drawn-in Jeff Kobernus to score two runs off of Blake Smith.  The Bears now come up in the bottom of the ninth inning trailing 6-4, where they once upon a time had a 4-0 lead. 

4:51: The NCAA has announced its Regional host sites for this year’s tournament, starting on May 30.  The 34 at-large bids and the bracket will be announced tomorrow morning at 9:30 AM.  Even if the Bears lose today, they are expected to get in as an at-large bid by virtue of their yearlong residence in the top-25.

The sites are as follows:

Athens, Ga./Georgia (35-21-1); Ann Arbor, Mich./Michigan (45-12); Baton Rouge, La./LSU (43-16-1); Cary, N.C./North Carolina (46-12); College Station, Texas/Texas A&M (43-16); Conway, S.C./Coastal Carolina (47-12); Coral Gables, Fla./Miami (47-8); Fullerton, Calif./Cal State Fullerton (37-18); Houston/Rice (42-13); Lincoln, Neb./Nebraska (40-14-1); Long Beach, Calif./Long Beach State (36-19); Raleigh, N.C./North Carolina State (38-20); Stanford, Calif./Stanford (33-20-2); Stillwater, Okla./Oklahoma State (42-16); Talahassee, Fla./Florida State (48-10); Tempe, Ariz./Arizona State (45-11).

4:47: David Cooper’s struggles continue at the plate, as he struck out swinging at a terrible pitch well off the plate, his third whiff of the game.  On the other side of the coin, Josh Satin looks very comfortable, drawing a walk on five pitches in the bottom of the eighth.  With Satin on first and two outs, center fielder Brett Jackson squeaked out an infield hit, but catcher Dylan Tonneson bounced out to second to end the threat.  Leading off the ninth for the Bruins is the dangerous Alden Carrithers.  

4:35: Well, that one was a no-brainer.  Smith only comes in after sitting in right field cold for an inning and tosses it up there at 95-97 miles per hour.  He tossed strike three on right fielder Giovinazzo (it goes to Gorgen, who threw two of the three strikes), then gave up a groundball single to Curtis before striking out Brady Dolan on three straight burners.  Again, this should have been done an inning earlier.  If Esquer does this in the postseason, the Bears won’t last long at all.  Now up for Cal are Cutler, Cooper, and Satin.  If they’re to do anything, the time is now. 

4:26: Head coach David Esquer just paid the price for leaving his closer in for four innings, as Matt Gorgen allowed three straight hits to load the bases, and then after getting Decker to foul out, served up a huge grand slam to pinch hitter Casey Haerther.  He had Smith ready an inning ago, and refused to take Gorgen out to rest him.  he’s a closer.  He’s not supposed to go longer than the starter.  He used Gorgen like this down the stretch last year and the same types of things happened.  Gorgen can give you three good innings, but he’s not used to going much longer than that, so as good as he can be, he’s going to tire out and leave one up in the zone, and that’s what he did to Haerther.  Huge mistake for Esquer.  Only now will pitching coach Dan Hubbs come out to the mound and make the switch for Smith.  Cutler will now move to right and Mark Canha will go in at left field.  This switch should have been made an inning ago.   

4:08: You know it’s playoff time when some players seem to turn on the intensity button.  For the Bears, that player is Josh Satin.  After aggressive baserunning got him a double earlier in the game, he drove a liner down the right field line that sunk just in front of the right fielder and chugged around the bases to third base.  It was his third career triple.  Satin scored on a one-out blooper by catcher Tonneson to extend Cal’s lead to 4-0 with Matt Gorgen still in there now in the top of the eighth to try to secure the win. 

3:51:  Gorgen finished his third inning of work, striking out his second hitter of the day and retiring the Bruins in order.  He’s most definitely looking ready for the postseason.  Now playing center field for the Bruins is Brady Dolan.  Satin leads things off for the Bears in the bottom of the seventh.

3:44: As good as Cutler has looked today, going 2-for-4 with an RBI, David Cooper has looked lost, save for his single early in the game.  He has two strikeouts looking and weakly grounded to Decker to end the sixth.  If the Bears are going to do anything in the postseason, they need Cooper’s bat.  Satin looks like he’s begun to make adjustments, but Cooper is looking uncharacteristically futile.  Gorgen now comes out to go for his third inning of work in the top of the seventh. 

