SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – A trio of big innings put host Utah in front and the Cal baseball team couldn't get its bats going until the final frame as the Bears fell 9-3 in the first of three games at Smith's Ballpark.
 
Cal (15-16, 7-6 Pac-12) fell behind in the second inning Thursday, surrendering a pair of runs on an RBI single by Josh Rose and sacrifice fly by Dominic Foscalina. The Bears didn't take long to get one back though, as an RBI single up the middle by Jeffrey Mitchell, Jr. brought Cameron Eden home to cut the deficit in half.
 
Utah (13-16, 4-9) really got rolling in the middle innings. Foscalina collected his second RBI of the day as part of a two-run fourth and the Utes added four more, all of which were unearned after an error with two outs, in the bottom of the sixth to take an 8-1 advantage. Utah starter Jayson Rose worked eight innings and allowed just an unearned run on four Cal hits.
 
The Bears added a pair of runs thanks to a hit parade in their last at-bat. A leadoff double by Matt Ruff, RBI double by Austen Swift and RBI single by Conner Bock plated two runs to provide the day's final score. Mitchell and Ruff led the way offensively, each collecting two hits on the afternoon, and Lorenzo Hampton, Jr. also doubled.
 
Cal and Utah return to Smith's Ballpark on Friday at 10:30 a.m. (PT) for game two of their series with right-handers Joey Matulovich and Riley Ottesen scheduled to toe the slab. The Bears' trip to Salt Lake City concludes Saturday with another 10:30 a.m. start. Matt Ladrech and Josh Lapiana are the scheduled starters. All three games are being streamed through the Utah website and Pac-12.com.