WASHINGTON, Pa. (Feb. 20) – The California (PA) baseball team scored at least four runs in four separate innings on Tuesday afternoon at Wild Things Park while cruising to an 18-2 victory over Wheeling in non-conference action.
RECORDS/SERIES
• The Vulcans swept the season-opening home series to start the year with a 2-0 record.
• The Cardinals drop both games at Wild Things Park to begin the season with a 0-2 mark.
• Cal has won 14 of the 16 meetings against Wheeling since the 2010 campaign.
STATS
• Junior first baseman
Payton Conte reached base five times (two hits, one walk, two hit by pitch), drove in five runs behind a grand slam, scored three times and stole two bases.
• Junior left fielder
Ryan Callahan finished 3-for-5 with two RBI, three runs scored, two steals and one hit by pitch.
• Senior right fielder
Colby Rockacy reached base four times (two hits, two hit by pitch), scored three runs and stole one base.
• Senior shortstop
Brett Bobin went 2-for-5 with two RBI and three runs scored.
• Senior catcher
Jayden Taitano collected two hits, one RBI, two runs and one walk.
• Freshmen
Caleb Collins and
Ikon Jones drew a combined three walks and tallied four RBI off the bench.
• Sophomore
Michael Valente earned the win in his first career start after allowing two runs (one earned) in 6.0 innings (59 pitches).
GAME ACTION
• Cal scored four unearned runs in the bottom of the first on just two hits, including an RBI triple by Callahan.
• The Vulcans stretched the lead to 9-0 in the second inning on a two-out RBI single by Callahan before Conte belted a grand slam to left field.
• Wheeling scored one run in both the third and fourth innings on Tuesday.
• Cal scored on a sacrifice fly in the sixth before scoring four runs in both the seventh and eighth innings.
• The Vulcans tallied four runs in the bottom of the eighth on just one hit, as three batters were hit by a pitch and three additional hitters drew walks.
• The Cal pitching staff issued zero walks and tallied three strikeouts over 9.0 innings in the victory.
• The Cardinals used nine different pitchers on Tuesday and 14 different pitchers appeared on the mound in the two-game series.
NEXT
• The Vulcans return to action with a three-game weekend series against Hillsdale (Mich.) of the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) at Wild Things Park, starting with a single contest on Saturday, Feb. 24, at 1 p.m.
