Bears Fall To UCLA In Extras

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. – California was eliminated from the inaugural Pac-12 Baseball Tournament with a 10-inning 9-7 loss to third-seeded UCLA on Friday night at Scottsdale Stadium.
 
In a back-and-forth affair that featured four different lead changes, it was UCLA (37-21) that scored the final four runs of the contest to advance into Saturday's matchup with second-seeded Oregon State. Cal held a 7-5 lead after seven innings played but saw the Bruins tie it and eventually pull ahead with a pair in the eighth and another two in the 10th.
 
The Golden Bears (29-27) went 1-2 in the conference tournament as the sixth seed, defeating UCLA 4-1 on Wednesday before being dealt back-to-back losses against Oregon State and the Bruins on Thursday and Friday.
 
Hance Smith's two-run moonshot of a home run, his 10th of the season, gave Cal the early advantage in the home half of the first. Both teams traded one run in the second inning before UCLA scored four straight runs – one in the third and three in the fourth – to pull ahead. UCLA's first two runs (one earned) were tagged to Cal starter Matt Lozovoy, who went three innings with two strikeouts, three hits and three walks in just his second appearance of the season.
 
The Bears' biggest inning at the plate came in the bottom of the fourth then they regained the lead with four runs on four hits and a pair of UCLA errors. After Cole Elvis loaded the bases with a one-out infield single, the Bruins committed fielding errors on two straight plays that evened the score at 5-5. Cal pushed the go-ahead run across on a bases-loaded walk drawn by Nathan Martorella and added another on an infield single off the bat of Dylan Beavers.
 
Ian May kept UCLA off the scoreboard in the fifth through seventh innings in his second relief appearance in as many days at the tournament. The freshman left-hander was rolling until he reached the eighth inning and allowed back-to-back hits, including an RBI double, and a sacrifice bunt that moved the tying run to third base prior to being relieved. Sam Stoutenborough allowed the tying run to score on a single to left-center field before getting out of the inning. Stoutenborough worked a scoreless ninth inning, but was tagged with both UCLA runs in the 10th and took the loss, falling to 2-4 on the season.
 
Rodney Green Jr. (3-for-5) led the way with three hits and two runs, capping an impressive individual effort at the tournament. The freshman center fielder batting .538 (7-for-13) across three games played. Smith and Nathan Manning drove in two runs apiece while Cole Elvis went 2-for-4 prior to being replaced by a pinch-runner in the eighth inning.
 
Cal went 2-3 against UCLA and fell to 2-1 in extra-inning games in the 2022 campaign.
 
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