BERKELEY – The California baseball team's offense was held in check as Saint Mary's defeated the Golden Bears 6-1 on Tuesday evening at Stu Gordon Stadium.
 
Cal (16-14) was held to a run on three hits, the lone run coming from a solo home run by Rodney Green Jr. in the eighth. It was his seventh home run of the season and 27th of his career. The Bears had just one hit through the first seven innings. However, Cal had its chances. The Bears walked six times and had two others reach after getting hit by a pitch, Cal just could not get the clutch hit it needed.
 
The Bears got two runners aboard in the third, loaded the bases in the Bears, had two on again in the sixth, and opened the seventh with a leadoff double but could not bring anyone in. Cal was 0-for-13 with runners on base and 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position.
 
Saint Mary's (19-11) was not much better – going 4-for-21 with runners on base. Strikeouts plagued the Gaels as Cal tallied 12 strikeouts on the night. The Gaels were helped by defensive miscues and the long ball. Saint Mary's got home runs from Connor Harrison and Aiden Taurek their ninth and fourth home runs of the year, respectively. Harrison finished the night going 3-for-5 with a pair of RBIs. Taurek also drove in two.
 
Cal got a strong start from Andres Galan (2-2) who matched a career-high with eight strikeouts. He finished the day going 4.2 allowing eight hits, four runs, with two walks and eight strikeouts.
 
After pitching a clean top of the first. Galan ran into trouble in the second surrendering a RBI single to Coleman Schmidt. Galan worked himself out of the jam getting a strikeout to retire the side. The troubles continued in the fourth when he allowed a solo home run to Taurek. Galan was pulled in the fifth with two outs after giving up an RBI single to Harrison and a sacrifice fly to Taurek to make it 4-0 Gaels.
 
Ryan Sanders (4-0) was credited with the win. He was the first of three lefties Saint Mary's employed who kept the Bears' offense quiet. Sanders went 3.0 complete and struck out two while scattering a hit and a walk.
 
Freshman second baseman Jarren Advincula drew a pair of walks to extend his reached-safely streak to 21 games. However, he was held without a hit ending his hitting streak at 19 games.
 
Cal returns to action tomorrow afternoon when they make the return trip to Moraga. Wednesday's game against the Gaels will be streamed on ESPN+ and is scheduled for a 3:00 p.m. first pitch.  
 
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