Berkeley, Calif. – Nathan Bannister tossed his second straight complete game to lift Arizona to a 3-0 win over Cal in the opener of a three-game set.
Bannister tossed the first shutout of his career, giving up just three hits and three walks, while striking out a career-high 11. The senior right-hander from Peoria retired the last 11 hitters he faced to end the game in dominant fashion and give the Cats a crucial road victory.
The righty has given up just one run over 26 innings over his past three starts. He has 23 strikeouts and 11 hits during that stretch and is 3-0. On the season now, Bannister is 6-1.
“He did a spectacular job against a great offensive lineup,” coach Jay Johnson said. “His ability to mix pitches down in the zone and throw any pitch at any time made it really tough on them. It was a great job by him. We did just enough offensively to get the win.”
Bannister's performance was his third straight dominant outing for the Cats. He tossed eight shutout innings on April 8 in a win over Washington State and then threw a complete game against Stanford, allowing just one run to pick up a win.
On Friday against the Golden Bears, the senior kept the good times rolling, earning his first shutout. The Cats scored one run in the third and two more in the fifth to let Bannister get to cruise control over the final frames.
The Cats grabbed the lead in the third inning. Catcher Ryan Haug led off the inning, by reaching on an error and advanced to second base. Louis Boyd then laid down a sacrifice bunt that moved Haug to third with one out for Justin Behnke. Behnke followed suit and bunted to score Haug from third.
Arizona increased the lead two innings later in the fifth. Boyd and Behnke again were in the middle of it. This time, both dropped down bunts for hits to put two on with one out. After a strikeout, Zach Gibbons doubled to right field to score both to make it 3-0. The hit gave Gibbons 14 two-out RBI on the season to lead the team. He's hitting .375 with two outs on the season.
“He was put on this earth to hit with two outs and runners in scoring position,” Johnson said of the senior right fielder.
Bannister picked up a career-high eighth strikeout in the sixth inning. He got out of the inning on a double play when batter's interference was called with a runner trying to steal second. He totaled his ninth strikeout an inning later.
Gibbons finished 2 for 3 with two RBI. The senior now has five RBI over his last two games and has a nine-game hitting streak. He has four multiple-hit games during that stretch and has lifted his batting average to .366 on the season. Boyd finished 1 for 2 with a run scored, a walk and a sacrifice bunt.
The Cats and Golden Bears will continue their three-game series Saturday night. First pitch is set for 7 p.m. The game will be televised by ESPNU. Roxy Bernstein and Mike Rooney will have the call.
