SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – The California baseball team entered Friday's semifinal against USC 25-9 when it scored first. Unfortunately for the Golden Bears, they could not get that clutch hit that had been the trademark of their furious run and fell to USC 7-4 at Scottsdale Stadium.
 
Cal (36-19) finished with 11 hits on the afternoon but was just 2-for-16 with runners in scoring position. On two separate occasions, the Bears had the bases loaded with no outs but only came away with one run. Caleb Lomavita led Cal going 2-for-5 with a home run and two runs driven in. His two RBIs give him 141 for his career which is 10th all-time in program history.
 
USC (31-27) was held to eight hits, none through the first three innings. The big hit was a 3-run home run in the fourth from freshman Brayden Dowd that gave the Trojans a 3-2 lead. Dowd also had a RBI ground out in the sixth, giving him four RBI on the day. Ryan Jackson and Dean Carpentier also drove in runs for the Trojans.
 
It did not take long for the Bears to score their first run of the afternoon. Just three pitches into the contest, Lomavita launched a ball over the left field fence for his 15th home run of the year, giving the Bears the early 1-0 lead.
 
The Bears added a run in the top of the second when Seth Gwynn reached after getting hit by a pitch. After stealing second, he took third on a wild pitch and scored on the ground ball to second from Jag Burden to give the Bears a 2-0 cushion.
 
Trojan starter Tyler Stromsborg held the line for the Trojans. After giving up the home run to Lomavita in the first and the run in the second he held the Bears scoreless for four plus innings. He wiggled out of trouble in the third, getting a strikeout and an inning-ending double play to get out of a bases-loaded jam with no outs.
 
Starter Ian May was solid through three for the Bears. He did not allow a hit and did not allow USC to get the leadoff hitter aboard during that stretch. Kevin Takeuchi ended that streak with a single in shallow right field to open the fourth. A second base hit put runners on first and second for the Trojans and that ended the day for May.
 
Austin Turkington entered the game and got a ground ball to third, but the Bears could not turn the double play. The next batter, Dowd hit the first pitch he saw from Turkington into the USC bullpen in right field for his first career home run.
 
Cal tied the game up in the top of the seventh scoring two runs on three hits. Seth Gwynn and Jag Burden singled to put two put runners at the corners for Carson Crawford who singled through the left side allowing Gwynn to score. Cal loaded the bases for the second time in the contest when Nico Button drew a four-pitch walk. Cal could only come away with a run on a ground ball from Lomavita and stranded two more.
 
USC scored a run in the home half on a sacrifice fly from Austin Overn. They added two more insurance runs in the eighth on an RBI triple from Dean Carpintier and a 2-out RBI single from Ryan Jackson.
 
The Bears had their chance in the ninth. Facing USC's closer Josh Blum Cal got the tying run to the plate thanks to singles from Crawford and Button. However, Blum locked down the save getting PJ Moutzouridis to pop out, he then struck out Lomavita and ended the game getting Green Jr. to ground out to second. It is the 10th save of the year for Blum who pitched two scoreless innings.
 
The win went to Mason Edwards (1-3) who pitched a third of an inning in relief. The loss went to Trey Newmann (4-6) who allowed two runs in his inning of relief.
  
Cal awaits its postseason fate on Monday when the NCAA Selection show airs at 9 a.m. PT. The field of 64 teams will be televised live on ESPN2.
 
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