April 21, 2008

Berkeley, CA (UWIRE) -- All weekend long, the wind had been after David Cooper like the plague, turning several potential home runs from the No. 8 Cal baseball team's first baseman into routine fly balls to right field.

Sunday, it paid him back in full.

With two outs in the bottom of the ninth and runners on first and second in a 4-4 tie, Cooper hit a lazy fly ball to left field that got caught up in the swirling winds above Evans Diamond and drifted foul, falling just out of the reach of Washington's Aaron Russell to extend the at-bat.

After working the count full, Cooper lined a fastball into shallow center field, scoring Mark Canha from second base and touching off a celebration as the Bears (26-10-2, 7-5 in the Pac-10) came all the way back from a 4-0 deficit to win 5-4 and salvage the series win over the Huskies (24-14, 4-5).

"David Cooper's been our guy," coach David Esquer said. "He did it last week on Sunday against USC ... He's as good as there is in the clutch and we're fortunate to have him."

Cooper, whose team mobbed him at first base after Canha crossed the plate, was soft-spoken about his heroics.

"I was just thinking fastball and reacting to whatever, and I got a fastball," he said. "It was nice to get that series win. That was very much in doubt for most of the game."

Cal was held scoreless through the first six innings, as Washington starter Nick Haughian-who had struck out 29 hitters in his previous two starts-allowed just one hit while striking out six.

But the Bears finally broke through in the bottom of the seventh, when catcher Dylan Tonneson crushed a first-pitch fastball over the wall in left-center to break the shutout.

"(Haughian) started me off in at least one other (at-bat) with a fastball, and I was thinking maybe he'd do it again," Tonneson said. "He just left it over the plate and I put a good swing on it. Ad: Daily Cal Sports Blog

Blake Smith followed with an infield single, and senior Michael Capbarat brought Cal within one with his second home run of the year-a shot nearly identical to Tonneson's. Brett Jackson-the Bears' designated hitter on Sunday after aggravating a hamstring strain chasing down a ball on Saturday-then tied the game at 4-4 with an RBI single.

"After that first at-bat when I whiffed on the changeup, I started seeing it a little better and got a fastball," Capbarat said. "His stuff wasn't anything we hadn't seen before. I think we just kind of wore him down after a while."

Smith pitched two scoreless innings for Cal and improved his record to 2-0.

Cooper's game-winner saved the Bears from a damaging series loss at home after a split in the first two games.

Cal scored in double digits for the 11th time in a 10-5 win on Friday, touching up Huskies starter Cam Nobles for eight runs in 5 2/3 innings. Cooper and Smith both hit two-run home runs, and Tyson Ross improved his record to 6-1 after allowing four runs in seven innings.

But the offense, which has been streaky as of late, went cold for most of the Bears' 7-4 loss on Saturday. Craig Bennigson gave up a grand slam to Washington's Jake Rife in the ninth, making the score 7-2, and Cal's comeback effort in the bottom of the inning stalled when Josh Satin-the potential tying run-saw his drive into the gap in right-center tracked down by the Huskies' Sean Meehan.

(C) 2008 Daily Californian via UWIRE