3:42: On a 3-1 count, Cutler went the other way with a seeing-eye RBI single to knock in Brady, his 17th RBI of the season.  Cal now leads 3-0 on eight hits. 

3:36: On a very strange play, Rich Gorman checked his swing on strike three, but catcher Brent Dean dropped the wild inside pitch, allowing Gorman to run.  Dean’s throw to first baseman Decker was bobbled and eventually pulled Decker off the bag.  Gorman was called safe at first, and after stealing second on the preceeding pitch, Brady advanced to third.  Now it’s first-and-third with two down for Charlie Cutler, who is 1-for-3 today with a single.

3:25: Smith gave another pitch a ride, driving a 3-2 pitch from Grace to the base of the wall in left center field, but Mickey Weisser was able to snag it for the first out of the bottom of the sixth.  As soon as Smith got into the dugout area, he exchanged his helmet and armor for a glove, and is now warming up in the bullpen.  It looks like he will come in to relieve Gorgen, while either Michael Capbarat or Mark Canha comes in to play right field.  We’ll know very soon. 

3:20: Another quick inning from Gorgen.  He allowed one hit erased on a nifty 5-4-3 double play and that’s about it.  He only used 13 pitches, so he’s in good shape to throw another inning.  Coming up for the Bears is Blake Smith, who hit a home run back in the fourth inning. 

3:12: Other than a ground-ball double that skittered down the left field line off the bat of Josh Satin, there was nothing doing for the Bears in the bottom of the fifth inning.  Satin dug hard for second, and probably needed a little bit of oxygen after sliding in safely.  Good to see that kind of hustle even from a guy who’s admitedly not that fast.  Gorgen will come out for his second inning of work here in the top of the sixth, facing first baseman Cody Decker. 

3:03: Despite Gorgen’s insistence upon throwing fastballs on the leftmost corner of the plate, the home plate umpire refuses to call it a strike, though at the next level, it would likely be a strike.  Regardless of that little hiccup, Gorgen worked an effective fifth, and there is no one working in the bullpen, so he’ll probably keep going.  Up now in the bottom of the fifth is Cooper. 

2:51: Depsite my protests, Matt Gorgen will come into the game to try to hold the 2-0 lead.  Personally, I don’t think this is a good decision, but if anyone relishes coming into adverse situations, it’s Gorgen.  He’s is one competitive pitcher.  And as has become the tradition, we have Tyler Waddell doing some Irish dancing for the crowd next to the Cal dugout, as Gorgen’s entrance music, Shipping Up to Boston, blares over the Evans Diamond speakers.  He got a nice round of applause from the crowd. 

2:47: Matt Gorgen, put those pant cuffs DOWN.  You are not coming in.  Stop throwing.  Someone tranquilize Esquer.  DO NOT BRING IN GORGEN.  I know his twin brother is a starter so he has the genetics to last a while, but he’s a CLOSER.  DO NOT BRING HIM IN, IN THE FIFTH INNING. 

2:43: Blake Smith is a man.  And he’s my hero.  With the wind howling in from right field directly in to home plate, Smith crushed a 0-1 pitch from Grace into right, towering over the facade of Edwards Stadium before it hit the mural of Chris Errecart right between the eyes for the Bears’ first longball of the series.  Cal is now up 2-0.  After Smith, Jeff Kobernus eeked out an infield single and was bunted to second by Brady.  Now with two outs after Rich Gorman was robbed of a bloop single, Cutler comes to the plate with a man in scoring position. 

2:38: Miller got himself out of a jam in the top of the fourth inning, when suddenly the strike zone shrank, causing him to walk two hitters on pitches that had been called strikes earlier in the game.  With the bases loaded and two outs, Miller got leadoff hitter Jermaine Curtis to line out to right fielder Blake Smith.  Through four innings, Miller has allowed four hits and still no runs, as the Bears lead 1-0 with Smith coming up. 

