California Golden Bears Athletics

Cal Drops Heartbreaker To Virginia
3/15/2025 7:49 PM | Baseball
Golden Bears Give Up Eight Runs In Top Of Ninth In 10-8 Loss
Cal picked up a run with two outs in the bottom of the ninth when Jarren Advincula doubled down the left field after Alex Birge and pinch-hitter Jeff Hoffman had drawn earlier back-to-back walks. The play was originally ruled a foul ball but changed after a review to put Golden Bears on second and third, but Matt Lanzendorfer ended the Bears' hopes by retiring Seth Gwynn on a foul out to first baseman Henry Ford to end the game.
Cal's offense dominated most of the contest and finished with a season-high-tying 17 hits as six Cal players had multiple-hit games led by Advincula (3-6, 2B, 2 RBI), Cade Campbell (3-5, 2 R, 2B) and Ryan Tayman (3-5, R) with three hits each. Carl Schmidt (2-2, R), Alex Birge (2-4, 3 R, 2 2B, RBI) and PJ Moutzouridis (2-5, 2B, SB) added a pair of hits apiece.
Virginia received two-hit games from James (2-2, 2 R, 2B, 2 RBI), Buchanan (2-2, R, 2B, 2 RBI) and Ford (2-4, R, HR, 3 RBI).
Virginia reliever Drew Koenen picked up the win to improve to 3-0. Koenen allowed two hits in 1.1 innings of scoreless work.
California's first two pitchers – Gavin Eddy (5.0 IP, 4 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 1 HBP) and Cole Clark (3.0 IP, 1 H, 2 BB, 2 SO) – combined for 8.0 innings and allowed just two runs and five hits before three Bear relievers gave up eight runs, six hits, one walk and two hit batsmen in the top of the ninth. The Cavaliers' rally in the ninth started with three consecutive singles off Oliver de la Torre by James, Buchanan and Luke Hanson. Losing pitcher David Shaw (0-2) then entered the game and allowed his first two inherited runners to score on a hit batsmen and a walk with the bases loaded. Shaw struck out pinch hitter Trey Wells for the first out before Eric Becker's RBI infield single cut Cal's lead to 7-5. The Cavaliers got their deficit down to 7-6 on an RBI groundout from Ford before Shaw hit James Nunnallee on a 2-2 pitch to load the bases. James and Buchanan followed with their back-to-back two-run doubles to the almost identical spot in the right center field gap. Cole Tremain relieved Shaw and got Hanson to line out to Ethan Kodama in left field for the final out.
PJ Moutzouridis drove in each of Cal's first two runs on a two-out single in the first and a run-scoring groundout in the third before Ford tied the game at 2-2 with a two-run homer in the Cavaliers' fourth.
Cal retook a 3-2 lead with a run in its half of the fourth on a throwing error by Becker at shortstop then added two more runs in both the sixth and seventh frames to stake itself to a 7-2 advantage.
The Golden Bears scored their first run in the sixth on a throwing error by Virginia backup second baseman Jackson Sirois, who had entered the game to begin the bottom of the fourth following an apparent injury the previous inning to starter Henry Godbout. Advincula's RBI single plated the second run.
Birge and Ethan Kodama accounted for Cal's runs in the seventh on back-to-back one-out RBI doubles.
The three-game series will conclude Sunday on Kids' Day and there will also be a St. Patrick's Day celebration with first pitch for the rubber game beginning at 1 pm PT. A live video stream will be available on ACCNX/ESPN+.
STAY POSTED
For coverage of Cal baseball, please follow the Bears on X (@CalBaseball) and Instagram (@CalBaseball).
MORE NOTES
- Jarren Advincula extended his string of consecutive games reaching base to 13 games
- Alex Birge scored a career-high-tying three runs
- Ryan Tayman equaled a career-high with three hits
- Carl Schmidt recorded the first two-hit game of his career
Players Mentioned
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Drew Koenen (3-0)
L: Shaw, David (0-2)
S: Matt Lanzendorfer (2)
Batting:
2B: Aidan Teel 1 ; Chone James 1 ; Walker Buchanan 1
HR: Henry Ford 1
RBI: Aidan Teel 1 ; Aiden Harris 1 ; Eric Becker 1 ; Henry Ford 3 ; Chone James 2 ; Walker Buchanan 2
SH: Luke Hanson 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Aidan Teel 1 ; Aiden Harris 1 ; Eric Becker 2 ; Henry Ford 1 ; James Nunnallee 1 ; Chone James 2 ; Walker Buchanan 1 ; Luke Hanson 1
CS: Henry Ford 1
HBP: Aidan Teel 1 ; James Nunnallee 1 ; Harrison Didawick 1

Batting:
2B: Advincula, Jarren 1 ; Campbell, Cade 1 ; Birge, Alex 2 ; Kodama, Ethan 1
RBI: Advincula, Jarren 2 ; Moutzouridis, PJ 2 ; Birge, Alex 1 ; Kodama, Ethan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Campbell, Cade 2 ; Tayman, Ryan 1 ; Birge, Alex 3 ; Schmidt, Carl 1 ; French, Jacob 1
SB: Moutzouridis, PJ 1































