BERKELEY, Calif. – A back and forth battle turned win got the Cal baseball team started and the Bears ended the day with another offense-filled evening as they clinched a series win over Cal State Bakersfield with victories of 5-3 and 23-2.
 
Cal (4-2) and Cal State Bakersfield (2-5) will return to Evans Diamond on Sunday at 1:05 p.m. for the final game of their four-game series. The Bears will hit the road next week as they head to Frisco, Texas to take part in the Frisco Baseball Classic with Baylor, Texas A&M and Louisiana Tech. Action begins Friday with an all-Bears matchup between Cal and Baylor.
 
Game 1
 
A solid performance by the Golden Bears' lineup and offensive momentum gained in the fourth and sixth innings resulted in a 5-3 win over the Roadrunners to start the day.
 
Joey Matulovich took the ball for the Bears and fought through early offense by the Roadrunners, who scored twice in the top of the second to take a 2-0 lead.
 
Cal countered in the bottom of the third, with a double by Tyrus Greene and an RBI single by Daren Baker, but the Roadrunners added another run in the top of the 4th to push their advantage to 3-1.
 
Despite Bakersfield's early lead, Cal pulled even in the fourth. Tanner Dodson took advantage of a CSUB error to reach base, stole second and eventually puled the Bears to within one by scoring on a wild pitch. Matt Ruff restarted the rally with a two-out walk, Ripken Reyes kept it going with a single and Cameron Eden delivered the inning's biggest blow, lining a double into the left field corner to tie the game.
 
Cal took the game's final lead in the sixth thanks to one big swing by Reyes. The junior from Stockton, Calif. sent the first pitch he saw from Davonte Butler over the left field wall for a solo home run, putting Cal ahead 4-3. Eden kept the inning going with another double and Greene brought him around with a single up the middle to make it 5-3.
 
After Matulovich worked his way through four innings, sophomore Arman Sabouri delivered a key relief stint to get the game to Dodson. The left-hander worked 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief, striking out three with no walks and only one hit allowed to earn his first win of the season. Dodson tossed the final 2 1/3 innings, struck out two and didn't allow a runner to pick up his first save.
 
Eden led the Bears offensively with a 3-for-4 afternoon in which all three hits were doubles. Greene added three hits of his own and both Reyes and Darren Baker added two hits apiece.
 
Game 2
 
Offense aplenty helped the Bears stay hot on another cold Berkeley night as Cal exploded for 18 runs in the first four innings en route to a third-consecutive win.
 
The numbers jumped off the page by the end of the night for the Bears. Max Flower departed in the sixth inning after going 4 for 4 with three runs and six RBI. Davis did the same with a line of 3 for 3, one run, five RBI, a double and a three-run home run.
 
Dodson added a strong game of his own, going 4 for 5 with a double, four runs and an RBI. And, Vaughn went 1 for 2 with his fifth home run of the season, two walks, four runs scored and three RBI.

"I told our guys they did a good job keeping a professional approach and not wasting any at-bats because it's easy in those kinds of games to lose focus," Cal head coach Mike Neu said. "I thought our guys did a really nice job of taking advantage of their at-bats and playing good defense. That was good to see."
 
Not to be lost in all the offensive fireworks was a second-straight strong performance by sophomore pitcher Rogelio Reyes. The right-hander from Union City, Calif. worked six innings and allowed just one run on three hits while walking three and striking out three.

"He's made some great adjustments," Neu said. "The changeup was a really solid pitch for him today and last game too. He's learned how to kind of change speeds with his fastball and get some weak contact. That's been the difference for him. His breaking ball's gotten a lot better too. It's really a testament to his work. We've worked on some adjustments but he's taken the initiative to focus on them and it's showing up here on the field."