BERKELEY, Calif. – Trailing 2-0 headed to the seventh inning, Stanford scored three runs on a pair of homers to take a 3-2 lead, but California rallied for single runs in the seventh and eighth innings to earn a 4-3 victory and even a three-game ACC series being played at Stu Gordon Stadium.
The Golden Bears, which scored their four runs on nine hits, improved to 28-25 overall, including 11-18 in the ACC. The Cardinal dropped to 27-24 and 13-16 in the conference.
Scoreless in the third inning, Cal got on the board first as Hideki Prather tripled off the top of the wall in left-center field with one out before coming in to score on a two-out double from Daniel Murillo.
Prather single-handedly doubled the California lead in the bottom of the fifth, connecting for his 13th home run of the year with two outs off Stanford reliever Austin Steeves.
The Cardinal had opportunities to score in both the fourth and sixth innings, but California starter Oliver de la Torre managed to tiptoe out of danger. Stanford stranded Teddy Tokheim at third in the fourth before leaving a pair at the corners following a Tokheim double and a walk in the sixth.
Sophomore right-hander Parker Warner escaped a bases-loaded jam with a strikeout in the bottom of the sixth to keep it 2-0 – a play that shifted some momentum into the visiting dugout.
Building on that momentum, JJ Moran singled back up the middle to start the seventh inning before Jimmy Nati drew the Cardinal even with a towering two-run shot to left field – his seventh homer of the year. Freshman Brock Sell handed Stanford its first lead of the night two batters later when he lined his second career homer to right field and just beyond the outstretched glove of a leaping Gannon Snyder at the wall.
De la Torre had held Stanford to just three hits over the first six innings, but was ultimately tagged for three runs on three hits in that seventh stanza.
Immediately responding, freshman Jett Kenady tied the game with a two-out home run to left-center field in the bottom of the seventh for Cal. The round-tripper came off Stanford reliever Kassius Thomas.
Still knotted at 3-3 with one out in the bottom of the eighth inning, a costly error charged to Eric Jeon at second base resulted in the go-ahead run as reliever Colt Peterson induced a double-play ball with the infield shifted and a runner at first that trickled under Jeon’s glove and into center field, allowing the runner to take third. The Golden Bears capitalized on the next play, as Ethan Kodama lifted a sac fly to left field to drive in the go-ahead run and put Cal on top 4-3.
Needing a run to extend the game, the Cardinal got a leadoff single from starting catcher Nolan Stoll in the ninth. Stoll was replaced on the bases by Rashad Hayes, and the Cardinal elected to sacrifice the runner into scoring position.
Cal called to the bullpen and summoned Ethan Foley to try to get the final two outs, but the right-hander issued a walk to Charlie Bates to put two men aboard and bring Tokheim to the plate. The freshman just missed a 1-0 pitch and flew out to deep left field for the second out. Senior Cort MacDonald came to the plate as the final hope for the Cardinal, but Foley got the strikeout on a 3-2 pitch to end the game and seal the victory.
For his efforts in closing the door, Foley was credited with his third save of the year.
Thomas was charged with the tough-luck loss and dropped to 1-3 after allowing two runs (one earned) on two hits over 1 1/3 innings. Making his first start since March, Aidan Keenan got the ball and worked a scoreless first inning for the Cardinal. In what amounted to a pitchers’ duel through six innings, five Cardinal pitchers combined to cover the first six frames. Left-hander Andrew Shaw tossed two innings as the first pitcher used in relief of Keenan before junior Ben Reimers worked a scoreless fourth. Steeves followed and pitched the fifth before handing the ball to Warner in the sixth. Thomas and Peterson navigated the final two frames, with Peterson recording a pair of outs in the eighth.
Stanford and California will decide the three-game series on Saturday at 3:05 p.m.