Bears Defeat Cardinal To Take Season Series

BERKELEY – The California baseball team notched its 14th comeback win of the season thanks to three runs in the seventh and eighth innings to defeat Stanford 5-3 on Monday evening at Stu Gordon Stadium. With the win, the Golden Bears take the season series against the Cardinal.

Cal (31-18) got a trio of stellar pitching performances, the bullpen in particular was sensational, holding Stanford (20-29) scoreless over the final 4.1 innings. The duo of Austin Turkington (2-1) and Oliver Boone did not allow a hit. Offensively, Cal finished the evening with nine hits but got them in bunches going 4-for-12 with runners in scoring position. The bottom of the order was particularly fruitful with Max Handron, Jag Burden, and Dominic Smaldino going a combined 6-for-11 with two runs scored and three driven in.

Stanford’s losing streak extends to seven games and was held to just five hits on the evening, tied for the second-fewest of the year by the Cardinal. Charlie Saum went 1-for-3 with a 2-run home run in the second, his eighth of the year.

Andres Galan made his sixth start of the season for the Bears and turned in a solid outing. Galan made quick work of the Cardinal in the first retiring the side in order in 10 pitches. In the top of the second, he ran into some trouble. With two outs, the Cardinal notched three consecutive hits, the big one the 2-run home run from Saum to make it a 2-0 ballgame.

Galan was able to recover and got out of the jam thanks to a nice play from PJ Moutzouridis who picked up a ground ball deep in the hole between short and third and fired a laser to first for the out. Galan showed good stuff early, 20 of his first 27 pitches were for strikes.

The Cardinal lead did not last long. The Bears’ bottom of the order tied the game up thanks to back-to-back 2-out singles from Burden and Smaldino.

After the Cardinal and Bears traded zeros in the third and fourth, Stanford broke the 2-2 tie, taking advantage of a pair of 2-out errors by the Bears. Jimmy Nati singled through the left side which allowed Court MacDonald to score. The single by Nati ended the day for Galan who went 4.2 innings, allowing five hits, three runs – two earned, with a walk and five strikeouts.

Turkington entered the game in the fifth and needed just one pitch to get out of the inning. After surrendering a leadoff walk to Malcolm Moore in the sixth he retired five in a row to earn the win.

Cardinal reliever Ryan Speshyock (0-4) entered the game in the top of the sixth inning. After a scoreless frame, he ran into trouble in the seventh. Caleb Lomavita started the 2-run rally by getting hit by a pitch. He came around to score from first on the double in the right-center gap by Rodney Green Jr to tie the game at 3-3. Peyton Schulze gave the Bears the lead for good when he hit a ball in front of a diving Ethan Hott in center field for a double that allowed Green Jr. to score. The double by Schulze was his 20th of the year which ties him for 10th most in a single season in Cal history.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Bears got an insurance run from Smaldino who blasted a 1-1 offering over the left-center wall for his second home run in as many games.

Speshyock went 2.1 innings, allowing three hits, and three runs (all earned), with two walks and five strikeouts.

Boone earned his first collegiate save, recording the final six outs in dominating fashion. He faced the heart of the Cardinal order and set them down in order, striking out five in a row to end the game.

Cal returns to action on Thursday when Washington comes to Stu Gordon Stadium for the last time as conference foes. Thursday’s game between the Bears and Huskies will be televised on Pac-12 Bay Area and is scheduled for a 7:05 p.m. first pitch.