BERKELEY – A little time at home did wonders for the Cal baseball team.
The Bears began a six-game homestand March 29 with a .500 record and searching for some offensive consistency.
On Sunday, they polished off their second series sweep in a row and ran their winning streak to six games with a 9-5 victory over Washington State at Evans Diamond.
It was the way the Bears (17-11, 5-4 Pac-12) won that was so encouraging, with all facets of the game shining at various times against the Cougars (7-23, 0-9).
Sam Wezniak homered twice Sunday and
Cameron Eden enjoyed a 4-for-4 day. Each win featured a great pitching performance, with
Sam Stoutenborough shining in long relief Friday,
Jared Horn posting a sterling start Saturday and
Rogelio Reyes (3-1) working six innings of relief Sunday to get the victory.
There were terrific defensive plays sprinkled throughout the weekend, with corner outfielders
Max Flower and
Connor Mack standing out in particular Saturday night.
"This weekend we really brought it together all around," said Wezniak, a sophomore shortstop. "The pitching was absolutely phenomenal. We got a lot of early leads going this weekend and we were able to hold them off."
The 6-0 homestand makes Cal 10-3 at Evans Diamond this season. Their six-game winning streak is the Bears' longest since a six-gamer last season that spanned early March.
A non-conference game scheduled for Monday with New Mexico was canceled due to traveling conflicts for the Lobos, so the Bears get to savor these wins for a few days before beginning a six-game conference road trip that begins Friday at Arizona, which is followed by a three-gamer the following weekend at UCLA, the current No. 1 team in the country.
They'll return to the road with some confidence.
"We had great pitching performances the whole way through. I thought our defense was really solid. And every day our offense put us in a really good position," Cal head coach
Mike Neu said. "It was an exciting weekend. I think our guys have been playing really well. We've got some big tests ahead of us."
Freshman right-hander
Grant Holman, recovered from an injury that sidelined him multiple weeks, made his first start since March 9 and gave up one run over two innings Sunday. He'll gradually have his innings increased as he regains arm strength.
Eden's emergence this season in the leadoff spot has been one of the Bears' most pleasant developments. He reached base in all five plate appearances Sunday, scored three runs and drove in two more. His 4-for-4 day boosted his average to .344, tied with
Andrew Vaughn for team-high honors.
After starting the season at shortstop and quickly shifting to left field, he's taken over center field after a foot injury to
Brandon McIlwain that has McIlwain sidelined for an extended period. Eden has handled center quite capably and also is tied with Vaughn with a team-high 28 runs scored.
Cal's series in Tucson begins Friday night at 6 p.m. The Wildcats are coming off a home conference sweep of their own against Washington.