Cal Baseball: Bears Cap Off 2025 With a Series Win Over Boston College and Head to Durham, North Carolina for the ACC Baseball Tournament
Cal finishes their first ACC season by taking 2/3 games against BC at home and will face off against #9 seed Miami tomorrow at 9:00 AM EST in the ACC Baseball tournament as the #16 seed.
The California Golden Bears baseball team has officially wrapped up their inaugural ACC season with a final home series against the Boston College Eagles. Coming into Thursday night’s matchup, Cal was 20-29 with a 7-20 record in the ACC, and sat dead last in the ACC baseball standings, meaning the Bears set themselves up for a spot in the first game of the ACC baseball tournament on May 20th-25th, as the #16 seed against the #9 seed at 6:00 AM PST tomorrow.
Cal Baseball had put itself in a corner all season long in the ACC, having only won one ACC series coming into this last weekend’s series against the Eagles, with that one series being a sweep against Stanford back on March 21st-23rd at Sunken Diamond. Cal is 1-15 in their last 16 games against conference opponents, while Boston College is coming off a two-game out-of-conference sweep over UMass Lowell and a conference series loss to Stanford at home.
Cal was able to cap off the regular season with a series win over the Eagles, with two walk-off victories to close the door on 2025 and enter the playoffs with much uncertainty regarding the transfer portal and soon-to-be senior Cade Campbell, and incoming Juniors Dominic Smaldino, PJ Moutzouridis, Jarren Advincula, and Jacob French- the latter two of the five players mentioned earning All-ACC honors for their great performances all season long.
Thursday, May 15th: Handron’s Power Boosts Cal to a Walk-Off Game One Win
The final ACC series of Cal’s 2025 season was underway at Evans Diamond at Stu Gordon Stadium as the California Golden Bears took the field against the Boston College Eagles on Thursday at 6:00 PM in front of 531 fans in attendance. To no one’s surprise for us watching at home, ESPN and the ACC Network have already left town with FSU and left Cal to revert to their grey scorebug and lone camera angle for the final series of the season, meaning that last weekend’s higher end production was possibly a one-time event that followed the No. 2 team in the nation rather than help build Cal’s broadcast.
Mike Neu liked the strategy of using Cole Tremain as an “opener” for the series last weekend against FSU so much that he reran the same game plan against BC, with Tremain surrendering back-to-back singles to start the game in the top of the 1st, but working through a SAC bunt and two strikeouts to strand the runners and end his night with an inning under his belt and no runs scored.
The Bears got on the board first in the bottom of the 2nd against Boston’s A.J. Colarusso, who has struggled this season, coming into Thursday night’s game with a 5.04 ERA and 64 hits allowed in 60.2 innings. Jacob French got it started with a lead-off double down the right field line and advanced to third on a PJ Moutzouridis SAC bunt, with Max Handron doubling to left center field to bring home French, and Cade Campbell following with an RBI single to give Cal an early 2-0 lead.
The BC Eagles brought it right back and took the lead in the top of the 3rd against Cal’s Ethan Foley, who made his 16th appearance of the season for the Bears, and immediately got Boston into two quick outs on a single and double play in three pitches. Foley then walked Ragsdale, gave up a single to Toomey, threw a wild pitch that scored Ragsdale from third and put Toomey on second, and then walked Wolff and advanced Toomey and Wolff on a wild pitch into scoring position for Gunnar Johson, who ripped a double to right center field that would score both runners and give the Eagles a 3-2 lead before Foley finally recorded the third out. Boston added one more in the top of the 5th against reliever Logan Piper, off an RBI single to left from Gunnar Johnson again that would bring home Ragsdale and make it 4-2 Boston College.
The Bears were able to get two runs back in the bottom of the 5th against Boston reliever JD Ogden, as Carl Schmidt led off the inning with a first pitch double down the left field line and advanced on a SAC Fly by Smaldino, giving French the opportunity to bring him home on an RBI single through the left side of the infield. French would then score on a single to left field from Max Handron, tying the game at 4-4.
