Cal Drops Game Two To ASU

BERKELEY – California surrendered five unanswered runs over the final three innings and spoiled a hard-fought outing by Sean Sullivan in a 6-3 loss to Arizona State Saturday afternoon at Evans Diamond.
 
The Golden Bears (24-20, 10-10 Pac-12) looked locked in against ASU starter Justin Fall, tagging him for three runs on seven hits through the first four frames and held a 3-1 advantage through the sixth. However, Fall flipped the script and held Cal hitless from the fifth inning on en route to a complete-game performance. Nathan Martorella was the only Bear to reach base in the final five innings, drawing a fifth-inning walk.
 
The loss sets up a rubber match between the two Pac-12 foes on Sunday afternoon.
 
Sullivan worked a career-high 7.2 innings, retiring 18 of the first 19 batters he faced while striking out five. The right-hander allowed just three hits, though the Sun Devils (26-15, 11-9) deposited two of them over the fence for home runs in the fourth and seventh frames. Sullivan sat down 11 consecutive batters to open the game before surrendering a solo shot in the fourth, and promptly returned to form with another seven straight batters retired before getting challenged in the seventh.
 
Sullivan gave up a game-tying home run to Ethan Long two at bats after issuing a leadoff walk in the seventh. Cal went to Sam Stoutenborough out of the bullpen with two outs in the eighth after Sullivan's second walk of the afternoon; ASU executed a hit-and-run in the first at bat against Stoutenborough as Joe Lampe scored from first base on an RBI double in the gap from Drew Swift. The Sun Devils added to more in the ninth on Long's second home run of the day.
 
Cal scored one run in the first, third and fourth innings. Quentin Selma scored from third base in the first when Darren Baker drew a failed pickoff attempt and throwing error while attempting to steal second base. Baker's heads-up base running earned Cal its second run two innings later when he scored from second base on an infield single by Nathan Manning. Cole Elvis provided the third run with a double down the right-field line, scoring Keshawn Ogans.
 
NOTABLES

• The loss snapped a five-game win streak by Cal, its longest of the season.
• Darren Baker (2-for-4) had his fifth multi-hit effort in the past six games. He's just 13 hits shy of 200 for his career (187).
• Sean Sullivan's 7.2-inning outing is the second-longest by a Bear this season, and a career-long for the junior right-hander.
• With two hits Saturday, Cole Elvis extended his hit streak to six games dating back to April 30.

 
UP NEXT
The series rubber match will start at 1 p.m. PDT Sunday at Evans Diamond. Grant Holman gets the ball for his seventh start of the year.
 
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