BERKELEY – California scored five or more runs in three different innings as it rolled to a series-clinching 23-5 win over New Mexico on Saturday afternoon at Stu Gordon Stadium.
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Thirteen different Golden Bears tallied at least one of Cal's season-high 21 hits, including
Hance Smith (career-high 4-for-5) and three hits apiece from
Nathan Manning and
Rodney Green Jr. The 23 runs were the most scored in a single game by the Bears since a 23-2 victory over Cal State Bakersfield on Feb. 24, 2018.
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Cal (24-25) secured the series with the win and has outscored the Lobos 34-5 through the first two games.
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After missing his first game of the season on Friday due to an illness,
Caleb Lomavita opened the scoring onslaught with a two-run double in the opening frame. New Mexico (19-30) cut the lead in half in the second inning before a three-run home run by Green Jr. and a two-run shot by
Trevor Tishenkel – his second home run of the series – extended Cal's lead to 7-1 in the third.
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Three of the Bears' six doubles came off the bats of Green Jr.,
Nathan Martorella and Smith in a five-run sixth inning. Martorella's hit streak reached 14 consecutive games with his sixth-inning double; the first baseman drew three walks and scored three times on Saturday.
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Cal's nine runs in the seventh inning were its most in a single inning since plating 10 in the sixth inning of a 20-5 win over Santa Clara on March 8, 2011.
Garret Nielsen capped the big inning with his first career home run, a three-run blast to left field. Manning delivered the final blow of the day with a two-run shot in the eighth.
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Tishenkel (2-for-3) drove in three runs and reached base in all four plate appearances, drawing two walks in addition to his two-hit effort. Green Jr. (3-for-5) finished with a career-high four RBI and scored three times while two of Smith's career-high four hits were double. Freshmen
Andres Galan and
Tucker Bougie contributed in their first career plate appearances; Galan doubled and scored on Manning's home run in the eighth while Bougie plated Martorella with a sacrifice fly in the seventh.
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Cal's 21 hits were its most since tallying 24 at Washington on May 23, 2019.
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With plenty of run support on hand, four Cal pitchers combined for seven strikeouts to just one walk.
Joseph King (4-3) needed just six pitches to work through the first frame and earn the win as Cal's designated "opener". The Bears led 2-0 before turning it over toÂ
Sam Stoutenborough, who scattered three runs on six hits over the following five innings.
Mitchell Scott and
Josh White handled the final three innings.
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UP NEXT
Cal will go for a series sweep of New Mexico at 1 p.m. PT Sunday. Sunday's series finale is Bark at the Park day. Fans are encouraged to bring their dogs to Stu Gordon Stadium for a pre-game pup parade on the field at 12:30 p.m. PT ahead of first pitch. To purchase tickets for Bark at the Park and to download the required waiver for entry with dogs, please visit
calbears.com/pupclub.
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@CalBaseball), Instagram (
@CalBaseball) and Facebook (
/CalBaseball/).
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