Boston and California could not get anything across for the next few innings, even as Cal had left the bases loaded in the bottom of the 6th, but BC was able to get two runs across in the top of the 9th against Jordy Lopez to take a 6-4 lead off of a Esteban Garcia two-run double.
The Bears came to the plate in the bottom half of the 9th down two and with one out and Smaldino on first, Jacob French continued to add on to his breakout season with a two-run home run to left center field to tie the game at six apiece for his fourth of the year, with PJ Moutzouridis following with a single up the middle to bring Handron to the plate. Handron took a first pitch strike down the middle and jumped on the second pitch to launch a walk-off two-run home run towards Edwards Stadium to give the Bears game one of the three-game series, 8-6. Jordy Lopez was credited for the win, his first of the season, while Gavin Soares earned the loss and a blown save.
Friday, May 16th: Bears Blow Late Lead to Allow Boston College to Even Up the Series
With the series taking place Thursday-Sunday, Cal and BC took advantage of the two weekday games by scheduling back-to-back night games, the second time Cal has done so this season.
JJ Hollis got the start for the Bears on Friday night in front of a crowd of 567 fans at Evans Diamond, where he made his seventh appearance on the year and second start of the season. Hollis pitched very well for Cal, giving up only one run in 3.0 innings while the Bears took another early 2-0 lead in the bottom of the 1st, as Jarren Advincula and Carl Schmidt hit back-to-back singles and forced a throwing error by Ragsdale in center to score Advincula and allow Schmidt to advance to third, and eventually score on a sac-fly RBI by Jacob French before BC’s Brady Miller got out of the inning by getting Moutzouridis to pop up to second base.
Gavin Eddy relieved Hollis in the top of the 4th inning with the Bears up 2-1, and after getting Cimini to ground out to Birge at catcher, he walked three straight batters to load the bases for Ragsdale to reach on a catcher’s interference (his bat made contact with Birge’s glove on a swing, stopping him from hitting the ball) allowing one run to score and tie the game, and then Roche followed by getting hit by a pitch to score another run, and Adam Magpoc caught Birge and Eddy not paying attention on the throw back to the mound by Birge, so he stole home, giving Boston College a 4-2 lead. David Shaw relieved Eddy to finally get the last out of the inning, and Birge would mend his mistake with a solo home run in the bottom of the 4th to right field to bring the Bears back within one.
Cal was able to take the lead in the bottom of the 6th against Miller on an error by Magpoc at second that would bring French and Moutzouridis home, making it a 5-4 ballgame before Miller would finish what would be his last inning for the night. His final statline was 6.0 innings pitched, six hits, five runs, two of them being earned runs, two walks, and four strikeouts.
The Eagles would tie it up in the top of the 8th with a leadoff home run by Johnson to right field against Shaw, and Ryan Spalliero would come in and relieve him after his 3.2 innings of work on the night. Spalliero could only record one out in the inning, as the first batter he faced, Ragsdale, singled to right center, followed by Roche getting hit by a pitch, and Toomey reaching on an error by Spalliero that would load the bases for the pinch-hitting Esteban Garcia. Garcia walked to bring Ragsdale home and give Boston College the lead, and Colin Larson would be hit by a pitch (after Spalliero finally got his first out) to score another run and put Boston further ahead at 7-5.
Cal would claw right back at this deficit with a leadoff single by French to start the bottom of the 8th, followed by a walk to Moutzouridis to put two runners on for game one’s hero, Max Handron. Handron ripped a single through the right side of the infield to bring French home from second, and Cade Campbell followed with a single through the left side of the infield to bring Moutzouridis home and make it a tie ball game at 7-7. Jarren Advincula would come to the plate with two outs and two runners on later in the inning, and would hit a single through the middle of the infield into center field for an RBI to give Cal an 8-7 lead heading into the 9th. Cal was on the verge of winning their first ACC series in a month.
But that did not happen. Boston College sent Solier and McNulty to the plate against Cal’s Kaden Taque, and they were quickly sent back to the dugout after both batters struck out looking to put the Eagles one out away from losing, but Ragsdale singled to left to start a rally that had Roche reaching on an error by Moutzouridis, Toomey reaching on an error by Taque that would tie the game, and of course, Esteban Garcia hit a double to left that would score two and give Boston a 10-8 lead heading into the bottom of the 9th.
