Salt Lake City, Utah – The Utah Utes used a three-run fifth inning to top the No. 14 Golden Bears 3-2 in the series finale on Sunday afternoon. With the loss, Cal moves to 20-7 and 7-2 in Pac-12 play.

After no score through the first three innings, the Bears went up 1-0 in the fourth inning after senior Chris Paul singled through the left side to bring in sophomore Lucas Erceg. Paul stole second and then took third a few pitches later. The throw to third went into left field on his steal attempt and Paul raced home to put Cal up 2-0.

The Utes were shutout through four innings but scored three runs in the bottom of the fifth. Biss Larsen singled to bring in Andre Jackson to put Utah on the board. Two batters later, Cody Scaggari doubled with two runners on base to give his team the 3-2 lead.

Jayson Rose and Brock Duke combined to throw all nine innings for the Utes, giving up just three hits while striking out 17 batters. After the fifth inning, the Bears were held hitless and were kept off the bases in the last three innings. 

Freshman Matt Ladrech took the loss for the Bears, throwing 4.1 innings while allowing three runs on three hits. Erik Martinez threw one-third of an inning and then senior Dylan Nelson came in to relieve the freshman. Nelson threw the remaining 3.1 innings, holding the Utes hitless and striking out three.

"Overall this weekend was a good road series win for us," said Cal coach David Esquer. "You always get greedy and want the sweep when you have won the first two. But, we battled through an usual subpar offensive performance and just could not get the hit to wake us up. We just have to stay positive and move forward."

On Deck

The Bears return home to host the Washington State Cougars next weekend in a three-game series. First pitch is set for Thursday at 7 p.m.