BERKELEY – The Cal baseball team didn't waste any time sweeping aside memories of a disappointing weekend at LSU.
 
There were big games up and down the box score as the Bears hammered San Jose State 13-0 on Tuesday night at Evans Diamond. They cranked out 16 hits and seven pitchers combined on a four-hitter.
 
Surely the most important of those outings came from starting pitcher Jared Horn, who threw two impressive innings in his season debut. A junior expected to be one of the staff's anchors, Horn came down with appendicitis the day before the season opener in Arizona.
 
He missed essentially the season's first month, but on a squad with 10 freshmen being asked to contribute on the mound, a healthy and effective Horn could provide a major boost. The right-hander gave up two hits, struck out one and coaxed an inning-ending double play in the first.
 
"We just wanted to get him back out there and get him comfortable," Cal head coach Mike Neu said. "We're hoping to have him for the weekend (against USC to open Pac-12 play), so we wanted to get him back out there. He threw two scoreless innings, got his feet wet, and I thought he did a good job. It's good for our team to have him back out there."
 
Lucas Gather followed with two scoreless innings to earn his first collegiate win, and Nick Proctor, Mitchell Scott, Jack Hinrichsen, Joe Ammirato and Ian Villers passed the baton to each other to finish out the Bears' first shutout of 2019.
 
It was a big night offensively too, as Cal (8-6) lashed out line drives and hard contact all game. Cleanup man Max Flower went 2-for-4 with four RBI, including a sacrifice fly in the first that got Cal on the board and a two-run single in the fourth, when the Bears scored five to go up 7-0. They batted around in both the fourth and the seventh against the Spartans (9-7).
 
Korey Lee connected for his first homer of the season. Cole Elvis, who drew the start behind the plate with Lee at DH, was 2-for-4 with his first two hits and two RBI of his collegiate career. Cameron Eden was 2-for-5 with two runs and two RBI.
 
The Bears dropped two of three to 10^th-ranked LSU over the weekend, with both losses tough ones to swallow after Cal gave up late leads.
 
"I thought our guys were real focused," Neu said. "We had a couple of tough losses at LSU where we had a good chance to win. I think it's easy to come back on a game like this and not be as focused as you need to be going into league this weekend … But our guys did a really good job. It shows a lot of maturity".
 
Next up is a conference-opening three-game series at home against USC that starts Friday night.