BERKELEY – Describing Sam Stoutenborough's role for the Cal pitching staff is a challenge.

He's both a starter who doesn't enter the game in the first inning, and a closer who doesn't enter in the ninth.

Maybe "effective" is simply his best label.

Stoutenborough was doing his thing again for the Bears in Friday night's 6-0 victory over Washington State that opened a three-game series at Evans Diamond.

He took over for lefty Arman Sabouri after two innings and finished out the game from there, his second consecutive seven-inning relief outing that earned him his second win in a row.

In the Bears' outside-the-box approach to pitching this season, Stoutenborough has been an absolute revelation.

With relievers such as Sabouri being used in a starting role, but only for short outings, it's key for the Bears to bring in a second pitcher who eats up a large chunk of innings.

On nights like Friday, the second pitcher essentially carries a starter's load. And Stoutenborough, a freshman right-hander out of Palma High School in Salinas, has adjusted and excelled.

"I love it, I'll do whatever they need me to do," Stoutenborough said. "It's not up to me, it's up to the coaches. I'm just going to continue to do what I do."

Friday's game was scoreless through five innings. Connor Mack's bases-loaded sacrifice fly put the Bears (15-11, 3-4 Pac-12) on the board. Then they broke it open with five runs over the seventh and eighth. Korey Lee had two RBI and John Lagattuta delivered a pinch-hit two-run double as the Bears won their fourth in a row.

With eight outings under his belt, Stoutenborough has thrown the sixth-most innings in the Pac-12 (42 1/3) despite not having started a single game. He held Washington State (7-21, 0-7) to three hits over the final seven innings, striking out one and walking one. He's 5-3 overall with a 2.55 ERA.

Cal pitching coach Matt Flemer said it was apparent early on that Stoutenborough could thrive in his unusual role.

"We knew Sam was gonna be an inning eater for us," Flemer said. "We are doing something a little bit different, but we kind of saw him as a guy who could give us a chance in that first game of the series.

"Friday night, usually you're throwing your best bullet against theirs. We just felt like the way things matched up, especially with the way he blends with Arman, they kind of complement each other really well."

Sabouri, a junior who was outstanding last season out of the bullpen, has been a key to making this approach work. He's adapted to the "opener" role and given the Bears exactly what they've needed. With two more scoreless innings Friday, he hasn't surrendered a run over his past three outings (6.0 innings total).

"We've got a left-hander (in Sabouri) that has a lot of deception, comes right at you with a fastball, slider, split," Cal head coach Mike Neu said. "And Sam can throw that sinker, changeup, breaking ball, slider; he's been really good. It's two totally different guys. We work backwards with the way we do it, and it's worked out great."