BERKELEY – A chilly night at Evans Diamond didn't feature much in the way of offense on either side but a four-run inning by visiting Sacramento State put the Cal baseball team behind and the Bears couldn't make up the difference as they fell 4-1 in non-conference action.
 
Cal (23-15) found itself in a hole early as Sacramento State (22-17) used a spate of offense in the second inning to do all its damage. The Hornets used three singles and a double by Ian Dawkins to take the lead and cause the Bears to go to the bullpen to get through the inning.
 
That very relief corps helped Cal stay in the game throughout. Arman Sabouri entered in the second and took the Bears through the fifth, striking out six and allowing just one base runner along the way. Erik Martinez took over in the sixth and finished a strong bullpen effort with four scoreless innings and a season-high six strikeouts.
 
Offensively, the Bears scored their lone run of the contest in the third thanks to a leadoff home run by Korey Lee. A group of six Sacramento State pitchers combined to limit Cal to just two hits on the evening and the Bears could never find their groove at the plate.
 
Pac-12 play resumes on Thursday with the Bears making the trip to Silicon Valley to start a three-game series at rival Stanford. First pitch for all three games is set for 7:05 p.m. and the series will be broadcast live by Pac-12 Network. Cal returns to Evans Diamond next Tuesday for its final mid-week game of 2018 when it hosts BYU at 7:05 p.m. That game will also be broadcast by Pac-12 Network.