BERKELEY – The California baseball team's magic in the late innings continued when the Golden Bear scored three in the ninth to walk it off against No. 5 Oregon State, winning 8-7 on Saturday night at Stu Gordon Stadium.
 
With the win, Cal (23-14, 10-10 Pac-12) secures its first series victory over a top-5 team since the Bears swept No. 3 Oregon State March 24-26, 2016. The late-inning heroics began when Nico Button legged out an infield single to open the ninth off Oregon State closer Bridger Holmes (2-3). PJ Moutzouridis drew a walk to put runners on first and second. A throwing error on OSU first baseman Jacob Krieg allowed Jarren Advincula to reach safely and Button to score.
 
That ended the afternoon for Homes who went 1.0 complete, allowing a hit and three runs, non-earned with a walk and two strikeouts. New pitcher Noah Ferguson intentionally walked Caleb Lomavita to load the bases with no outs. Ferguson then hit Rodney Green Jr. to bring the tying run in and the winning run at third. After a strikeout, Carson Crawford drew a bases-loaded walk on five pitches allowing the winning run to cross the plate. It is Cal's fifth walk-off win of the season and second of the series.
 
The win went to Robert Aivazian (2-0) who pitched brilliantly over the final 2.1 innings. He did not allow a batter to reach and recorded two strikeouts.
 
For the second straight day, the Bears struck first. Cal scored the game's opening run in the bottom of the first inning when Green Jr. reached safely on a fielder's choice that allowed Moutzouridis to score. The freshman opened the contest with a single to center field and moved to third on the base hit from Lomavita.
 
Cal added a run in the second on a solo home run from Jag Burden. It was his first of the year and third of his career. Burden smashed a 2-2 offering over the right field fence off starter Jacob Kmatz to give the Bears a 2-0 lead.
 
The Beavers got Kmatz off the hook by scoring three in the fourth and two more in the sixth and seventh innings. In the fourth, a base hit and a walk put two on for Travis Bazzana who launched a ball the opposite way for his 19th home run of the season. In the sixth, a bases-loaded walk to Bazzana and a sac fly off the bat of Mason Guerra gave the Beavers a 5-2 lead.
 
Cal scored a run in the home half thanks to an RBI double down the right field line from Green Jr., which scored Advincula from second. Green Jr. finished the day 1-for-3 with three RBIs and has extended his season-best hitting streak to nine games.
 
OSU added two more in the seventh when Dallas Macias singled to right field which scored a pair of runs.
 
The Bears began their comeback in the bottom of the seventh. Seth Gwynn led off the inning with a solo home run to deep left center. It was his fifth home run of the year and second of the series. In the eighth inning, Lomavita smashed a solo home run off reliever AJ Hutcheson, it was Lomavita's 12th of the year and 35th of his career.
 
Ian May got the start for the Bears. He went 2.0 complete, surrendering a hit and three walks, he did not allow a run. OSU's Kmatz went 5.1 innings, allowing three hits, and three runs, with a walk and five strikeouts in the no-decision.
 
Cal looks to complete the sweep tomorrow at 1:05 p.m. Sunday's game will be streamed on Pac-12 Insider.  
 
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