Bears Drop Opener To Stanford

BERKELEY – Cole Elvis and Quentin Selma homered but California was able to do little else against Stanford starting pitcher Brendan Beck in a 9-2 series-opening loss at Evans Diamond Friday night.
 
Beck twirled a gem, limiting the Golden Bears (24-22, 10-12 Pac-12) to three hits and one walk across eight innings while striking out 12. Cal's only hit against Beck other than Elvis and Selma's solo home runs in the third and seventh frames was a first-inning single by Darren Baker. The 12th-ranked Cardinal improved to 28-10 overall and 13-6 in the conference.
 
A Cal fielding error opened the top of the second inning and gave way to a three-run, four-hit frame by the Cardinal against Josh White. By the time Cal stepped to the plate in the bottom of the third, Stanford had made it a 6-0 contest with a three-run home run from Nick Brueser. White (4-2) settled into the game after allowing the home run, retiring the final seven batters he faced. He struck out eight Cardinal, but issued three walks along with five hits across five innings pitched.
 
White, along with three Cal relievers – Reuben Drogin, Mitchell Scott and Connor Oswalt – kept Stanford scoreless from the fourth through eighth innings, but Cal could not get within striking distance. The Cardinal added three insurance runs in the ninth to put the game away.
 
NOTABLES

• Quentin Selma and Cole Elvis both went opposite field for their ninth and seventh home runs of the season, respectively.
• Darren Baker (1-for-4) stole his 25th base of the season and tallied his 189th career hit. He needs 11 hits to reach 200 for his career.
• After 1.1 innings of scoreless relief Friday, Mitchell Scott has now held opponents scoreless over his past 6.0 innings and five appearances.
• Josh White's eight strikeouts fell one shy of tying his career high. Cal's five pitchers used struck out 12 total batters.

 
UP NEXT
Cal aims to bounce back in game two of the Big Series at 3 p.m. PDT Saturday.
 
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