CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. - For the second straight game, the California softball team scored three times in the first inning, and a grand slam off the bat of Candace Yingling helped the Golden Bears defeat Auburn, 8-1, to open play in the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic on Friday at Big League Dreams Sports Park in Cathedral City, Calif.

"This was a tremendous win for us," head coach Diane Ninemire said. "To get a win over an SEC team, and a team like Auburn that's always been nationally ranked. Our spirit and enthusiasm for the game really showed today."

Cal took a stranglehold of the game in the bottom of the fifth. After an Auburn error kept the inning alive, Yingling belted one out for her first career grand slam to make it 8-1. 

"The exclamation mark of the game was when Candace came up," Ninemire said. "I asked her to go deep in the count in order to put pressure on the pitcher. She got behind with two strikes, so I asked her to go to her power slap, and she just squared up and hit a grand slam. That was really nice to start putting the game out of reach."

The Bears recorded a season-high three double plays, including ending the game with a double play for the second straight game. Cal now boasts 11 double plays in 12 games this year. The Bears totaled 12 double plays in the entire 2019 season. 

"We had some really good defensive plays with the double plays in the infield," Ninemire said. "We still have to clean things up a little bit overall, defensively, but I think that Kacey (Zobac) did a great job behind the plate. She threw out a runner trying to steal second."

Both the Golden Bears (8-4) and the Tigers loaded the bases in the first inning. Auburn plated one in the first, but Cal answered with three in the bottom half. A wild pitch sent Amani Bradley home for Cal's first run before a bases-loaded infield single by Mikayla Coelho sent home two more Bears. 

Kacey Zobac singled in the second inning to increase her hitting streak to a team-best nine games. She's hit safely in every game she's started this season. Zobac's single put runners at second and third with Kennedy Thomas at third. Thomas came around to score on a passed ball, increasing Cal's lead to 4-1. 

"We came up with some really timely hits," Ninemire said. "We put a lot of pressure on their defense. It's so important to start off with a run and give our pitchers some time to settle in. It just helps us believe that we can score more, and that's we did today. We just kept building momentum off that first inning."

After allowing the first-inning run, Alexandra Perez shut down Auburn. She went four complete, allowing one run on three hits, two walks and one strikeout. Picking up the win, Perez improved her record to 5-3 on the year. Chloe Romero entered the game in the fifth and garnered the save after going three scoreless to wrap things up for the Bears. 

"I'm very proud of Alex Perez's performance," Ninemire said. "We had predetermined that she would go four and Chloe (Romero) would go three, so they tag-teamed the game nicely and complemented each other."

Auburn loaded the bases in the fifth with one out, but a force out at home followed by a pop out to first got Cal out of the inning with no damage done. 

Lauren Espalin went 2-for-3 and a run scored on the day. Makena Smith singled in the fifth to increase her hitting streak to seven games. Coelho is also currently enjoying an eight-game hitting streak. 

Cal continues play in the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic tomorrow for a doubleheader starting with a 12:00 pm meeting with No. 18 Missouri. Following the game against the Tigers, the Bears will tangle with Nebraska at 2:30 pm.