Stockton, Calif. - Taking on one of the top pitching teams in the country, the Pacific offense proved to be too much for the No. 8 Golden Bears as the Tigers upset Cal, 13-2 in five innings, on Wednesday, March 30. The win was the second of the season for Pacific over a top-15 ranked team and the first over a top-10 ranked opponent since the 2005 season. The Tigers improved to 19-11 with the win while the Bears dropped to 21-4.

Led by their sophomore Nikki Armagost both at the plate and in the circle, the Tigers dominated the day against the Golden Bears, beating their Pac-10 foe on both sides of the ball. Taking apart the No. 6 ranked pitching staff at the plate, Pacific pounded out 11 hits and plated 13 runs to pick up their sixth run-shortened victory of the season. Even more impressively, however, was the fact that all 13 runs for the Tigers came with two outs on the scoreboard as Pacific locked in when it mattered most to do the entirety of its damage.

After a rocky start in the circle which saw the sophomore give up a pair of runs on three hits, Armagost settled into an unshakable groove as she threw three hitless innings to keep the Bears off the scoreboard. Refocusing after giving up a one-out, solo home run in the second, Armagost didn't allow a ball to leave the infield as she posted four of her five strike outs while inducing five ground outs, one line out and one pop up to finish the game.

Offensively, the Tigers scored in all four innings they came to the plate as they played catch-up in the first two innings of action before running away with the game. Trailing 1-0 heading into the first it was Armagost who got back the first run she gave up as she laced a two-out single up the middle to plate freshman Megan Foglesong. The freshman left fielder had reached on a one-out walk and moved into scoring position on a fielders choice a batter later.

In the second, again trailing by one after the solo home run by Jordan Wallace, the Tigers went to work, this time throwing up a crooked number on the board in the form of six runs. Sending the bottom third of the order to the plate, the Tigers started the rally with a pair of singles from junior Alexa Rivera and freshman Kelsey Rodriguez before sophomore Megan Allen worked a walk to load the bases. Despite seeing two runs cut down at the plate on fielder's choice plays, Pacific was undeterred in its pursuit of runs, taking full advantage of the heart of the order to tie the game before blowing open the contest.

The flood gates for the Tigers would begin to crack open, not by a hit but on a wild pitch that gave Pacific back the run it had lost in the half inning prior. With one run across in the inning, Foglesong tacked on two more with her first hit of the game, a single through the left side of the infield that scored bot senior Lindsey Pierce and sophomore Megan Hom, each having reach on fielder's choices earlier. Leading for the first time in the game, the Tigers strung together three more hits picking up runs on doubles by Matson and sophomore Amy Moore, whose two-out hit plated the final two runs of the inning.

Leading comfortably, the Tigers were not finished at the plate as they put the game out of reach in the bottom of the third, this time hanging five more runs on the board before they were finished. A leadoff walk issued to Rodriguez would turn into the first run of the inning when the Tigers used small ball to push across the run. After a sacrifice bunt moved the freshman to second, a pair of infield hits by Hom and Foglesong brought home the first run of the inning as Foglesong picked up her third RBI of the day on her second hit. After a walk to Matson loaded the bases, Armagost put the finishing touches on her stellar afternoon when she blasted her second grand slam of the season and third round-tripper of the year on a hanging change up. The four RBI pushed Armagost's game-total to five, tying her career high for runs driven in in a single game after the sophomore plated five against San Jose State two weeks prior.

For good measure, Pacific tacked on a 13th and final run in the bottom of the fourth inning for symmetry. For the Tigers the big hit came from Hom, who drove in the final run of the game with her second hit of the afternoon.

Overall, Armagost led the way with a 3-for-3 showing including a home run, five RBI and three runs scored. Both Hom and Foglesong each picked up a pair of hits in the contest with Foglesong scoring a team-high three runs while also adding three RBI. In the circle, Armagost improved to 9-7 on the year as she allowed two runs on three hits while walking three and striking out five.

Her counterpart, Arianna Erceg, threw 2.2 innings of work as she gave up eight hits and seven runs in two different appearances in the game. In between Erceg's appearances, Cassandra Vega pitched 1.1 innings while giving up six runs on three hits while walking four.

The last top-10 team Pacific took down was No. 5 Stanford on February 6, 2005 when the Tigers defeated the Cardinal, 4-3, in Stanford, Calif. at the Cardinal's season-opening tournament. Earlier this season, the Tigers defeated No. 13 Oregon, 4-2, for their first win over a ranked opponent in 2011.

The Tigers will begin their quest for the Big West crown on Saturday, April 2 when they host Long Beach State in a double header at Bill Simoni Field. The first game is scheduled for 12:00 pm.