Cal Baseball: Bears Beat Furd; ACC Championship Up Next
California sets up a rematch with Furd tomorrow night in round one of the ACC Championship Tournament in Charlotte, NC.
BERKELEY – The 2026 regular season has come to an end, and the California Golden Bears wrap it up with an annual matchup against their biggest rival: the Stanford Cardinal. Stanford, once a baseball powerhouse and lifeline to the Golden Bears, sits in a similar abyss as their public-schooled foes, as the Cardinal has struggled to gain traction in a conference filled with the likeness of College World Series regulars and NIL cash-cows.
California did bounce back in this season when compared to last. In 2025, Cal posted a 24-31 record and went 9-21 in the ACC with staple players like Jarren Advincula and Dominic Smaldino departing for the portal, only to continue to put up ridiculous numbers at their new schools. Cal sat dead last in the ACC and had to make a last-minute push for a bid through the ACC Championship to gain any traction, but Georgia Tech quickly humbled them and sent the Bears packing before anyone would look at them twice after such a disappointing season. This year, California was just a game shy of 30 wins after this weekend and finished 12-18 in the ACC while sitting uncomfortably in the 55th slot in RPI. Cal had won just two series against Stanford and Boston College in 2025, while this year they improved that number to four ACC-series wins, as well as picking up a game here and there against Wake Forest, Virginia Tech, and Miami.
The progress made with the team put together for 2026 includes honors and awards rightfully earned by Gavin Eddy and Jett Kenady. Gavin Eddy was named to the All-ACC Second Team after going 6-3 with a .229 BAVG, an ERA of 2.87, and 84.2 IP, while Jett Kenady earned Freshman All-ACC honors after batting a slash line of .328/.358/.587.
Game 1, Thursday 5/14/2026: California 6 – Stanford 7
In a game that the California Golden Bears strung together a series of clutch hits and runners in scoring position, while Stanford’s offense felt completely front-loaded and their defense flat-footed, the Bears could not seem to stop running into outs at the plate when momentum was there.
On a Thursday night during grad week in the Berkeley sun, California and Stanford faced off for the baseball diamond’s rendition of the “Big Game” rivalry. California’s Jett Wright got the opening start due to Oliver de la Torre being slotted for his regular Friday spot – but the Freshman would go 0.0 innings after hitting Charlie Bates with the second pitch of the ball game, then allowed a base hit to Teddy Tokheim, walked Cort MacDonald, walked Rintaro Sasaki on four straight balls, and then hit Eric Jeon with a pitch to end his night with the bases loaded and two runs in for Jordy Lopez to take over. Lopez then walked JJ Moran before Jimmy Nati flew out to Campbell at third in foul territory, giving the Bears their first out of the inning. Luke Lavin then flew out to Kodama in deep center field to allow Sasaki to score, and the Cardinal took a 4-0 lead in Berkeley in the 1st.
Stanford committed three errors in this game, one of which contributed to Cal’s first run of the game as Hideki Prather led off the bottom of the 1st with a single to left and scored on a groundball from Campbell that got away from Jeon. Cal and Stanford would go scoreless until the 4th, when a couple of base hits and sloppy defense from Cal gave Stanford their fifth run of the game, and in the bottom half of the 4th, Campbell and Schmidt led off the inning with back-to-back base hits and scored on another error, this time from Charlie Bates on a groundball from Brady Errecart to make it 5-2.
Lopez would pitch 4.0 innings for the Bears and would end his night with four hits, one earned run, three walks, and two strikeouts before Tanner Grove would get the call from Mike Neu. Grove would get a three-up three-down top of the 5th while Stanford’s Cohen Gomez held the Bears to just one base runner out of the bullpen in 2.2 IP while striking out three. Grove would then retire the next two batters to start off the top of the 6th and get five-straight Cardinal batters in a row, but after walking Cort MacDonald and having him advance to second on a stolen base. MacDonald then went to steal third and scored on a wild throw from Prather to give Stanford their sixth run of the game. Grove would allow the final Stanford run of the game to the Cardinal in the top half of the 7th, as Jimmy Nati scored on a sac-fly from Bates to make it 7-2 and a five-run deficit for the Golden Bears.
Stanford then took out their reliever, who was mowing through the Cal lineup, and brought in Mike Erspamer. Erspamer walked the first two batters of the inning before striking out the next two, but then walked Murillo to load the bases and bring Trevor Moore in to pitch in relief. Moore then surrendered a 1-0 double to right to Campbell to clear the bases, and Carl Schmidt followed with a double to trade places with Campbell and make it a 7-6 ball game.
Then, Cal ran into an out in the middle of a rally. Lawson Olmstead singled through the shortstop and third baseman, and Schmidt was waved home by third base coach Anthony Gilich – with Schmidt being out by a 10–15-foot lead on the throw by the left fielder, and worst of all, never even got close to touching home plate to end the inning.
