BERKELEY – The home opener didn't go according to script for the Cal baseball team, which lost 10-3 to Saint Mary's on Thursday night in the opener of a four-game series.
The Bears mustered just seven hits and couldn't solve Gaels right-hander Tyler Thornton, who struck out 12 and allowed just two runs over seven innings.
The loss snapped Cal's four-game winning streak, and the Bears will look for payback Friday night in a 6:05 p.m. game at Evans Diamond. Then the series will shift to Moraga over the weekend, with the teams playing 1 p.m. games Saturday and Sunday at Louis Guisto Field.
Saint Mary's (5-3) put up single runs in the first and third off Cal starter
Mitchell Scott. A leadoff homer from Joe Vranesh in the fourth off
Carson Olson sparked a two-run rally that pushed the Gaels' lead to 4-0.
Cal (4-4) jumped on the board in the fifth thanks to the bottom of the order.
Cameron Eden singled with one out,
Brandon McIlwain followed with a double down the right field line and No. 9 hitter
Hance Smith blasted a two-run ground-rule double to straightaway center field to pull the Bears within 4-2.
They wouldn't draw any closer, however. Saint Mary's got a big day from second baseman Eddie Haus, who went 3-for-5 with three RBI and finished just a triple short of the cycle. It was a 6-2 game before the Gaels broke it open with a four-run top of the eighth.
The Bears scored their final run in the bottom half when
Max Flower doubled and scored on Eden's infield single.
Cal will send left-hander
Arman Sabouri to the hill Friday night, and he'll be opposed by lefty Ken Waldichuk.
