LOS ANGELES – The lead wasn't about to slip away this time, and the end result was one of the biggest Cal baseball victories in recent memory.

Riding the strength of another dominant start from Jared Horn, the Bears knocked off top-ranked UCLA 4-1 on Friday night for the team's signature win thus far in 2019.

A night after letting a four-run lead evaporate, Cal put this one away behind a two-run go-ahead homer from Cameron Eden, a mammoth home run from Andrew Vaughn and another shutdown night from Horn, the junior right-hander who is pitching like the ace the Bears need him to be.

UCLA entered this three-game series as the consensus No. 1 team in the nation. It wasn't immediately known the last time a Cal baseball team beat a national No. 1, if ever. But records show the Bears were 0-7 against top-ranked teams going back to 2013.

After the final out was recorded, the Bears (20-13, 8-6 Pac-12) charged out of the dugout to meet left-hander Arman Sabouri, who entered the game with two on in the ninth and got the final two outs, a night after pitching two innings as Cal's "opener."

It was a 1-1 game entering the seventh, when Grant Holman led off with a single. Pinch hitter Connor Mack bunted him to second, then Eden launched a two-run homer well over the wall in left-center to put Cal ahead.

Two batters later, Vaughn teed off on his 11^th homer, a solo shot that cleared the giant netting that sits well behind the wall in left center.

That was plenty for Horn (3-1), who threw a career-high 8 1/3 innings and struck out a career-high 10. It was Horn's third victory in a row, and the third straight start in which he's pitched at least eight innings.

He lowered his ERA to 1.32 in seven starts after being sidelined for the first month of the season by an appendectomy.

"That was phenomenal," Eden said. "I can't express how happy I am for that guy. To see him out here doing what he's doing … it's amazing to watch."

Cal will go for the series victory Saturday at 2 p.m. against  UCLA (29-7, 10-4). But following Friday night's final out, the Bears celebrated with a large contingent of Cal fans who were in attendance before boarding their bus for a joyous ride back to the team hotel.

The Bears are now 3-5 against teams ranked in the top 10 this season. Four of their five losses to such teams have been by just one run.
Beating the No. 1-ranked Bruins is a big stepping stone for a team looking to return to the NCAA Regionals for the first time since 2015.

"Any time you're facing the No. 1 team in the country, on the road, you know it's gonna be a tough battle," Cal head coach Mike Neu said. "But it's also an opportunity. We feel like we are in a position to get to the postseason. We know how important these wins are -- a huge win for our program, a huge win for this group of guys."