Bears Pitch Their Way To Win Over Cardinal In Finale
STANFORD – The California baseball team got a tremendous pitching performance from freshman Trey Newmann and the offense pounded out seven extra base hits as the Golden Bears defeated Stanford 7-4 on Sunday afternoon at the Sunken Diamond.
Newmann (3-4) pictchd brilliantely in his eighth start of the season. He tossed a season-high 5.2 innings and did not allow a hit until the fourth inning. He finished the afternoon surrendering four hits, four runs, with two walks and six strikeouts.
Offensively, Cal (26-16, 12-12 Pac-12) brought the lumber, clubbing five doubles, a triple and a home run. Peyton Schulze went 3-for-5 with his 17th double of the year. He finished his productive day clubbing his sixth home run of the season in the ninth. Max Handron also had a three hit day, going 3-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI. Nico Button went 1-for-5 with two RBI and Jag Burden went 3-for-4. The bottom of the order went a combined 10-for-18 with five runs scored and four driven in.
Stanford (19-22, 11-10) finished the afternoon with four runs on eight hits. The Cardinal were led by Owen Cobb who went 3-for-5 with a run scored. Jimmy Nati and Brandon Larson drove in two apiece.
With Newmann dealing, Cal's offense quickly got to work. Green Jr. got the Bears on the board in the top of the second. He led off the inning with a walk, he moved to third on a failed pickoff attempt and scored on the base hit to right field from Handron.
Cal added three more in the fourth. Handron and Schulze led off the frame with back-to-back singles. Button continued his hot hitting – clubbing a double the other way to score both runners. A bunt single by Burden put runners at the corners for Advincula who slapped a single to left field to score Button and make it 4-0 Cal.
The early run support allowed Newmann to attack the Cardinal hitters. Stanford got its first base hit of the game in the bottom of the fourth. A weakly hit ground ball was enough for Cort MacDonald to beat out a throw to first. Newmann quickly erased the runner and put another zero on the board getting a 6-3 double play.
In the top of the sixth Cal scored two more. Burden started the rally drawing a walk and scored on the little league home run from Advincula. Advincula blistered a ball to the gap in right center for a stand up triple and came in on a throwing error by the Cardinal – their fourth of the game.
In the sixth inning the Cardinal made it interesting. Newmann recorded two outs and had Nati on a two-strike count but could not put him away. Nati doubled down the left field line that scored two runs. The next batter, Larson jumped all over a 1-0 offering for his fourth home run of the year. Tyler Stasiowski entered the game in the top of the sixth and quickly got the Bears back in the dugout recording the first of his two strikeouts.
The Bears' bullpen was brilliant over the final 2.1 innings. Stasiowski went 1.1 innings allowing a hit and a walk with two strikeouts. Austin Turkington earned his second save shutting the door on the Cardinal over two scoreless innings.
The loss went to Stanford starter Ryan Speshyock (0-3) who could not get out of the second inning. He allowed two hits a run and a walk while striking out three.
Cal wraps up its seven-game road trip next weekend when they take on the Trojans for three. The series will be played at Great Park in Irvine, Calif., as Dedeaux Field is undergoing renovation. Friday's game is scheduled for a 6:30 p.m. first pitch and will be streamed on the USC Live Stream.
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