Cal falls to Oregon, crushes San Jose State
Cal looked to rebound from last weekend’s loss against UCLA as it took on No. 25 Oregon, but some cold batting and strokes of misfortune sent the Bears back to Berkeley with the same taste of defeat in their mouths.
The Bears opened their Pacific Northwest trip promisingly. Caleb Lomavita batted in the Bears’ first run before eventually rounding the bases thanks to a wild pitch, giving the Bears a 2-0 lead against Oregon. But Cal’s bats went cold thereafter, and a flurry of late runs from the Ducks, including a triple with loaded bases, saw them surge past the Bears to take the opener.
Looking to bounce back in the second leg of the series, Cal was immediately met with a five-run barrage in the first inning. The Bears did well to close their early deficit — junior outfielder Dylan Beavers nearly brought Cal to within one with a two-run homer, but it was robbed at left-center wall by a leaping catch. Oregon saw the game out to win 8-3.
On Sunday, Cal nicked a win in the third leg of the series. Trailing 1-4 heading into the seventh inning, the Bears’ bats caught fire late: fifth-year infielder Hance Smith plated two runs from a single and scored an inside-the-park home run with loaded bases to put the Bears ahead. Cal scored eight runs in the final three frames to turn the game on its head late, winning 9-8.
Cal came out of the series disappointed, but with some encouraging glimmers of quality.
“We still hit some balls well,” said Cal head coach Mike Neu. “I thought we put together some really strong at-bats and in general played decently. We had a couple of innings that got away from us, but overall we gave ourselves a chance to win all three games at times — things just didn’t really go our way. But it was great to win that Sunday game.”
After its unsuccessful trip to the Pacific Northwest, Cal hosted San Jose State on May 3. The Bears decimated the Spartans 17-5 in their first meeting this season, and the story was similar on Tuesday.
Hance Smith opened the floodgates in the first inning with a solo homer. By the end of the second, thanks to a three-run homer from senior catcher Dom Souto and some opportunistic base running from Dylan Beavers, the Bears were coasting with a comfortable 5-0 lead.
Meanwhile, Cal’s five-man pitching committee was similarly effective on the mound, shutting out the Spartans through all nine innings. The Bears rounded the bases five more times after the second frame to win the game comprehensively 10-0.
“It was one of our most complete games, especially in the midweek,” Neu said. “The offense did a great job of getting ahead early and patient and being selective on pitches. And then when you get a shutout you’re going to win, so it was a good job from our pitching staff to put up zeroes all the way through.”
Colin Mequet covers baseball. Contact him at cmequet@dailycal.org.