TUCSON, Ariz. – Having shown its progress and growth at various points throughout the season, the Cal baseball team took its final road trip of the year to Arizona with one big way in which it could show how far it has come from the beginning of the year to the end.
 
In front of over 5,000 fans in hostile territory against a No. 15-ranked Wildcats squad headed to the NCAA Tournament, the Bears checked that box with one of their most impressive wins of the season as an early lead evaporated but Cal rebounded to pick up a significant 9-6 victory and even the series at Hi Corbett Field.
 
Cal (24-29, 14-15 Pac-12) wasted no time establishing its presence offensively, turning hot temperatures into hot bats in the first inning. Cameron Eden singled, Jeffrey Mitchell, Jr. doubled and Vaughn brought Eden in for the first run of the game with a single to left to get the Bears started.
 
Vaughn's RBI was only the appetizer. Denis Karas delivered the biggest blast of the inning four pitches later, crushing a 1-2 offering from Arizona starter Cameron Ming over the left field fence for a three-run home run. Matt Ruff added an RBI on a fielder's choice later in the inning and the Bears owned a 5-0 lead before Arizona even had a chance to bat.
 
Arizona (37-18, 16-13) didn't wait long to close the gap, scoring two runs in the bottom of the first and two more in the bottom of the second. In the process, the Wildcats forced Cal to go to its bullpen early as Joey Matulovich entered with one out in the bottom of the first and went on to pitch into the fifth. Arizona tied the game with a run in the fourth and that's where the score stayed heading into the last half of the game.
 
For the second night in a row, Cal re-took the lead courtesy of a clutch at-bat in the sixth inning. This time it was Vaughn who did the honors, turning a 2-1 offering from reliever Tylor Megill into a single up the middle that brought Ripken Reyes around to score and made it 6-5. The hit was statistically significant in another way as well with Vaughn picking up his 50^th RBI of the season.
 
Cal got creative to add another run in the seventh inning. An infield single by Tanner Dodson got the inning started and, with two outs and Dodson on third, Jonah Davis faked a bunt and instead punched a ball through an open left side to push the Bears' lead to 7-5. The Bears continued to extend the lead in the eighth, scoring on an RBI single by Dodson and a sacrifice fly by Ruff.
 
On the mound, Cal got a quality effort from Matulovich in relief and yet another memorable performance from Martinez to give the Bears a chance to win. After taking the ball with two outs in the fifth, Martinez didn't give it back until the ninth when Dodson entered to record the final three outs. The outing was Martinez's fifth of three innings or more in 2017 and pushed the junior's record to 5-4 while Dodson earned his second save.
 
Cal piled up the hits again on Saturday, finishing with a total of 11 as a team. Dodson was a catalyst yet again, ending the night 4 for 5 with two runs, a triple and an RBI. Vaughn went 3 for 5 with two runs and two RBI while four other Bears collected a hit apiece.
 
"The last three weeks, we've beaten a Regional team, a playoff team and a really good one at that," Cal head coach David Esquer said. "We've done it once but we haven't been able to do that earlier in the year. The growth is being able to beat those types of teams and the difference here is this one's on the road in an environment where it's really tough to win against a really good team. We had to be able to do that and we did that tonight. It was a gritty, gutty game."
 
The 2017 regular season draws to a close on Sunday with a 1:05 p.m. first pitch in Tucson. Cody Deason will pitch for the Wildcats while the Bears have yet to announce a starter.