BERKELEY – The Golden Bears failed to find their rhythm through seven innings of play, dropping the first of three to the Beavers Friday afternoon at Levine-Fricke Field.
 
With both teams looking for their second Pac-12 victory, California (22-19, 1-11 Pac-12) handed the ball to Zoe Conley to lead the defense. The Beaver offense, however, had other ideas, tagging the senior ace for a pair of base hits early in the inning to put them ahead 1-0. 
 
Oregon State (20-14, 2-9 Pac-12) struck again in the top of the third, this time coming off of a two-out RBI single that pushed its lead to 2-0. The senior exited after the end of the frame, allowing two runs on five hits while picking up a pair of strikeouts over 3.0 innings of work.
 
Senior Kamalani Dung entered the ballgame in the top half of the fourth looking to keep the game within reach, but the Beavers offense showed no signs of slowing down, lacing a pair of back-to-back two out doubles that brought in a couple of runs and gave them a 4-1 lead.
 
OSU added another run in the sixth off a Cal fielding error, and scored an additional two runs in the seventh that provided the final 7-1 margin.
  
Cal's offense struggled against a stellar pitching performance turned in by Beaver ace Mariah Mazon, who held the Bears to one run and six hits in the complete game effort.
 
The Bears showed their first glimpse of life when Destiny Blueford stepped in to lead off the bottom half of the third. The junior reached first on a fielding error by Mazon, and advanced to second on a base hit by senior Lindsay Rood.
 
After reaching third on a fielder's choice, Blueford came home on an RBI groundout by Jordan Fines that stood as the lone run of the ballgame for the Bears.
 
California made one final push in its last at bats, with Lauren Espalin's single to build early momentum. The sophomore catcher led Cal at the plate going 2-for-3 on the day.
 
Back-to-back fielder's choices from freshman Makena Smith and sophomore Karlee Sparacino put Cal down two, but the Bears got another shot after freshman Alexandra Perez reached on an error. Things closed on Blueford's groundout and the Bears picked up their ninth consecutive loss in league play.
  
The Bears-Beavers battle continues Saturday at 3 p.m. (PT) with live coverage on the Pac-12 Networks.
 
For more information on Cal softball, follow the team on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @CalSB.