BERKELEY — The California baseball team came from behind to win its fourth straight ACC game Friday night defeating Louisville 8-5 in the series opener at Stu Gordon Stadium.
Despite trailing by four runs after five innings, the Golden Bears (19-17, 5-11) posted double-digit hits for the fifth time in the last six games to hang a trio of crooked numbers and defeat the Cardinals (21-17, 6-10) in comeback fashion.
The first half of the game was all Cardinals with Cal unable to get anything going against the Louisville starter while the visiting team scored a pair of runs in the first and the fourth to go up 4-0.
When the heart of the Bears' order came around for the second time in the bottom of the fifth it had figured out the Cardinal arm with three straight hits.
Lawson Olmstead led off with a single through the infield and on the next two pitches
Carl Schmidt doubled and
Cade Campbell collected an RBI single with both knocks registering a 103-mph exit-velocity.
With one out,
Ethan Kodama stepped to the plate and had one of the better at-bats of the night as he poked an RBI single through the right side despite falling behind in the count 0-2.
Jacob French added the fifth hit of the inning, an RBI bloop single, to cut the lead to 4-3.
The Cardinals got one back in the top of the sixth but the Bears' bats answered right away in the bottom half as
Carl Schmidt collected his second straight extra-base hit crushing a three-run home run to left field to give Cal a 6-5 lead. It was Schmidt's seventh long ball of the season and his first that wasn't a solo effort.
After taking their first lead of the game the Bears needed to hang a zero and they got one from starting pitcher
Oliver de la Torre (3-4) who ended his night with his fourth clean inning thanks in part to an outfield assist from Kodama who gunned down a Cardinal trying to stretch a single into a double. The junior ended his 10th straight Friday start with 7.0 innings of work and allowed five earned on eight hits and two walks while striking out three to earn the win.
Senior reliever
Cole Clark picked his fellow pitcher up with a scoreless eighth inning to put Cal just three outs away. He allowed just one hit while striking out a batter and inducing a double play ball.
Insurance for the Bears came in major way in the bottom of the eighth with
Joshua Hanson crushing a two-run homer to deep left field to extend the lead to 8-5. It was Hanson's second homer in three games and he has now reached in seven straight contests.
With their entire bullpen available Cal turned to an unlikely hero, right-hander
Ethan Foley, who started Sunday's game at Pitt and has eight starts on the year. The senior did not disappoint, looking virtually untouchable as he struck out a pair to earn his first career save.
The Bears will look to win their second straight ACC series tomorrow in game two. First pitch is set for 2:05 p.m. on ACCNX.
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