BERKELEY, Calif. – Though the Cal baseball team outhit yet another opponent, the big hits that would have turned those rallies into runs were again missing as the Bears fell 3-1 to Long Beach State in a non-conference game at Evans Diamond.
Playing just one day after wrapping up a three-game series at UCLA, Cal (9-13) returned to Berkeley in search of better fortune. But, Long Beach State (14-9) struck first, plating a run on an RBI single by Ramsey Romano to give the Dirtbags a 1-0 lead after just half an inning.
Cal evened the score in the fourth when freshman
Andrew Vaughn belted his seventh home run of the season, sending a 1-1 offering from Long Beach State starter AJ Jones over the left field fence to extend his Pac-12 lead in homers. That was all the offense Cal got when it came to runs though, as the Bears collected nine hits but couldn't get the decisive hit to cash in on a rally.
Long Beach State took the lead in the eighth, scoring an unearned run on a sacrifice fly by David Banuelos. Another RBI single by Romano in the ninth added an insurance run and that tally proved significant when Cal got its last chance in the bottom of the ninth. A double by
Jonah Davis and walk by
Tyrus Greene put the potential tying run on base but Chris Rivera worked out of the jam, striking out the next two hitters to earn his fourth save of the season.
Cal committed four errors on the evening and walked six but the pitching staff limited the damage as
Matt Ladrech,
Arman Sabouri,
Jack Cosca,
Zayne Patino,
Erik Martinez and Vaughn limited the Dirtbags to just three runs on six hits. Vaughn, Davis and
Tanner Dodson led the Bears offensively with two hits apiece.
"I think it's probably the most times in my career that we've outhit the opponent, at least three, four or five times, and lost," Cal head coach
David Esquer said. "And that's indicative. Runners in scoring position, runners on, we're just not getting that extra hit. We're able to get them on and that's our youth. We're not good enough in those spots yet."
The Bears return to Evans Diamond on Friday at 7:05 p.m. to kick off a three-game series against Washington State. Action continues Saturday at 6:05 and Sunday at 1:05.
