BERKELEY – A six-run start to the day by the Cardinal put the Golden Bears on their heels and it looked like the home team would fall easily.
 
Unfortunately, California did fall to give up the series to Bay Area rival Stanford for the first time since 2013, but the 11-10 decision did not come easily.
 
In fact, Cal (20-11, 1-4 Pac-12) appeared to have it in the bag after keeping Stanford (21-4, 2-0) off the board in the top of the sixth, followed by three timely runs to take a 10-7 lead, the first of the day for the Bears.
 
Three outs away from the series split, the Cal defense fell apart one play at a time and was unable to recover in the final frame as Stanford's third pitcher of the day took the top of Cal's lineup down 1-2-3.
 
Before that, with Zoe Conley in the circle for the second day in a row, the Bears imploded after two singles and two walks brought the score to 10-8.
 
Conley forced a fly out to center and no runners tagged up, however on the throw-in back to the circle, freshman Makena Smith knocked the ball away errantly, which allowed Stanford's runner from third to score to move things to 10-9.
 
Again, the Bears appeared composed and on the next play, tagged the lead runner from third out at home on the fielder's choice to put two outs on the board and hold the one-run lead.
 
Stanford tied things on an RBI single from No. 1 hitter Teaghan Cowles to right center, but the play continued as Cal's centerfielder Amani Bradley had trouble scooping the ball, which permitted Stanford's Alyssa Horeczko to make it home from first to take the game.
 
Hoping to recover from Saturday's lopsided loss, Cal whittled at the Cardinal lead with two runs in the first and an impressive four-run frame in the third to tie things at 6-6.
 
Senior Lindsay Rood led with three hits and added a pair of RBIs to the ledger, while Karlee Sparacino added three more RBIs on two hits to bring home Lauren Espalin twice and Smith.
 
Rood's 2 RBI single tied things on the first occasion, before freshman Alexandra Perez knotted the score again at 7-7 on a homer in the bottom of the fifth.
 
Perez started in the circle, but gave up four hits and five runs in 0.0 innings before Conley stepped in.
 
Conley, now 6-7, gave up eight hits, three earned runs and walked five. She fanned four in 7.0 innings of work.
 
Cal closes its home-opening series tomorrow at 2 p.m. (PT). The game will be broadcast on Pac-12 Networks.
 
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