2:20: It’s still 1-0, Cal, but the Bruins look just about as comfortable as someone with hemorrhoids sitting on a cactus.  The Bears sent five hitters to the plate in the bottom of the third, and if not for some pesky wind blowing from right to left field, Josh Satin may well have had a three-run home run, as a 2-0 pitch from Grace was spanked just left of the foul pole in left field.  Satin ended up grounding into a 5-4-3 double play, but at least he and the other Cal hitters are showing signs of life.  Brett Jackson took a walk and stole a base to put men at second and third with two down when catcher Dylan Tonneson roped one to the left side that just happened to find Brandon Crawford’s glove.  It’s just a matter of time before this lineup is humming again. 

2:10: Left fielder Charlie Cutler led off the bottom of the third with a ringing single to the right-center-field gap, and then David Cooper followed by promptly banging one up the middle.  After Brooks threw a very high and very away curveball to Josh Satin, UCLA head coach John Savage had had enough, replacing his starting lefty with another southpaw, Matt Grace, a freshman from Palos Verdes Estates, Calif.

2:04: The speakers are blaring “The Boys Are Back in Town,” and it seems like the music gods may be right, as the Bears are looking very strong now.  Kevin Miller’s curveball has a radar guidance system, I’m convinced of it.  That thing has more bend in it than a pretzel.  He gave up two consecutive singles to lead off the top of the third, and then got three straight outs, including his second strikeout of the game.  And he’s only a freshman.  Stay tuned to this kid’s career.  He could be something special. 

1:53: Shortstop Michael Brady just worked another full count walk, Brooks’ third of the inning to load the bases.  But the infield was playing smart against leadoff hitter Gorman, as shortstop Brandon Crawford was able to make a spectacular sliding stop up the middle to throw Gorman out at first to end the threat.  While the Bears only got one run in the bottom of the second, they did send seven men to the plate and made Brooks throw a ton of pitches.  This is the Cal team we’ve all come to know and love.  Now if only David Cooper would hit his first home run in seven games… 

1:48: Brooks is getting worked.  Blake Smith looks way more comfortable in the box today, not overswinging at all and eating away at Brooks to work a full-count walk after a nine-pitch at-bat to put men on first and second with one out and Jeff Kobernus coming to the plate with a run already in. 

1:44: It was about 280 feet short of a home run, but Tonneson got the job done, squibbing a little nubber down the first base line, which Decker had no choice but to take to first for the only out, as the speedy Jackson advanced to second and Satin trotted home running on contact for the Bears’ first run on the series, and their first lead. 

1:42: Jackson sneaks a single past first baseman Cody Decker on the payoff pitch to move Satin to third with Dylan Tonneson at the plate.  The sophomore backstop has 6 home runs on the year and is hitting over .300. 

1:39: Gavin Brooks is getting a little loose here in the bottom of the second, as UCLA head coach John Savage comes out to have a little chat.  Brooks walked Josh Satin on five pitches and has gone 3-0 to No. 5 hitter Brett Jackson, who’s hitting .316 on the season. 

1:33: Well, the Cal offense is still looking a little puzzled, no one more so than David Cooper, who just looks plain uncomfortable at the plate.  The Bears went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the first, but Miller went out again in the top of the second frame and again, only faced four hitters, retiring Ryan Babineau on a swinging strikeout, then giving up a line-drive single up the middle to Mickey Weisser before retiring Cody Decker and Brent Dean on consecutive pitches.  This is exactly what Cal needed: a solid, consistent pitching performance to hit behind. 

1:22: Freshman pitcher Kevin Miller is looking very good so far, setting down the Bruins in the top of the first with minimal trouble, the only blemish being a walk to Alden Carrithers.  Evans is packed today for the last regular season game of the season for these playoff-bound Bears, and the crowd is making itself known, being a little more vocal than the past two days. 

1:06 PM: Before the third game of the last series of the regular season, the 11-man senior class of the Cal baseball team was honored.  On a personal note, I’d also like to thank the seniors, because many of them were right there with me as I have covered the team over these past three years. Good luck, boys: Michael Capbarat, Kurt De La Rosa, Travis Erickson, Dane Fergusson, Jordan Karnofsky, Nick Nunez, Alex Rollin, Josh Satin, Nick Tess, Brett Thomas, Tyler Waddell.