BATON ROUGE, La. – The Cal baseball team started off a long day of baseball on a strong note Saturday.
The Bears just couldn't write the ending they wanted.
After winning the opener of a doubleheader with LSU 5-2, Cal couldn't hold a three-run lead in the nightcap and lost 5-4 in front of a crowd of more than 10,000 at Alex Box Stadium.
The quiet vibe around the team afterward reflected the general mood -- the Bears played well enough to grab more than one victory in this three-game series. But they settled for the consolation that they gave the No. 10 team in the country all it could handle.
With heavy rain expected in Baton Rouge on Sunday, the teams opted to play a pair of seven-inning games Saturday after opening the series the night before.
And despite dropping two of three, some bright spots emerged for Cal (7-6) during their first ever matchup with LSU.
Freshman right-hander
Grant Holman delivered another strong outing in Saturday's first game, going six innings and holding the Tigers (11-4) to two runs. Over three starts, he's allowed just four earned runs in 17 innings combined.
The native of Chula Vista has completed six innings in each of his last two outings, and those represent the longest outings by a Cal starter this season. With the Bears mostly relying on a bullpen-by-committee approach to their games so far, Holman is proving a reliable and much needed option to eat up some innings and give the relief corps a break.
On the offensive side, sophomore second baseman
Darren Baker has heated up since moving from the leadoff role to the No. 5 spot in the batting order. Baker went 6-for-12 with a run and three RBI in the LSU series.
Returning Golden Spikes Award winner
Andrew Vaughn anchors the lineup from the No. 2 spot, but as the nonconference season has unfolded, the Bears have shown that their offense can produce up and down the order.
In Saturday's first game, the Bears trailed 1-0 entering the sixth, when they sent nine men to the plate and scored five times to take control. The rally began when pinch hitter
Quentin Selma shot a double down the left-field line.
After Vaughn was intentionally walked to put two runners aboard with one out,
Korey Lee singled through the left side to score Selma with the tying run. Back-to-back singles from
Max Flower and Baker would give Cal the lead.
Sam Wezniak brought another run home on an RBI comebacker for a 3-1 lead and No. 8 hitter
Brandon McIlwain made it 5-1 with a two-run single.
That made a deserving winner of Holman (2-0), who walked one and struck out four over his six innings.
In the nightcap, a two-run single from Baker keyed a four-run third inning that gave Cal a 4-1 lead. But LSU chipped away and took the lead for good on Cade Beloso's two-run homer in the sixth, his second long ball of the night.
Up next for Cal is a home game against San Jose State on Tuesday night at 6:05. Then the Bears begin Pac-12 play at home next weekend against USC.
