OMAHA, Neb. – An early string of hits put the Cal baseball team ahead after an inning but a four-run fifth inning by host Creighton spelled trouble for the Bears as they couldn't stage a comeback of their own and dropped a 5-3 decision in the first of three games at TD Ameritrade Park.
Cal (29-20) hit the scoreboard first on Thursday, plating a pair of first inning runs to take a quick 2-0 lead. A walk by
Tyrus Greene and singles by
Andrew Vaughn,
Tanner Dodson and
Jonah Davis brought home the first run and a fielder's choice grounder by
Sam Wezniak plated the second to put the Bears ahead.
Wezniak brought in another run in the third, following singles by Dodson and Davis with a sacrifice fly to center to make it 3-0. Creighton (33-15) countered with a run in the bottom of the fourth but that was the precursor to a big inning as the Bluejays scored four times in the fifth inning, taking advantage of a home run by Evan Spry and a Cal error to claim a 5-3 lead.
Creighton's rally in the fifth forced Cal to go to its bullpen and
Arman Sabouri did a good job of limiting the damage to get Cal into the late innings down just two. The left-hander tossed 2 2/3 innings and allowed one hit, walked none and struck out four.
Joey Matulovich finished the game on the mound for the Bears and threw a scoreless inning.
The Bears got a chance to rally in the eighth inning when Wezniak got hit by a pitch and
Matt Ruff walked to put two men on with two out. Creighton escaped trouble with a strikeout and, after Cal got two more runners on in the ninth, the Bluejays escaped again with a fly to left and strikeout ending the game.
Cal tallied eight hits on the evening, led by Dodson who went 3 for 5. Davis added two hits while Wezniak drove in two runs. The Bears left 10 men on base.
Cal and Creighton meet again on Friday at 4:30 p.m. (PT) for game two of their series.
Jared Horn will make the start for Cal while Mitch Ragan is scheduled to go for Creighton. Friday's game will be broadcast nationally by CBS Sports Network. Saturday's series finale is set for a 10 a.m. first pitch with
Aaron Shortridge and Preston Church slated to oppose one another.