BERKELEY – There will be moments throughout the 2017 season that show a young Cal baseball team's aptitude for turning experience gained into results.
 
An 8-7 win over Gonzaga in 13 innings on Saturday might just be the first example of a team intent on applying those lessons when the pressure is at its peak.
 
A thrilling comeback in the first game of a planned doubleheader gave Cal a hard-fought and well-earned victory but rain played its part in the day as well as the Bears and visiting Gonzaga suspended the second game of the day in the top of the seventh inning on a rainy night in Berkeley.
 
Cal and Gonzaga will resume their suspended game on Sunday at 11:35 a.m., then play their regularly scheduled game set for 1:05 p.m. Fans can show their Saturday ticket stub at the box office and receive free admission for both games on Sunday.
 
Cal 8, Gonzaga 7
 
Trailing by six runs after just three innings, the Bears climbed back into contention with a flurry of offense in the middle innings, tied the game in the ninth and walked it off on a game-winning RBI double by Denis Karas in the bottom of the 13^th inning.
 
Gonzaga (4-5) jumped out to the early lead, plating three runs in the second and three in the third off Cal starter Jared Horn. Only three of those were earned though, as an error in the third helped chase Horn from the game and left Cal's bullpen to pitch the rest of the game.
 
Down but not deterred, Cal's offense began to make thoughts of a comeback a bit more realistic in the middle innings. Two runs in the bottom of the fourth, a solo home run by Tanner Dodson in the fifth and a three-run sixth keyed by a two-run single from Jonah Davis and a RBI single from Dodson brought Cal to within just one run at 7-6.
 
With one run still to make up in the ninth and facing Gonzaga closer Wyatt Mills, Cal used a two-out rally to prolong the game. Jeffrey Mitchell, Jr. got it started with a single, Tyrus Greene kept it going with another base hit and freshman Anthony Walters made those contributions count, sending a single through the right side of the infield to tie the game.
 
Cal closer Erik Martinez kept the Bears alive in extra innings, twice denying a bases-loaded chance for the Bulldogs with an inning-ending strikeout. Freshman Andrew Vaughn pitched a 1-2-3 top of the 13^th, then led off the bottom of the inning with a single to center to get the winning rally started. Karas came next and, on a 1-2 offering from Gonzaga's Calvin LeBrun, the junior from Lafayette, Calif. sent a shot into the right-center field gap that made all the difference. Vaughn dove in just ahead of the tag at home and Cal celebrated its most memorable win of the season to date.
 
"I give them a lot of credit," Cal head coach David Esquer said. "We've told them that resilience is going to be one of the characteristics they have to have in order to get through the rough patches and the learning curve. I thought they did that today."
 
The box score was certainly impressive enough with Davis, Dodson, Karas, Mitchell and Greene all collecting three hits apiece en route to a 19-hit effort by the Bears. Cal's bullpen played a huge role in the victory as well with Akaash Agarwal, Jack Wolger, Zayne Patino, Martinez and Vaughn combining to throw 11 2/3 innings of one-run relief.
 
Cal 3, Gonzaga 2 (suspended)
 
Rain forced a stoppage of play after six innings but, until that point, a strong start from right-hander Joey Matulovich and clutch hitting by some of Cal's youngest players put the Bears in position to take a lead into the late innings.
 
Matulovich set the tone with his work on the mound, utilizing a fast tempo to run through the Bulldogs over the first five innings. He allowed just two runs on four hits, walking three and striking out one while throwing 96 pitches in his longest outing of the season.
 
Cal got its offense from a trio of clutch hits. Freshman Max Flower made the first mark, driving a two-out, RBI single to right field to give the Bears a 1-0 lead in the 4^th. One inning later, Vaughn made the same clutch contribution, singling up the middle with two outs to score Davis and make it 2-0.
 
And, even after Gonzaga tied the game in the top of the sixth, another Cal freshman had the answer in the bottom of the inning. This time, Cameron Eden made his two-out at-bat count, singling up the middle to score Anthony Walters and make it 3-2 just before play was called.
 
Mitchell and Eden will each begin Sunday's resumed game with two hits as Cal collected eight as a team over six innings.