BERKELEY – Led by the solid pitching of sophomore right-hander Daulton Jefferies and some timely hitting, Cal baseball produced a 4-2 win over Kansas State Saturday night in the first game of a three-game series at Evans Diamond. With the win, the Golden Bears improved to 6-3 on the season and the Wildcats dropped to 4-5.

Jefferies improved his record to 2-1 by throwing 7.0 innings with six hits, one earned run, one walk and five strikeouts. Senior closer Dylan Nelson picked up his first save of the season by throwing the final two innings with two hits, one unearned run, one walk and one strikeout.

Senior first baseman Chris Paul and junior second baseman Max Dutto each had two hits apiece with doubles; while freshman shortstop Preston Grand Pre, sophomore third baseman Lucas Erceg and junior left fielder Brian Celsi all drove in runs for the Bears.

The Wildcats scored a run in the first inning on an RBI double by Shane Conlon, but Cal came battling back with a run in the second inning on a fielder's choice RBI by Grand Pre. The Bears took the lead in the fourth inning when Paul led off with a double and later scored on Celsi's RBI bunt single. Cal upped its lead with two runs in the seventh inning on an RBI single by Erceg and a Wildcat wild pitch.

A bases load walk in the ninth inning gave Kansas State its second run, but Nelson was able to get Conlon to fly out to left field to end the game.

“It was another strong outing by Daulton Jefferies against an aggressive hitting team,” said head coach David Esquer. “Daulton gave us a chance like he always does. We also got some clutch hitting from Celsi and Erceg that gave us some important RBI.”

The Bears will next play Kansas State in the second game of the three-game series Sunday, March 1 at 1 p.m. at Evans Diamond. Game three of the series will by Monday, March 2 at 10 a.m. at Evans Diamond.