CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. – A doubleheader day finished in dramatic fashion for 19th-ranked California (15-1) which went a full seven innings to bring in a 6-5 comeback win against a Long Beach State team that opened its season on a historic 12-2 run. Cal closed its five-game weekend with a 4-1 record, going undefeated on Sunday.
 
After being tested by way of a three-run deficit and some outstanding pitching from Beach (12-3), the Golden Bears drilled in a five-run inning in the bottom of the third to regain the lead 5-3.
 
The momentum-shifting half began with the Bears beginning to frustrate LBSU pitcher after drawing a pair of walks to get Lindsay Rood and Mikayla Coelho on the bags and the batters connecting for fly outs. With two outs, Cal remained composed and sophomore Bradie Fillmore who bombed a three-run homer on Friday, knocked in a two-RBI double to get Cal on the board before the Bears drew five consecutive walks to bring home three uncontested runs and jump ahead 5-3.
 
Defensively, Zoe Conley came in as relief in the top of the second, the Bears down 3-0, and kept Long Beach scoreless in three-of-the-five remaining innings. She finished with nine strikeouts, one shy of her career best.
 
Cal was unable to hold onto its 5-4 lead through the top of the seventh – Beach scored in the top of the fourth – and allowed a double and a sac bunt to bring the count even at 5-5. Limiting its Big West opponent to the lone run, the Bears returned to offense putting Taurie Pogue on third after a walk and a pair of ground outs, with Jazmyn Jackson also getting a free trip to the bag.
 
With a pair of outs and a full count, Coelho, a freshman who leads Cal from the plate (.415 batting average, 22 hits and 15 RBIs), blasted one down the line for the go-ahead RBI single.
 
"I thought it was complete team victory today," said head coach Diane Ninemire. "Zoe Conley came in and really threw like a champion. Our ladies did a great job at the plate and became very disciplined. We started drawing some walks and getting some timely hits. We pretty much unraveled their pitcher today. I think today demonstrates that we can play with any team in the country and it's very encouraging and a positive sign of how far this team can go this year and I'm really happy for them."
 
Cal 3, Fullerton 0
After a pair of scoreless innings, the Bears jumped on the boards with an RBI single from Coelho bringing in Rood.
 
However it was Jackson's two-run homer, her first of the season, which gave the Bears the insurance runs they needed and provided the final margin.
 
Conley picked up her first of two wins on the day in a complete effort throwing more than 100 pitches before stepping in as relief in game 2.
 
"As a team, we had a long weekend and these last games were all about finding any way to win," said Conley, who holds an 8-1 record. "We did what we needed to do on defense to get out of innings and stayed scrappy offensively."
 
Cal will head right back on the road to the Hawaii Tournament, a five-day, five-game road trip to Honolulu with competition slated to begin Wednesday at 6 p.m. (PT) against host-team Hawaii.
 
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