Cal’s baseball team received a two-hit shutout from its starter Thursday, and it wasn’t even the Condors’ No. 1 guy on the mound.
Senior right-hander Ruben Pinedo kept Pioneer’s hitters off-balance all game long in an 8-0 triumph in the Del Rio League opener for both teams. He’s an outfielder who has found his way onto an already stacked pitching staff, and Thursday’s complete-game effort only added to the confidence coach Tony Nieto has in the group. Nieto allowed No. 1 starter Daniel Alvarez to pitch 6 1/3 innings in a nonleague game Monday, knowing he had Pinedo for Pioneer. The only action Alvarez saw Thursday was as a pinch hitter in the seventh.
“(Pinedo) really adds to our depth,” said Nieto. “We can go five, six deep.”