Cal’s Comeback Bid At No. 18 Georgia Tech Falls Short

Friday, April 11

Atlanta, GA

3:00 PM

California

17-16, 6-10

Georgia Tech

27-7, 12-4

Team	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	Runs R	Hits H	Errors E
Cal	0	0	0	0	0	2	0	3	0	5	7	0
Georgia Tech	0	3	0	0	3	0	0	2	X	8	9	2

2025-04-11 Dominic Smaldino Cal’s Comeback Bid At No. 18 Georgia Tech Falls Short

First baseman Dominic Smaldino had another strong day at the plate on Friday, going 2-for-4 and scoring a pair of runs.

Photo by: Danny Karnik – GTAA

Cal’s Comeback Bid At No. 18 Georgia Tech Falls Short

4/11/2025 6:51 PM | Baseball

Box Score Stats (XML)

Golden Bears Drop Series Opener, 8-5

By: Cal Athletics

ATLANTA – The California baseball team (17-16, 6-10 ACC) cut a six-run deficit to a single run late in the game before dropping an 8-5 decision to No. 18 Georgia Tech (27-7, 12-4 ACC) on Friday in the opener of a three-game ACC series at Russ Chandler Stadium. Cal trailed 6-0 after Georgia Tech three-run homers in the second and fifth innings but picked up a pair of runs in the sixth and three more in the eighth to cut the Yellow Jackets advantage to 6-5 with the final two scoring on Max Handron's two-run homer. But Georgia Tech scored two insurance runs in the bottom of the ninth and retired the Bears in order in the ninth to close out its victory.

The Bears fell behind 3-0 in the bottom of the second inning when Will Baker connected off Cal starter and losing pitcher Austin Turkington for a three-run homer and doubled their advantage on Alex Hernandez' three-run shot in the fifth.

Cal began its comeback with its two-run sixth that started when Alex Birge drew a one-out walk and continued when Dominic Smaldino singled through the Yellow Jacket shift on the left side of the infield. Birge advanced to third on Smaldino's single then scored the Bears' first run when on Yellow Jackets' starting pitcher Tate McKee's throwing error after he fielded an overthrow and tried to throw out Smaldino at second. The Bears picked up a second run in the frame in more conventional fashion two batters later when PJ Moutzouridis singled on a 3-2 count with two outs to plate Smaldino and chase McKee from the contest.

The Bears got within 6-5 after a three-run eighth. Smaldino started a rally with a one-out single and scored on an RBI double from Jacob French before Handron put the first pitch he saw from reliever Mason Patel into the trees beyond the right field wall.

But the Yellow Jackets got two runs back in their half of the eighth when Vaughn Lackey connected off reliever Cole Tremain for a two-out, two-RBI single before Ethan Foley came in to get the final out.

Patel retired the side in order in the ninth to close out a 3.2 inning save despite allowing three runs (three earned) and four hits while striking out three. McKee (5.2 IP, 3 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 SO) picked up the victory to improve to 5-0. McKee held the Bears scoreless on one hit through the first five innings.

Hernandez (4-4, R, HR, 3 RBI) and Lackey (2-5, R, 2 RBI) had multiple-hit games for Georgia Tech, while Baker drove in three with his home run.

Smaldino (2-4, 2 R) was the only Cal player with more than one hit, while French (1-3, R, 2B, RBI, BB) and Handron (1-3, R, HR, 2 RBI, BB) both extended their hit streaks to nine games. Handron set a new career best, while French's streak is his longest at Cal.

The teams continue their series with single games Saturday (1 pm) and Sunday (10 am PT). A live stream of both contests will be available on ACCNX/ESPN+.

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