BERKELEY: Senior Chris Paul and sophomore Lucas Erceg each had two hits for the Bears, but Cal fell to Duke, 7-1, in its 2015 season-opener Friday night at Evans Diamond.

The Blue Devils had a stellar pitching performance from junior right-hander Michael Matuella, who had an impressive eight strikeouts in 6.0 innings, allowing four hits with no runs and two walks. At the plate, Duke started its scoring in the fourth inning on Justin Bellinger's two-run homer off the Bears' sophomore right-hander Daulton Jefferies (4.2 innings, six hits, four runs, four walks and eight strikeouts).

The Blue Devils added two runs in the fifth inning on a Jefferies wild pitch and an RBI single from Mike Rosenfield. Duke's final three runs came in the seventh inning without the benefit of a hit after Cal relievers walked the first three batters.

Cal's lone run came in the bottom of the ninth when Paul led off the inning with a single up the middle and later scored on freshman shortstop Preston Grand Pre's RBI ground out. Freshman designated hitter Brett Cumberland had the Bears first extra-base hit of the season with a double in the third inning off of Matuella.

Duke and Cal will play the second game of the three-game series Saturday, Feb. 14 at 6 p.m. at Evans Diamond. The Blue Devils and the Bears conclude the series Sunday, Feb. 15 at 1 p.m. at Evans. Cal then travels to Bay Area rival Stanford on Monday for a 1 p.m. tilt at Sunken Diamond in a game that will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks.