BERKELEY – After a roller coaster Big Slam at the Hellman Tennis Complex, 14th-ranked California fell to 39th-ranked Stanford, 4-3, on Saturday afternoon. The Golden Bears won the doubles point, lost three matches in singles to trail 3-1 and then bounced back to tie the overall match at 3-3. But - despite Cal having match points in the final set - the Cardinal clinched the victory when Maciek Romanowicz beat Cal freshman J.T. Nishimura, 5-7,7-5, 7-5, on court four.

Cal's record now stands at 7-3 after the nonconference match. Stanford is 5-2 and will host Cal on April 18 for the teams' Pac-12 Conference dual match.

A large crowd was on hand to watch the Big Slam – which began at 10 a.m. – on a sunny day at Hellman. While Cal's 32nd-ranked duo of junior Oskar Wikberg and sophomore Andre Goransson lost on court two (Bud Chandler Court) to Romanowicz and Tom Fawcett, 6-2, the Bears captured the point with wins on court one (Newmark Stadium) and then court three (Mascarin Court). First the 30th-ranked pair of seniors Gregory Bayane and Chase Melton beat John Morrissey/Robert Stineman, 6-3, and then the team of junior Mads Engsted and sophomore Filip Bergevi prevailed, 7-5, over Nolan Paige and David Wilczynski.

The Cardinal knotted the Big Slam at 1-1 in singles when Paige topped Wikberg on court six (Walter A. Haas, Jr. Court), 6-2, 6-3, and Stanford took a 2-1 lead when Morrissey knocked off Cal freshman Billy Griffith, 6-4, 6-1, on court three.

Court one featured a battle between the 42nd-ranked Goransson and the 28th-ranked Fawcett. The latter suffered a leg injury while winning a point at 6-2, 2-1. But he returned to best Goransson, 6-2, 6-4, and give Stanford a 3-1 lead.

What became a tight match was epitomized by the three remaining matches going to three sets. Cal began its comeback on court two, as the 114th-ranked Bergevi beat Wilczynski, 2-6, 6-2, 6-1, to make the score 3-2. Bayane, on court five (Hirschler-Davidson Court) held off David Hsu, 6-2, 6-7(6), 6-2, to level the match at three all.

In front of a boisterous crowd watching from the elevated seating at Hellman, Nishimura won the first set and Romanowicz took the second on Savides Sullivan Court. The first-year Bear had two match points - first when up 5-2 and then when leading 5-3 – in the third set. But Romanowicz rebounded to win the set and hand Stanford the Big Slam.

“We played an exciting college tennis match today,” Cal head coach Peter Wright said. “Both teams had opportunities at the end, and we had match points to win it all. I have confidence our guys will grow from this experience, and, as much as we want to put it in the past, we'll draw on it for future endeavors.

“Now we've got to prepare for a double header tomorrow, which will physically challenge our guys.”

The Bears next play on Sunday against Saint Mary's at 9 a.m. and against UC Santa Barbara at 1 p.m. at the Hellman Tennis Complex.