BERKELEY, Calif. – With a chance to wrap up a significant Pac-12 series sweep, the Cal baseball team came out firing on all cylinders as a trio of big offensive innings and a good start by lefty Matt Ladrech led to a 9-5 victory over Washington State on a sun-splashed day at Evans Diamond.
 
Cal (12-13, 4-5 Pac-12) didn't wait long to hit the scoreboard on a beautiful Sunday afternoon in Berkeley, pushing four runs across in the third inning to take command. An RBI double by Denis Karas got the scoring parade started, a double by Tanner Dodson plated two more and a ground out by Jonah Davis brought the final run across.
 
Three innings later, the Bears added on to put the game out of reach. The left field corner featured prominently again but this time it was Cameron Eden putting a ball out of reach, driving a double down the line to bring both Ripken Reyes and Max Flower in to score. Eden went on to score on a wild pitch and Cal owned a commanding 7-0 advantage.
 
Cal's offense supported a sterling day on the mound from a handful of Bears pitchers. Ladrech, still working his way back to full health, got Cal started with four sharp innings, allowing just two hits and striking out four without a walk.
 
"You can really tell with his training, he's really got a good plan on what he does when he bullpens and it translates immediately to stuff he's working on and perfecting," Cal head coach David Esquer said. "Hopefully we just keep him hot because he's doing a great job."
 
Arman Sabouri entered in the fifth and the freshman left-hander continued the momentum Ladrech established, working two perfect innings with two strikeouts to earn his first collegiate win. Dodson added two innings of relief to bridge the gap to the ninth, Zayne Patino recorded the first out of the final frame and Erik Martinez needed just eight pitches to finish the afternoon.
 
Dodson added to a big day with an RBI double in the eighth, finishing the afternoon 4 for 5 with two doubles, three RBI and a run scored. Tyrus Greene was a catalyst in the leadoff spot as well, going 3 for 4 with a run. The Bears finished with 13 hits and ended the weekend with 34 hits and 28 runs over three games. Dodson and Greene led the way throughout the series, each going 6 for 11 against the Cougars.
 
"It was just what we needed. We needed wins, we needed to play well," Greene said. "It's huge because we were 1-5 and now we're 4-5. Now we need to come out and do that to ASU."
 
Cal stays in the Bay Area for its next five games, beginning with Tuesday's 5:30 non-conference showdown with rival Stanford at Sunken Diamond. The Bears return to Evans Diamond on Friday at 4:05 p.m. to kick off a three-game series with Arizona State and the entire series, as well as Tuesday's game at Stanford, will be televised live by Pac-12 Networks. Cal's stretch of Bay Area games concludes on April 11 with a trip to East Bay neighbor Saint Mary's.