TUCSON, Ariz. – For seven innings Friday night, the Cal baseball team couldn't take full advantage of its scoring opportunities.
The floodgates opened in the eighth, and it wasn't a surprise who did the damage.
Andrew Vaughn delivered a tie-breaking RBI single, then
Korey Lee crushed a three-run homer to highlight a huge inning that sent the Bears to a 10-7 win over Arizona to open a three-game series at Hi Corbett Field.
The victory extended Cal's winning streak to seven games, the Bears' longest since they took seven in a row midway through the 2016 season.
The score was 4-4 when Cal sent 10 men to the plate and scored six runs in that eighth-inning rally. Lee's mammoth homer, his seventh on the season, capped another big night for the junior catcher. He finished 2-for-5 with four RBI, including a run-scoring double that broke a scoreless tie in the third.
Lee has racked up 22 RBI over his past 10 games. He's hitting .336 overall and his 31 RBI are tied with Vaughn for the team lead.
"It's phenomenal," Vaughn said of Lee's recent tear. "Shoot, I'll get walked every time if he's gonna make them pay like that. It's amazing to see."
Arizona (17-15, 5-8 Pac-12) made things interesting in the bottom of the ninth, scoring twice to pull within three runs and loading the bases with two outs.
But
Sean Sullivan came on from the bullpen and retired Ryan Holgate on a shallow fly to left to notch his fourth save of the season.
It's quite the dynamic in Cal's lineup with Vaughn, last year's national player of the year, and Lee, the No. 3 hitter who bats right behind him in the order.
Teams are being extremely cautious with Vaughn, who's hitting .343 with a team-high 10 homers. The Wildcats walked him intentionally three consecutive times Friday leading into the eighth. That approach is providing some nice opportunities for Lee, and he's taking advantage in a big way.
After Vaughn was issued a free pass in the third, Lee made Arizona pay with a run-scoring double. His homer in the eighth, which came on the seventh pitch of his at-bat, went to straightaway center and hit about 15 feet above the line that separates homers from balls in play.
"I was just trying to get a fastball," Lee said. "They were throwing me off-speed all night. Just get my pitch to hit that I could smoke and do anything I can to score a run in that situation."
Cal (18-11, 6-4) left 10 runners on base Friday, including eight in scoring position, and that kept it a close game through the middle innings. But the Bears' offense eventually had the final say, and it wasn't just Lee and Vaughn.
Quentin Selma went 3-for-4 with three runs and an RBI.
Max Flower had a two-run triple and
Grant Holman doubled twice and had two RBI.
Cal scored in double figures for the eighth time this season.
The series continues Saturday with a 6 p.m. game.
Jared Horn will take the mound for the Bears.
