BERKELEY, Calif. – A late rally by USC left the Cal baseball team in need of a comeback of its own if it wanted to pick up a critical Pac-12 series win and, with their backs against the wall, the Bears responded with three runs in the eighth inning to take a 9-8 victory and clinch a third-straight home weekend against conference competition.
Having carried a lead throughout the majority of the game, Cal (18-18, 10-7 Pac-12) found itself in need of a spark in the late innings after a three-run sixth put USC ahead 7-5. A solo home run by
Preston Grand Pre, his first of the season, got Cal back to within one after six complete but USC re-established a two-run advantage by scoring a run on a wild pitch in the seventh.
The comeback came one inning later. A leadoff walk and fielder's choice left one runner on for freshman
Cameron Eden and Cal's shortstop wasted no time tying the game, belting the first pitch he saw from USC reliever Brad Wegman over the left field fence for Cal's third home run of the game.
Sophomore
Tyrus Greene kept the momentum going with a double into the left-center field gap, a hit that forced USC to go back to its bullpen once again. That made no difference to
Jeffrey Mitchell, Jr. as the sophomore went right back up the middle with a 1-2 offering from Solomon Bates, bringing Greene in to score and giving Cal the 9-8 lead.
USC (18-19, 5-9) got one last chance in the ninth but Cal closer
Erik Martinez was even stronger than he was one night earlier, working a 1-2-3 inning on just 10 pitches to earn his fifth save of the season. Cal's late rally also made a winner out of sidewinding right-hander
Andrew Buckley, giving the redshirt junior his first collegiate win thanks to an perfect inning of relief.
Cal's power surge continued Saturday as
Denis Karas also hit his second solo home run in as many days.
Tanner Dodson enjoyed a 3 for 4 evening while Grand Pre and Eden also had a three-hit game. Grand Pre had an impressive stat line as a whole, going 3 for 4 with the home run, a triple, three runs and three RBI.
The series win is Cal's third straight at home over a Pac-12 foe, joining wins over Washington State and Arizona State. The Bears have been particularly potent at home this year as Saturday's win ran their record at Evans Diamond to 14-6.
"It's them learning that somebody may make a mistake and you don't have to lose the game. Somebody else can make a play and stop it and set the game up to continue on," Cal head coach
David Esquer said. "Sometimes it seems like with immaturity and being young, it's one mistake and they start to get down and let their guard down a little bit and it snowballs into more mistakes. I think that's been the key to these last two games. We have not played great baseball or clean baseball. We've been offensive enough to keep punching back when they get on top of our pitching so hopefully we can get a well-pitched game tomorrow and change it."
Cal and USC return to Evans Diamond on Sunday for the final game of their weekend series. First pitch is set for 1:05 p.m. Sunday's game also doubles as Bark at the Park day and fans are invited to bring their dog to the ballpark along with proof of vaccinations. Cal travels across the Bay on Tuesday for a 3 p.m. non-conference game against San Francisco.
