On Sunday morning when Chris Petrini got a text message saying that he was going to start the final game of the season for the Cal baseball team, he decided that his goal for the day would be to send off the seniors and junior draft hopefuls the right way.

After a three-minute, two-strikeout top of the first inning, Petrini had already sent that message loud and clear.

On senior day at Evans Diamond, Petrini went the distance for the Bears-carrying a no-hitter into the seventh inning-and shutting out USC, 6-0, to finish the 2009 season. In the effort, Petrini struck out nine and gave up two hits on just 128 pitches.

"I tried to stick with my normal game plan, which is attack with the fastball and throw a breaking pitch or a change over the plate so I could keep them off-balance," he said. "I was able to get ahead all day which caused them some trouble late in the count."

Other than a walk and a fielder's choice in the second inning and a batter reaching on an error in the sixth, Petrini retired every other hitter through 6 and 2/3 innings.

And while Petrini was crafting a masterpiece on the mound, his defense was also putting on a show behind him. In the fourth inning, shortstop Michael Brady saved a potential infield single by USC (28-28, 13-14 in the Pac-10) second baseman Joe De Pinto with a hard throw to first on De Pinto's slow grounder.

One batter later, second baseman Jeff Kobernus charged a ground ball off the bat of first baseman Ricky Oropesa and threw while ranging behind the pitcher's mound to gun down Oropesa at first.

"You try not to think about it because you don't want to be the one to blow the no-hitter for him," Brady said. "There's definitely more pressure when a guy's out there pitching the game of his life."

The no-hitter was finally broken up in the seventh on a single by catcher Hector Rabago, and Petrini received a standing ovation from the Cal portion of the crowd as he walked back to the dugout at the end of the inning.

Petrini sailed through a 1-2-3 top of the eighth inning, but coach David Esquer had reliever Dixon Anderson warming up in the bullpen and nearly used that option when De Pinto doubled in the ninth. With the Bears' second complete game in three days on the line, pitching coach Dan Hubbs made a visit to the mound.

"He asked me how I was feeling and I said it was his decision whether he wanted to pull me or not," Petrini said. "But I could get the next guy out -their big hitter Grant Green-and (Hubbs) said, 'Go get 'em.'"

Green flied out to right, and Petrini struck out Oropesa and designated hitter Anthony Vasquez, ending the game to the tune of the applause of the 600-plus in attendance.

Petrini's effort would have been wasted, however, without a hand from his offense. The Bears (24-29, 9-18) scored two on a scorching RBI triple down the third base line by center fielder Brett Jackson in the second and added another in the fourth on a solo home run by catcher Dylan Tonneson.

Cal's final runs came in the fifth on RBI singles by Blake Smith and Danny Oh and on a catcher's error that enabled Mark Canha to scamper safely home.

"Chris Petrini just made my season," Jackson said. "There's no better feeling than when you back up your pitcher and he backs you up, and that was story tale ending for Petrini and for the season."

Tags: CAL BASEBALL, MICHAEL BRADY, CHRIS PETRINI