Souto’s Blast The Difference

BERKELEY – A Dominic Souto solo home run in the bottom of the eighth inning was the difference as Cal defeated visiting Cal Poly 2-1 on Friday afternoon at Stu Gordon Stadium.

The Golden Bears (4-1) got another tremendous pitching from starter Ian May who threw six scoreless innings in the no-decision. He scattered five hits and a walk while striking out three.

In the seventh the Bears handed the ball to their bullpen, three pitchers combined to hold Cal Poly (2-2) to one run over three innings. Chris Stamos (1-0) got the win by throwing a perfect eighth with a strikeout. Christian Becerra notched his first save with a 1-2-3 top of the ninth.

Taking the loss for the Mustangs was reliever Derek True who surrendered the home run to Souto, his lone blemish on an otherwise strong outing.

It was a pitcher’s duel through five innings. During that stretch, May followed the script that made him so successful in the win over Houston, he retired the leadoff hitter in all six frames he pitched. Leadoff hitters are now 0-for-14 against May in his two starts.

Cal Poly’s starter Bryce Warrecker pitched around three singles, the lone run he gave up in the sixth was unearned. He struck out six and issued just two walks.

The Bears scored the game’s opening run in the sixth inning. With two outs Rodney Green Jr. walked with two outs, he moved to third on a failed pickoff attempt and came in to score on the single up the middle from Peyton Schulze. Cal Poly briefly tied the game in the top of the seventh when a base hit, a fielder’s choice, and a throwing error allowed Kemet Brown to reach third, who scored on a base hit by Ryan Stafford.

UP NEXT

The Cal Baseball Classic resumes with the Golden Bears taking on UConn and Cal Poly. The Bears and Huskies are slated for a 2:05 p.m. first pitch with Cal and Cal Poly slated to start at approximately 6:05 p.m. Live stats and live video will be available for both contests and can be accessed on the Cal baseball schedule page.  

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