Cal would load the bases with Smaldino reaching on a lead-off walk, French getting hit by a pitch, and Moutzouridis singling to right- but pinch-hitting Jeff Hoffman grounded into a double play that would score one run, but put the Bears one out away from losing, and a Cade Campbell fly out to left would end the game there and tie the series at 1-1. Boston’s Kwiatkowski got his first win of the season while Taque earned the loss, and Howanitz the save.
The Bears and Eagles would return to action Saturday afternoon for the rubber match and series-deciding game to close out 2025’s regular season and the second-ever series in Cal and Boston College’s baseball history.
Saturday, May 17th: Cal Walks It Off on a Wild Pitch!
The conclusion to Cal’s first-ever regular season in the ACC was a wild one, which was fitting for a turbulent-at-best season. Tucker Bougie got the start for the Bears against Boston College’s Jacob Burnham, and both pitchers kept it scoreless through the first two innings.
The Eagles got on the board first when Ragsdale reached base via a walk and advanced to second on a wild pitch. He would score on a ball that was hit in the air to right field towards Jacob French. French dropped the ball while trying to make a running catch, allowing Ragsdale to score and for Boston College to take a 1-0 lead in the top of the 3rd.
Cal’s offense finally got some momentum in the bottom half of the 5th inning, as Max Handron continued his hot streak as of late with a single down the right field line, followed by a single to left by Carl Schmidt to put two runners on for senior catcher Nico Button, who has not seen much action this year outside of six at-bats in five games. Button laid down a sacrifice bunt to move both runners into scoring position, and Burnham airmailed (a throw that sails high over the player to whom he intended to throw the ball) his throw to first base, allowing Handron and Schmidt to score and give Cal a 2-1 lead on an error. Ethan Kodama followed with a sac-bunt attempt to move Button to third, and even beat the throw for an infield hit. Jarren Advincula followed with a groundout to second that brought Button home, and the Bears were up 3-1 going into the 6th.
Cole Tremain came in to pitch for the Bears in the top of the 7th with one out and one runner on, but he got two quick outs on a hit and double play to end the inning and come back out in the 8th. BC’s first two batters were quickly retired in the top half of the 8th to give Cal two quick outs, but Garcia and Wolff were both hit by pitches, and Vince Cimini singled up the middle for an RBI to make it 3-2 Golden Bears. The Eagles came back to the plate in the top of the 9th, trying to tie it up or take the lead with a leadoff single from McNulty, followed by a fielder’s choice and a throwing error towards second by Smaldino at first base, and a wild pickoff throw to second by Tremain to put runners on the corners for Roche. Roche flied out to center field, but it was deep enough to allow the runner on third to score and tie the game, making it 3-3 before Toomey and Johnson flied out to center and right field.
The Bears went down in order in the bottom of the 9th, forcing the game to go to extra innings, where the Eagles would strand two runners on base who reached via an error and a base hit in the top of the 10th. Cal would send Alex Birge to the plate to lead off the bottom half of the inning, and he ripped a hard hit double down the right field line on a 3-2 pitch. Elijah Clayton pinch ran for him on the bases, as Ethan Kodama laid down a sacrifice bunt to have the walk-off run at third base for Jarren Advincula. Advincula was given a free pass (intentional walk) by Boston College’s JD Ogden to put runners on the corners and have a double play situation on defense, but of all possible outcomes, Ogden sailed a ball over the catcher’s head towards the backstop for a wild pitch, allowing Clayton to score and the Bears to win the game and series over the Eagles.
Cal finishes the season at 22-30 with a 9-21 record in the ACC, and with no time to waste, the Golden Bears will be up bright and early tomorrow at 9:00 AM EST (6:00 AM PST) to face the No. 9-seeded Miami in the ACC Baseball tournament, as Cal finished the 2025 regular season in last place in their new conference across the country.
