LAS VEGAS – Diamond Holland and Kennedy Thomas combined for seven RBI as the California softball team secured the series against UNLV with a 9-5 win on Saturday at Eller Media Stadium.

Holland hit a three-run home run, the first long ball of her career, and Thomas crushed a grand slam as part of her three hits for the Golden Bears (27-12-1). The Rebels (19-22) got two hits and four RBI from Ariana Martinez.  

Cal took the early lead for the second straight day, scoring on a Kacey Zobac RBI single to plate Acacia Anders after she singled and moved to second on a Makena Smith base hit. Anna Reimers started in the circle for the Bears and had it going through two frames, stranding three Rebels and got her third strikeout to end the second inning.

After the Bears left a runner at third base in the top half of the third, Reimers stranded her fourth Rebel in scoring position in the home half as the game went to the fourth with Cal leading 1-0.  

The big inning for Cal came in the fourth when Holland crushed the three-run shot to right, making it 4-0 Bears. Zobac recorded her fourth hit of the series in the next inning, an RBI single to make it 5-0 before the Rebels finally got on the board.

UNLV had runners at second and third with two outs and a two-run single made it 5-2 through five complete innings as Haylei Archer took over for Cal in the sixth. Still leading by three heading to the seventh, Thomas came up huge with the two-out, two-strike grand slam to make it 9-2 heading to the last of the inning.   

The Rebels put two across in the home half of the inning but Annabel Teperson came on to get the final pair of outs, stranding the bases full of UNLV runners to end the game.  

UP NEXT
Cal and UNLV meet for the series finale on Sunday with first pitch scheduled for noon as the Bears look for a sweep.      

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