BERKELEY, Calif. – A three-inning stretch in which No. 10-ranked Stanford scored seven runs put the Cardinal ahead and negated a good start offensively by the Cal baseball team as the Bears dropped an 8-5 decision in game two of a three-game series at Evans Diamond.
 
Cal (21-26, 12-14 Pac-12) got its bats rolling early under bright sunshine on Sunday. Andrew Vaughn plated the Bears' first run with an RBI double in the first inning and a two-run single by Preston Grand Pre with two outs in the second pushed Cal's advantage to 3-0.
 
Stanford (33-13, 15-8) rallied in the fourth, scoring three runs with the help of two Cal errors. But, even with the score tied and momentum seemingly in the other dugout, the Bears responded with two runs of their own in the bottom of the inning as Korey Lee scored on a wild pitch and Grand Pre drove in another with an RBI bunt single to put Cal back ahead 5-3.
 
Unfortunately for the Bears, that marked the end of the scoring for the afternoon and Stanford capitalized by scoring two more in the fifth, including one on a wild pitch, and two in the sixth to take the lead. The Cardinal added one more run in the eighth in support of starter Andrew Summerville and the left-hander worked into the ninth inning, the longest outing of his career, to earn his fourth win of the season.
 
Another solid day at the plate resulted in 11 hits for the Bears as Grand Pre led the way with two hits and three RBI. Every other Golden Bear who came to the plate had one hit, including pinch-hitter Matt Ruff who extended the game in the ninth with a double.
 
Cal and Stanford return to Evans Diamond on Monday at 6:05 p.m. for the final game of their three-game series. The Bears remain at home next week for their final three home games of the year when nationally ranked TCU visits for a Thursday-Saturday series. Cal wraps up the 2017 regular season the following week at Arizona.