Josh White Shows His Stuff in Cal's Opening Baseball Win

He strikes out 10 in 5 1/3 as Bears defeat Houston in MLB4 event in their first game of the season

Josh White demonstrated in Cal's season-opening baseball game why he was placed on the preseason watch list for the Golden Spikes Award, which goes to the nation's best college player.

A starting pitcher this season after being a reliever primarily last year, White pitched just 5 1/3 innings in Cal's 4-2, 10-inning victory over Houston Friday afternoon in Scottsdale, Ariz.  But he struck out 10 of the 21 batters he faced and allowed only three hits without giving up a run.

His final strikeout came on the final batter he faced, before he was replaced with one in the sixth inning by Nick Proctor. White issued two walks and also hit a batter.

Despite his standout performance, White was not the winning pitcher on Friday, as the Bears (1-0) did not score their first run until the top of the seventh.

Houston took a 2-1 lead into the ninth inning before Caleb Lomavita belted a solo home run in the top of the ninth to send the game into extra innings.

Nathan Martorella singled in the go-ahead run in the top of the 10th, and Lomavita added a sacrifice fly for an insurance run.

Henrik Reinertsen pitched the ninth and 10th for Cal without giving up a hit or a run and got the win.

Lomavita and Cole Elvis each has two hits for the Bears, who face 17th-ranked TCU in their second game of this MLB4 event.

.

Cover photo of Josh White by Rob Edwards, KLC Fotos

.

Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

Find Cal Sports Report on Facebook by searching: @si.calsportsreport or going to https://www.facebook.com/si.calsportsreport