Cal baseball drops weekend series, 2-1, against Arizona State
The No. 17 Cal baseball team will finally come back home after having completed its latest stretch of away games. But it won’t receive a hero’s welcome after having continued this season’s trend of being dispatched by opponents on the road. The Bears fell, losing two of three, in their weekend series against Arizona State.
Cal opened up the scoring Friday in the top of the first when senior Mitchell Kranson was brought in by sophomore Brett Cumberland, who hit an RBI single to right field. But that’s as good as it got for the Bears.
Arizona State surpassed Cal in the bottom of the second, when the Sun Devils’ Tyler Williams pulled his team level with an RBI double to right centerfield. Gage Canning followed up with an RBI single to right, placing Arizona State ahead 2-1.
The Bears were unable to respond to the early deficit, and Arizona State didn’t take its foot off of the gas peddle. The Sun Devils came out even stronger in the bottom of the third to notch four runs. A solo home run to center field by David Greer put Arizona State ahead 3-1. Brian Serven later buried Cal deeper with an RBI single to right field. The Bears momentarily stopped the damage, but not before Ryan Lillard hit a two-run double, adding to Arizona State’s lead.
Cal head coach David Esquer’s squad remained diligent, and its perseverance began to pay off in the top of the six. Senior Nick Halamandaris’ solo homerun to right-center reduced the deficit to 6-2. But the Bears ultimately fell short in their attempt to mount a successful comeback. Cal was unable to capitalize on junior Robbie Tenerowicz’s two RBI in the top of the eighth, going down 6-4 in the first match of the weekend.
On Saturday, the Bears evened the series with an 8-4 victory that was settled with extra innings.
With the score at 4-2 in Cal’s favor heading into the ninth inning, it appeared that the Bears would comfortably secure the match. Arizona State’s Zach Cerbo, however, scored off a single from Chris Beall. An RBI double by Andrew Snow to right-center tied the score 4-4 and ensured that the Sun Devils would get a chance to wrestle the match away from Cal.
But four runs in the 11th proved to be enough for the Bears to win the second match and extinguish the Sun Devils’ hopes of sweeping the series. Brian Celsi, a senior, put Cal in front with a home run that went deep to right field. Another home run, this time by Tenerowicz, gave the Bears a 6-4 advantage. Halamandaris’ RBI fielder’s choice and junior Aaron Knapp’s RBI single allowed Cal to come out on top.
Sunday was a day to forget for the Bears, as Arizona State took a 3-0 lead by the end of the second inning. From there, the Sun Devils completely neutralized the Bears’ offense and strengthened their grip on the match, 4-0, courtesy of Serven’s RBI single to left in the bottom of the eighth.
Cal dropped the rubber match. This was the first time that the Bears have been shut out since their match against Michigan back in February.
Esquer’s squad will need to improve its performances on the road. Otherwise, reaching the postseason as a program to fear may end up being more of a challenge than it should be.
Manny Flores covers baseball. Contact him at jflores@dailycal.org. Follow him on Twitter @manny_0