PHOENIX, Ariz. – Senior left-hander Matt Ladrech made his final regular season start as a Cal baseball player a good one but host Arizona State rallied for two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning and the Bears dropped a 5-4 decision at Phoenix Municipal Stadium.
 
Cal (30-22, 14-14 Pac-12) took its first lead of the evening without needing a hit to do it. Max Flower got the seventh inning started with a walk and when a grounder advanced him to second, Arizona State went to its bullpen for the first time in the game.
 
The inning was just getting started. Cameron Eden worked a walk, Ripken Reyes got hit by a pitch and with the bases loaded, ASU again made a change on the mound. That didn't stunt Cal's momentum though as Tyrus Greene worked a six-pitch walk to force in the tying run.
 
Andrew Vaughn dug in next and gave the Bears what they needed, chopping a grounder to third that brought Eden in as the go-ahead run. Though Vaughn was called out on the play and the inning ended on a strikeout, Cal took a 4-3 lead into the seventh-inning stretch.
 
That gave Ladrech a lead and he had one more inning of a great performance left in him. He set the Sun Devils down in order to take the Bears to the eighth and, by the time he came off the field and got congratulations from his teammates, he owned a line of seven innings pitched, four hits, three runs, one walk and three strikeouts.
 
Arizona State (23-30, 13-15) had one rally left in it. An RBI double by Lyle Lin off Cal closer Tanner Dodson tied the score with one out and a single up the middle by Hunter Bishop plated pinch-runner Myles Denson to give the ASU the victory.
 
The Sun Devils struck the first blow on a warm evening in Phoenix, plating a pair of runs in the second inning to take a 2-0 lead. Cal countered immediately though as Korey Lee launched his fifth home run of the year, a towering drive just to the left of the batter's eye, and his solo shot left Cal down 2-1.
 
ASU added a run in the bottom of the second to move ahead 3-1 and that's where the score stayed until the middle innings. Cal was next to hit the scoreboard as, after Greene got hit in the foot and Vaughn walked, Jonah Davis delivered a clutch two-out RBI single to right field to bring the Bears back within one at 3-2
 
Cal and Arizona State get back to business on Friday at 7 p.m. with game three scheduled for Saturday at 6 p.m. The remainder of the series will be broadcast live by the Pac-12 Network. Jared Horn is set to make the start on Friday with Aaron Shortridge lined up to take the ball on Saturday.