BERKELEY – A nine-run eighth inning was the difference as Arizona State came back to defeat Cal 15-10 in the rubber match on Sunday at Stu Gordon Stadium. The Bears led for most of the contest but could not keep the Sun Devil offense quiet down the stretch.
Cal (11-12, 3-9 Pac-12) brought the offense on Sunday evening.
Peyton Schulze,
Carson Crawford, and
Max Handron all hit home runs and held a lead entering the top of the eighth inning. Unfortunately, the Golden Bears' bullpen, which has been sensational this season, struggled to get the outs they needed.
Arizona State (19-9, 7-2) finished with 15 runs on 19 hits, nine of those runs and hits came in the top of the eighth inning when the Sun Devils hit through the order. Nu'u Contrades finished the day 4-for-6 with two runs scored and two RBI. He was one of four Sun Devils to collect two or more RBI on the day.
After ASU scored two in the seventh to cut the Bears' lead to one, Handron hit an opposite-field home run in the home half of the inning to give Cal an 8-6 lead heading into the eighth.
Tucker Bougie (3-2) came out for his second inning of work to begin the top of the eighth inning. The fateful inning started with a leadoff walk issued to Wyatt Crenshaw. Back-to-back singles saw a run in for ASU and ended the day for Bougie. Cal needed four pitchers to get out of the eighth.
The Bears scored the game's opening runs, scoring three in the second and two in the third. Schulze smashed a two-run blast through the wind in the second to score
Rodney Green Jr. for his fourth home run of the season. Two innings later, Crawford hit a laser to left center for his third home run of the season to go up 7-4.
ASU climbed back into the game scoring two in the third, two in the fourth, and two in the seventh before the nine-run eighth inning. The two teams combined to use 14 pitchers.
Nico Button went 2-for-3 with an RBI double in his first collegiate start. Button, Handron, Schulze, and
Kade Kretzschmar all collected multiple hits on the day. Green Jr. hit his sixth double of the season and stole his 12th base of the year.
Earning the win for the Sun Devils was Blake Pivaroff (1-1).
UP NEXT
Cal returns to action tomorrow evening when the Pacific Tigers come to Stu Gordon Stadium. Monday's nonconference game between the Bears and Tigers will be streamed on Cal Livestream-2 and is scheduled to begin at 6:05 PM.
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