Bears Drop Series Finale With San Jose State
BERKELEY – The California baseball team saw its four-game win streak snapped Sunday afternoon losing the series finale to San Jose State 8-2 at Stu Gordon Stadium.
The Spartans (20-30) avoided the series sweep with a flurry of scoring, including the first seven runs in the game. It was an efficient outing for the Mountain West members who plated eight runs on nine hits. The Golden Bears (30-18) struck out 12 but issued six free passes and gave up two home runs.
SJSU's Ethan Ross (6-5) picked up the win tossing five quality innings and Corey Sanchez earned a four-inning save. Despite collecting six strikeouts, Cal's Trey Newmann (4-5) took the loss with seven earned runs in 4.2 innings of work.
The Spartans took the lead in the second inning with a solo home run and quickly piled it on hanging three runs in both the third and fifth innings to go up 7-0. The Bears got on the board in the bottom of the fifth with freshman Dominic Smaldino hitting his first collegiate home run. It was a solo shot that carried the center-field wall. The nine-hole hitting DH finished 1-for-3 with two runs and a walk.
B5| Bears on the board by way of @DominicSmaldino's first collegiate home run!#GoBears ?? pic.twitter.com/6n9nopqEk5
— Cal Baseball (@CalBaseball) May 12, 2024
Another run came in the seventh with Caleb Lomavita slapping an RBI double down the third base line to score Smaldino and cut the lead to 7-2, but San Jose State added an insurance run in the eighth inning. Lomavita was one of two Bears with a multi-hit performance going 2-for-4.
The Bears had a handful of other scoring opportunities, but the Spartans defense made a pair of impressive outfield assists to the plate to squander those chances.
Connor Sullivan had a solid appearance out of the bullpen for Cal tossing 3.1 innings of one-run ball. The righty scattered four hits and walk while striking out five.
Rodney Green Jr. had another potent day with the bat going 2-for-3 with a double and a walk.
UP NEXT
The Bears, who have won 13 of their last 17 contests, will look to keep their stellar second half of the season going tomorrow night when they host Stanford in a non-conference matchup. First pitch is set for 6:05 pm on Pac-12 Networks.