BERKELEY, Calif. – Fresh off a road sweep of Pepperdine, the Cal baseball team returned to Evans Diamond and made sure to keep that momentum going into Pac-12 play as the offense collected 13 hits, Rogelio Reyes worked a solid five innings on the mound and the Bears pushed their win streak to five with a 7-1 victory over Big Ten foe Minnesota.
 
A big third inning helped Cal (8-7) take its first lead of the day. An RBI double by Jeffrey Mitchell, Jr. followed by another run-scoring double by Denis Karas and a sacrifice fly by Tanner Dodson allowed the Bears to overcome an early Minnesota run to build a 3-1 advantage heading into the middle innings.
 
The offense continued to heat up from there. A solo home run to right by Dodson gave the Bears a run in the sixth inning and three more runs crossed the plate in the seventh thanks to an RBI double just inside the third base bag by Tyrus Greene and a two-run single through the right side of the infield by Max Flower.
 
All that offense came in support of a Cal pitching staff that continues to evolve as the season rolls along. Reyes drew the start and provided valuable mid-week stability, working into the sixth inning and allowing just two hits, walking two and striking out six.
 
The freshman right-hander turned the ball over to a couple of Cal's most consistent bullpen arms, starting with left-hander Arman Sabouri. The freshman from San Jose, Calif. worked the next two innings and allowed just one walk, bridging the gap to the late innings.
 
After Sabouri exited and Minnesota loaded the bases on an error and two walks in the eighth, fellow southpaw Zayne Patino danced out of trouble with a pair of strikeouts and a ground out to end the frame without allowing a Golden Gopher run. Andrew Vaughn pitched a scoreless ninth to close the game out.
 
Five different Bears enjoyed a multi-hit evening, with Mitchell, Vaughn, Greene, Flower and Cameron Eden each recording two. Vaughn reached base four times, continuing a hot streak that saw him go 7 for 13 with a home run during the trip to Pepperdine.
 
"Minnesota is an inter-sectional, Big Ten team and we have a lot of respect for them. They're supposed to do very well in their league," Cal head coach David Esquer said. "We've been swinging the bats. We had some difficulty, some of our guys had tougher at-bats with runners in scoring position, but that's just age. We're young. We have a lot of immature at-bats because we're just young and we press a little bit. We've done a good job of getting runners on base and creating opportunities for the last four or five games."
 
Cal now turns its attention to Pac-12 play as Oregon pays a visit for three games this weekend. Action begins Friday at 7:05 p.m., continues Saturday at 6:05 p.m. and concludes with a Sunday matinee that is slated for a 1:05 p.m. first pitch.