Stockton, Calif. - Playing their final tuneup contest before beginning West Coast Conference play on Friday, the Tigers came up short against the visiting Bears as Cal took a 13-6 contest at Klein Family Field on Tuesday, March 10. Pacific (1-14) finished its four-game homestand at 1-3 while the Bears (13-3) won their eighth-straight game.

On a day in which the Tigers' saw their freshman Jed Sprague post his first two-home run game of his young career, Pacific could not find the all-around performance that netted them their first win just 48 hours prior as Cal came up with the hits and the plays necessary to come out with the victory. Overall, the Bears came away with 11 hits to post their 13 runs while the Tigers managed six hits to plate their six runs.

For the Tigers, the night started off well as Pacific jumped out to a quick two run lead in the first as they turned a leadoff walk into a scoring rally. With senior Tyler Sullivan on to start the game, freshman Justin Thaxton roped a double off the wall to set up the Tigers' inning. The two came into score the opening two runs of the game for the Tigers on a ground ball to the right side and later a bloop single to left off the bat of junior Louis Mejia. 

Despite the lead, the Tigers' luck was not with them on the night as Cal turned the game around just a half inning later by scoring five runs and taking a lead they would not give back. Most of the damage against the Tigers came with two outs in the inning as Cal plated three runs on one unluckily sequence when Preston Grand Pre flared a shot to the gap in left center that got by the diving Sullivan all the way to the wall for an inside the park home run. The inside the park home run was just the first of a slew of uncommon events that occured throughout a wild night at Klein Family Field.

Down three, the Tigers responded with two more runs in the bottom of the second when Sprague belted the first of his two home runs in the game. While clearing the wall, Sprague's home run was not without its own uncommon twist as the freshman bounced his moon shot off the top of the 20 foot wall in left before dropping it on the other side of the fence. 

Back within one, Pacific could not keep the Bears off the scoreboard as the Cal immediately took back the two runs from Sprague and the Tigers with their own two-run home run off the bat of Chris Paul. An inning later, they tacked on two more with the running game as they ran their way into scoring position before timely hits brought home the runs. 

All the while, the Tigers' bats went silent when Cal turned to Chris Muse-Fisher (1-1) out of the bullpen as the senior retired 11 of the first 12 batters he faced while mixing in a double play ball for good measure after issuing his one and only walk of his outing in the bottom of the second. With the bullpen running and the bats firing, the Bears appeared to blow the game wide open in the top of the sixth inning when Max Dutto belted what appeared to be a three-run home run. However, following the theme of the night, the home run was not without its drama as the Tigers immediately appealed the situation, claiming the bat that was used was out of compliance and therefor would be ruled an out. After much deliberation that saw the umpires teeter between ruling in favor of Cal and ruling in favor of Pacific, the umpires ruled in favor of the Tigers and declared Dutto out for using a broken and out of compliance bat. 

The momentum from the ruling spurred the Tigers on over the net two innings as they began to chip away at the Bears lead with single runs in the sixth and seventh frames, the first of which came with the help of a Bear error while the last came on a solo shot by Sprague. Despite Sprague providing a second jolt to his Tigers, the comeback was not to be as Pacific's control both on the mound and in the field fell apart to the tune of four runs for Cal in the top of the eighth. The runs would put an end to the Tigers' hopes and send them down to defeat.

On the mound, junior Jake Jenkins (0-4) suffered the loss as the third-year Tiger was lifted in the third inning after giving up the two-run home run to Paul. Jenkins final line put him at 2.0 IP with six hits and seven runs relinquished while walking two. Pacific would use five more pitchers out of the pen before the end of the game.

For the Bears, Muse-Fisher earned his first win of the year in relief of Collin Monsour who lasted just 1.0 IP having given up three runs and four hits. Monsour left with the lead but was not eligible for the decision leaving Muse-Fisher to claim the win with four hitless innings pitched.

The Tigers begin WCC play on Friday, March 13 when they head to Moraga, Calif. to take on the red-hot Saint Mary's Gaels. The three-game series begins at 3:00 pm.