BERKELEY, Calif. – A cold night in Berkeley drew heat from a red-hot Cal baseball lineup as the Golden Bears erupted for seven extra-base hits, three of which were home runs, and a 17-6 win over Cal State Bakersfield in the first game of a four-game series at Evans Diamond,
 
Offense was the name of the game early and, as has been the case since his arrival in Berkeley last season, Andrew Vaughn was right in the middle of the action right away. The sophomore from Santa Rosa, Calif. belted his team-high third home run of the season with a majestic drive to right-center field, giving Cal (2-2) a 2-0 lead after an inning.
 
Cal State Bakersfield (2-3) took a lead of its own shortly thereafter, scoring once in the second and twice more in the third to move ahead 3-2. The Bears didn't stay down for long though as an RBI single by Tanner Dodson and run-scoring fielder's choice by Max Flower made it 4-3 Cal.
 
The back and forth continued in the fourth with Bakersfield turning a pair of Cal errors into two runs and the Bears again coming right back. Thiis time, doubles by Ripken Reyes and Cameron Eden brought home one run, Vaughn singled in one more and Jonah Davis added another with an RBI single of his own. When the dust settled at the end of the inning, Cal held a 7-5 lead.
 
Cal's offense wasn't done. Davis crushed a 3-run home run off the netting that protects the scoreboard in left-center field, Matt Ruff scored on a wild pitch and Tyrus Greene added a sacrifice fly to push the Bears' advantage to 12-5. Vaughn added his second home run of the night, this one a solo shot over the scoreboard and the Bears tacked on five runs in the eighth to finish the scoring.

"We saw what he did last year and then we saw what he did in the fall. It doesn't really surprise me," Cal head coach Mike Neu said. "He's super talented, he understands the game, he's a competitive, hard worker and he's obviously really got the ability to swing the bat and hit for power. It's fun to watch. I'm enjoying watching him work every day and do well in the game. I think that's kind of who he is. I'm sure things will even out a little bit but he's definitely going to be a weapon every time he steps in the box."
 
On the mound, sophomore Jared Horn flashed his electric stuff on his way to a second-straight win as the right-hander struck out a career-high nine in five innings of work. Horn allowed five runs (four earned) on five hits and walked two. The relief brigade of Zayne Patino, Aaron Shortridge, Andrew Buckley and Conor Neumann finished the game with four innings of one-run relief. Neumann, a senior left-hander who starred for the Cal men's water polo team for four years, made his Cal debut and struck out two in an inning of work.
 
Cal finished the evening with 16 hits as a team, led by Vaughn's massive stat line of 3 for 3, three runs, four RBI, three walks and two home runs. Greene went 3 for 4 with an RBI and two runs scored while Davis also went 2 for 4 with two runs, two walks and four RBI. Tanner Dodson and Reyes also collected a multi-hit game.

"I'm just excited, man. It's fun playing baseball," Vaughn said. "Hitting home runs, winning games. Getting our boy (Jared) Horn the win fired me up. We got him 2-0 to start the year and it gets us rolling."
 
The Bears and Roadrunners return to Evans Diamond on Saturday for games two and three of their four-game series. Action begins at 2 p.m. with Cal right-hander Joey Matulovich slated to oppose Bakersfield's Davonte Butler. The second game of Saturday's doubleheader is tentatively set for 6 p.m. with the actual start time depending on what time the first game concludes. The series concludes Sunday at 1:05 p.m.