Cal then had a whole new and final opportunity to come back in this game after Cole Clark pitched through the Stanford lineup out of the pen without allowing a run, as Prather led off the bottom half of the 9th with a single through the middle of the infield, and Murillo walked with one out to put two runners on for Campbell or Schmidt. Campbell lined out on a hard hit ball to short – but Carl Schmidt ripped a single to left – and Brock Ketelsen, who replaced Brady Reynolds (the left fielder who made the play in the 7th), gunned out Prather at home to end the game. California would lose game one by a final score of 7-6 to rival Stanford on two very confusing attempts to score. The Bears would never lead in this game after Stanford jumped ahead 4-0 to start the game. Game 1: Stanford. WP: Cohen Gomez (4-1, 2.2 IP, 0 H, BB, 3 K) LP: Jett Wright (2-2, 0.0 IP, H, 4 ER, 2 BB) S: Trevor Moore (5)
Game 2, Friday 5/15/2026: California 4 – Stanford 3
Do not fact-check me, but in what was the liveliest night at Stu Gordon Stadium this season, with a season’s best crowd of 1,489 in attendance, California fought back for a win after coming out flat to start this game.
With the ball back in the hands of Oliver de la Torre, the Cardinal would go scoreless against the Bears’ ace for six innings, as he would allow just three hits and two walks in that span. California would jump on the board first in the bottom of the third, as Prather got to third on a triple and scored on a double from Murillo. Cal added one more in the bottom half of the 5th when Prather homered to deep left field for his 13th of the season, giving Cal a 2-0 lead going into the latter half of this ball game.
Stanford would finally figure out de la Torre in the top half of the 7th, as JJ Moran led off the inning with a base hit up the middle and Jimmy Nati followed with a game-tying two-run home run to left. Brock Sell would then homer later in the inning, and Stanford took their first lead of the day to make it 3-2 over California. That lead would only last for the half inning, as Jett Kenady launched his 11th homer of his Freshman season over the fence to tie the game at 3-3. De la Torre’s night would end after seven innings of work, leaving the bullpen to hold the Cardinal to just their three runs scored while Cal looked to scratch away at runs through small-ball style baseball.
After Schmidt led off the 8th with a fly-out to second, Olmstead reached on a walk and was swapped out on the bases for the faster Jackson Norum. Brady Errecart then grounded a ball to Eric Jeon, who made his second error of the weekend, which allowed Norum to advance to third and put the leading run 90 feet away from scoring. Ethan Kodama then hit a deep enough fly ball to right for a sac-fly and score Norum from third, and Cal would take a 4-3 lead that they would run away with in this game, and tie the series at 1-1.
Oliver de la Torre delivered another spectacular pitching performance for the Golden Bears, going 7.0 IP and allowing just six hits, three earned runs, two walks, and six strikeouts, and the offense delivered when especially needed. Game 2: California. WP: Trent Roach (2-1, 1,0 IP, 2 H, 2 K) LP: Kassius Thomas (1.1 IP, 2 H, 2 R, ER, BB) S: Ethan Foley (3)
Game 3, Saturday 5/16/2026: California 2 – Stanford 1
On the final game of the 2nd year in the ACC and the 2026 regular season, the University of California, Berkeley’s seniors and graduating students were honored in front of their friends and family for Senior Day.
Getting the final start of the season for the Bears was Gavin Eddy, who has been lights out in his last five starts and entered Saturday afternoon with an ERA of 2.97. Stanford’s Nick Dugan got the start for the Cardinal, and both starters worked through the first two innings with nothing going offensively on either side of the diamond. The Cardinal were the first team to get on the board with Brock Sell leading off the top half of the 3rd with a triple, and Teddy Tokheim bringing him home on a sac-fly to center to make it 1-0 Stanford.
Cohen Gomez would come in relief for the 5th, and after retiring five-straight Golden Bears, surrendered a leadoff double to Kodama in the 7th to put a runner in scoring position with nobody out. Gannon Snyder then reached on a bunt single, and Trevor Moore came in to relieve the Cardinal pitcher – only to get Kodama on a play at the plate but still surrender back-to-back singles to Murillo and Campbell to give California a 2-0 lead.
Ethan Foley would come in to close out the game for the Golden Bears at the top of the 9th, and Foley worked through the Cardinal lineup with a quick three-up-three-down inning to put the 2026 regular season away with a win, a series win, an ACC personal best for the Bears, and a victorious weekend against their rivals across the bay. Game 3: California. WP: Cole Clark (4-3, 2.0 IP, H, K) LP: Cohen Gomez (2.0 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 3 K) S: Ethan Foley (4)
ON TO THE ACC CHAMPIONSHIP:
The California Golden Bears (29-25) finished the season as the 13-seed after going 12-18 in their second season as members of the ACC. California will head to Charlotte, NC, to face off against... Stanford... the 12-seed as the teams closest to the Pacific will fight for a championship and automatic bid through the gauntlet of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
California is 5-1 against Stanford in their last six games and will face off tomorrow at 10 AM PST on the ACC Network in the second game of the day. Otto Espinoza will be starting for the Golden Bears.
Was at the Sunday game it was a fun time! Only thing of concern is the bottom third of the order is a patchwork of players who aren't hitting consistently right now. Injuries probably took its toll on depth.
Agree, it was a surprisingly good season with all things considered. The pitching was spectacular at times and, when clutch hitting surfaced, you could see some greatness emerging. I enjoyed attending games at the Stu, the rhythm of baseball never will get old for me. And I am happy to discover the hot dogs at the game are actually pretty yummy. I’ll be back next year. Also hoping they’ll get replay and a centerfield camera for telecasts (Roxy told me he’s heard rumblings these will be in place next season). Go Bears!