BERKELEY – The Cal baseball team has put together its share of big innings this season.
On Sunday, the Bears were on the wrong end of one.
Oregon struck for seven runs in the fifth inning and Cal fell 12-4 in the finale of a three-game series at Evans Diamond. Still, the weekend was a success as Cal took two of three from Oregon and has captured three of its past four Pac-12 series.
The Bears (23-15, 10-8 Pac-12) sit in fifth place in the conference with 14 regular-season games remaining -- squarely in position to make a run at their first NCAA Regional berth since 2015.
Despite Sunday's outcome, home field advantage has treated the Bears very kindly. They are 13-4 at Evans Diamond, and they host BYU on Monday at 3:05 p.m. in a non-conference game that will be aired live on the Pac-12 Network.
Sunday's game was scoreless until the fifth, when Jonny DeLuca connected for a grand slam off
Nick Proctor as part of a seven-run rally for Oregon (23-18, 8-10).
Cal wasn't able to make a comeback, but there were bright spots.
Quentin Selma went to the opposite field for his sixth homer of the season and
John Lagattuta went deep in the seventh. That was the first collegiate homer for Lagattuta, a sophomore.
Korey Lee singled up the middle to score a run in the sixth for his 43
rd RBI. He ranks fifth in the conference in that category.
Max Flower also drove home a run with a double.
Grant Holman (2-3) was charged with six runs over 4 2/3 innings and absorbed the loss. Cullen Kafka (5-3) threw five scoreless innings to pick up the victory for the Ducks.
