BERKELEY, Calif. – With periods of rain falling up until an hour to game time, the Cal baseball team spent much of its day wondering whether it would even get a chance to take the field for its Pac-12 series opener against visiting Arizona State.
 
Freshman Jared Horn ended up being the one who would rain on Arizona State's parade as the right-hander tossed seven exemplary innings and the Cal offense gave its starter plenty of support, pounding out 14 hits en route to a 9-6 win in the first game of a three-game set at Evans Diamond.
 
With a window of dry weather providing a chance to play right at the scheduled 4:05 p.m. first pitch, Cal (13-14, 5-5 Pac-12) didn't wait around to get on the scoreboard. Freshman Andrew Vaughn, the Pac-12 leader in home runs, belted his eighth of the season with a shot to left-center that put the Bears up 2-0 after an inning.
 
The round-tripper forced Arizona State (12-16, 2-8) to go to its bullpen in the first, replacing starter Eli Lingos, who battled illness all week, with right-hander Eder Erives. Cal didn't much care who was on the mound though, adding to its lead in the second with Vaughn again in the middle of the action.
 
An RBI single by Jeffrey Mitchell, Jr. pushed the score to 3-0 and three pitches later Cal's first baseman struck again as this time Vaughn doubled into the right field corner to score both Tyrus Greene and Mitchell. That left the Bears with a 5-0 cushion to work with heading into the middle innings.
 
ASU got one run back in the third but Cal tacked on two more in the sixth to re-establish momentum. Ripken Reyes sent his first career home run over the fence in right field and Mitchell added a sacrifice fly to make the score 7-1. An RBI fielder's choice from Tanner Dodson and run-scoring double by Jonah Davis in the eighth completed the scoring and made it 9-1 heading to the ninth.
 
As the rain returned in full force to begin the final frame, Arizona State's bats awoke as the Sun Devils plated five runs and eventually forced Cal to go to closer Erik Martinez. The Bears' stopper shut the door eventually, getting the final two outs via fly out and pop up to preserve the win.
 
"We played eight innings of really good baseball. It got a little hairy there at the end and it wasn't because of our defense," Cal head coach David Esquer said. "We just didn't throw enough strikes and we gave them a little momentum that we didn't need to. Defensively, I think we did OK."
 
Before ASU made its late charge, Cal pitching gave the Sun Devils no chance to mount any sort of comeback thanks to the quality start offered by Horn. The Napa, Calif. native was at his best, mixing his low to mid-90s fastball with a devastating curve ball to allow just one unearned run on three hits. Control was the name of the game for the Cal freshman, who struck out five and didn't walk anyone to improve to 3-2 on the year.
 
"My fastball command and the feel for my curve ball have improved from the first couple starts," Horn said. "I'm in a good groove right now and feeling confident about my stuff."
 
Mitchell and Vaughn led the charge offensively, each collecting three hits while every Cal starter also found the hit column. Vaughn drove in four runs while Mitchell added two RBI. Reyes also had perhaps his strongest offensive game of the year to date, going 2 for 3 with two runs and an RBI. Cal and Arizona State return to Evans Diamond at 12:05 p.m. on Saturday for game two of the series. Roxy Bernstein and Eric Byrnes will have the call on Pac-12 Networks. Sunday's series finale is set for a 2:05 p.m. first pitch and will also be broadcast live.