BERKELEY – California knew that it would be a battle against UC Davis.
 
Three of the last four outings have been decided by one-run margins, with Cal coming out victorious in all four. Last time out, the Bears edged the visiting Aggies 3-2 in eight innings in Davis.
 
This time the outcome was not as favorable.
 
Aggies pitcher Brooke Yanez came into the matchup with one loss, and the Bears quickly found out why. The sophomore retired Cal's batters 14 times on Wednesday, to deliver a 2-1 loss to Cal at Levine-Fricke Field.
 
It marks the first time the Bears have lost to the Aggies since 1978 when Bonnie Johnson was the head coach. The loss also puts Cal on a three-game losing streak.
 
Both teams remained scoreless through three innings, before the Bears (20-12, 1-4 Pac-12) struck first in the bottom of the fourth. Karlee Sparacino reached on an error and moved to second a wild pitch down two before Makena Smith drilled one up the middle for the RBI single.
 
Despite Kamalani Dung's seven strikeouts through 4.0 innings work, the Aggies (25-5) were able to piece together a pair of singles after a walk to bring the tying run in, in the fifth.
 
Davis took the lead on one-out shot in the top of the seventh for the game-winning run.
 
The Bears struggled offensively going 5-for-28 at the plate. Amani Bradley led with two hits, while Yanez was able to slow down the production of Cal's leadoff Lindsay Rood, who leads the nation with 54 hits.
 
It was a disappointing day for the Bears who hoped to build some momentum going into a difficult weekend and after giving up a 2-0 series to Stanford last Sunday. 
 
Cal continues its pursuits with a weekend series at No. 1 UCLA. The series opener is slated for 5 p.m. (PT) Friday at Easton Stadium and will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Networks.
 
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