SEATTLE – California fell behind early and dropped the series opener at No. 24 Washington 12-1 on Thursday night at Husky Ballpark.
The Golden Bears struck first with an RBI double by
Dom Souto in the top of the second inning, but
Christian Becerra and
Connor Sullivan ran into trouble on the mound as the Huskies scored in five consecutive frames en route to a double-figure advantage by the end of the fifth inning. It was Cal's (22-26, 10-18 Pac-12) second straight loss and third in four games since May 12, while Washington (33-14, 17-10) picked up its seventh consecutive victory.
Becerra (2-5) and Sullivan walked seven combined batters in the first 4.2 innings, allowing the Huskies to capitalize with four extra-base hits, including a grand slam by Will Sullivan in the fifth that made it an 11-1 ballgame. Washington took the lead on a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the second and did not look back, racking up 15 total hits on the night.
Jack Kirrer and
Austin Turkington shored up the final 3.1 innings on the mound, allowing just one run while striking out three Huskies.
Cal gave itself run-scoring opportunities by putting multiple runners on base in each of the first six innings, but stranded 11 on the night. Souto (2-for-3) and
Kade Kretzschmar (2-for-4) tallied three combined doubles and led Cal with multi-hit efforts.
UP NEXT
Game two between the Bears and Huskies in Seattle will be played at 6 p.m. PST on Friday. The game will be televised on the Pac-12 Network.
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