BERKELEY, Calif. – A staff game on the mound turned into perhaps the most positive mid-week performance of the season for the Cal pitching staff as six Golden Bears limited visiting San Francisco to just three hits and an RBI single by junior Matt Ruff turned his pitchers' efforts into a 1-0 non-conference win on a picturesque evening at Evans Diamond.
 
Ruff's winning hit broke a scoreless deadlock in the seventh inning and came after an odd play helped the Bears put a man in scoring position. Tanner Dodson reached second base on an infield hit and an obstruction call, ultimately giving Ruff a chance to produce with two outs. The junior utility man sent a 1-1 pitch from Joey Steele back up the middle and into center field, bringing Dodson around to score easily and leaving Cal (21-21) up 1-0.
 
With left-hander Arman Sabouri on the mound to start the final Tuesday game of Cal's season, the Bears figured to use a handful of pitchers in an attempt to build momentum for this weekend's trip to No. 1 Oregon State. What Sabouri did was establish a groove for his fellow pitchers to step into as the southpaw tossed two scoreless innings, striking out one and allowing just two hits in a quality outing.
 
Aaron Shortridge followed and threw two scoreless innings of his own, Zayne Patino contributed 1 2/3, Andrew Buckley tossed 1 1/3 and Dodson struck out one without allowing a base runner in the eighth. Junior Erik Martinez took the ball in the ninth and he put an end to the evening, walking a pair but getting a ground out to close the ballgame and earn his sixth save of the season.
 
"I was looking at a couple things, like how many pitchers were we able to pat on the rear end and say way to go, nice job," Cal head coach David Esquer said. "Obviously six of them came in and did some positive things on the mound. We're looking to stabilize that. Martinez was really good on the weekend for us and won that game so it was good to get a lot of one inning and two inning (outings) from different guys."
 
Cal did collect eight hits of its own on the evening, led by a 3-for-4 evening from second baseman Preston Grand Pre. Five other Bears had one hit apiece. The shutout is the first this season for Cal pitchers and first since Daulton Jefferies and Alex Schick combined to do it in the next to last game of the 2016 season at Washington State.
 
Tuesdsay's game represented a one-game return to Evans Diamond in between back to back weekends on the road for the Golden Bears. After traveling to Seattle to take on Washington last weekend, Cal heads back to the Pacific Northwest this weekend to square off with the Beavers. A three-game series starts Friday at 7:05 p.m., continues Saturday at 1:35 p.m. and concludes with a 12:05 p.m. first pitch on Sunday. All three games will be broadcast live by Pac-12 Networks.