Cal Baseball: Bears Fail to Snap Losing Streak Against Boston College
Despite promising starts, the Golden Eagles swept Cal in their second ACC conference series, extending the Golden Bear's losing streak to eight
BRIGHTON — The California Golden Bears (13-11, 0-6 ACC) have been on an eight game backslide since starting out the year white hot at 13-3. After being swept by #15 UNC at home and struggling against UCONN a few days later, the Bears travelled out east for their first ACC road series of the season against the Boston College Golden Eagles.
Friday, Game 1: Cal 3 - 4 BC
The Golden Bears got off to a hot start in game one, with two of Cal’s first three batters getting on base. Shortstop Jett Kenady capitalized on the momentum, knocking the fourth pitch thrown his way into left field, picking up the early 1-0 lead with an RBI single. Boston College’s fielders quickly picked up two outs on a fielder’s choice and catching Cal third baseman Cade Campbell stealing second, to keep the deficit small. In the bottom of the same frame, Oliver de la Torre got the starting nod from manager Mike Neu to open game one of the series. The junior pitched well against Sacramento State and San Diego, however he’d hit a stumbling block with North Carolina, causing his ERA to sit just a hair under 3.00. Torre gave one back to BC in the second off an RBI single from Danny Suroweic, however that would be all the Eagles would wrestle out of the right-hander.
The Bears and Eagles returned to silent innings in the third, Torre only giving up a single and a walk while taking part in a bases clearing 1-6-3 double play. Bears catcher Lawson Olmstead increased the lead in the fourth by going yard with a solo shot to left center, giving Cal their third (and final) run of the day. The defense held onto Cal’s 3-1 lead into the bottom of the sixth, with Torre only being pulled from the mound after giving up a double, a hit-by-pitch, and a seven pitch walk to load the bases. Oliver de la Torre ended his outing having thrown 5.2 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 6 BB, and 4 Ks, and was relieved by senior Cole Clark.
Clark started out his day with a big swinging strikeout to strand Boston’s threat on the bases and head to the seventh with the two run lead intact. Despite a dominant six innings out of California, the seventh inning was where it started to come undone. Clark gave up two in the bottom of the seventh with two outs, the first of which came off an RBI single by BC’s Nick Wang. The tying run was brought home by a painfully costly error with runners on second and third, when Clark attempted to pick off Wang at second base, the throw sailing past second baseman Jacob French, allowing the Eagles to score an unearned run to even the game at 3-3. In the following frame, Cal went down in order, and Boston scored their fourth run off a walk-off RBI single from Colin Larson.
California’s first outing against Boston started out with active hitting in the first, second, and fourth. However, quiet bats in the later innings couldn’t extend the lead, giving Boston the opportunity to make a comeback. Lawson Olmstead went 2-3 with a solo homer, Jett Kenady went 2-4 with a pair of singles, and designated hitter Hideki Prather went 1-4, recording a double. In the field, Cal turned two double plays, a 1-6-3 in the third, and a 4-6-3 double play in the fifth. Cole Clark and Carl Schmidt were each credited with an error. Winner: Boston College. WP: Cesar Gonzalez (3-0) 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K. LP: Cole Clark (2-1) 2.1 IP, 3 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K.
Saturday, Game 2: Cal 6 - 9 BC
Similar to the previous game, Cal rocketed off to a hot start in the first. Prather took one for the team on the third pitch of the game, and Murillo followed up by reaching second on a throwing error by Boston’s shortstop Julio Solier. On the very next pitch, Kenady cleared the bases with a 358 foot, 3-run homer (his fifth of the season). Cal continued to rally in the first, with Olmstead getting hit by a pitch while left fielder Campbell and right fielder Gannon Snyder both reached on back-to-back singles to load the bases with no outs. Three quick outs stranded all three, ending Cal’s momentum before the Bears could do anymore damage.
Ethan Foley took to the mound to start for the Golden Bears, the right-hander looking to rebound after giving up his first loss of the season in six innings against UNC. Foley gave the Eagles one back in the bottom of the first off an RBI double to Jack Toomey, however the senior struck out the next batter in four pitches, stamping out any hope of a first inning rally. Cal and Boston College’s bats were held in check as Foley and his counterpart Tyler Mudd pitched through the third, an opportunity presenting itself only after Mudd was relieved by John Mitchell in the top of the fourth.
With two outs and Kenady on second, Olmstead knocked a bloop single into shallow left, giving Kenady just enough time to scramble home for Cal’s fourth run of the day. In the following inning, center fielder Joshua Handson put up one more after he launched a 426 foot moonshot into center field, his second home run of the season giving Cal a 5-1 lead.
Cal’s lead unraveled in the sixth with a blow-up inning from Foley and Cal’s bullpen. The implosion began with a five pitch walk from Foley, followed by an RBI double down the right field line by BC’s second baseman Ty Mainolfi to make it 5-2. After loading the bases with no outs by hitting Wang with a pitch and giving up an infield single to Toomey, the other cleat finally dropped. The Golden Eagles’ first baseman Danny Surowiec turned on the fourth pitch of his at-bat, firing off a 428 foot grand slam into center field. The base unloading home run spelled the end of Foley’s day after throwing 5.0 IP, 5 H, 6 ER, 1 BB, and 7Ks.
But Cal’s pitching woes in the sixth were far from over. After the lead-taking grand salami, Take Kreis was called upon to relieve Foley. However, Kreis was hooked by Mike Neu after walking the first three batters he faced. With the bases loaded once again, junior lefty Garret Mackowiak was called in to relieve Kreis, and delivered the first out of the inning via strikeout. Neu called the southpaw back after that first out, sending freshman Otto Espinoza to the mound to close out the game. The right-hander gave up an RBI walk, and a 2-RBI sacrifice fly that Cal turned into a double play when the runner on first tried to reach second.
In the top of the seventh, Cal clawed one run back thanks to a 381 foot solo-shot home run off the bat of Carl Schmidt to make it a 6-9 ball game. Unfortunately the Bears could not force the three runs necessary to catch up with the Eagles in the seventh or eighth, leading Cal to a series dropping loss in game two.
The Bears recorded 14 hits in 40 at-bats in the game, with Jett Kenady and Carl Schmidt both going 4-5 with a home run each (plus a double for Kenady), and Kideki Parther going 2-3 with a pair of singles. Joshua Hanson recorded a home run of his own, while Prather and Lawson Olmstead took two and one for the team respectively. From the mound: despite a devastating end to his outing in the sixth, pitcher Ethan Foley recorded a season high 7 strikeouts.
Winner: Boston College
WP: Luke D’ancona (2-1) 1.1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1 K
Save: Kyle Kipp (2) 2.0 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 K
LP: Ethan Foley (2-2) 5.0 IP, 5 H, 6 ER, 1 BB, 7 K
Sunday, Game 3: Cal 2 - 3 BC (11)
On Sunday the Golden Bears took the Golden Eagles to eleven innings in a low scoring fight for the final game. Cal once again took an early lead, with a Joshua Hanson sacrifice fly bringing a runner home from third for the first run of the game.
Redshirt sophomore Gavin Eddy was tapped to start the contest, returning to the mound for the first time since being delivered his first loss of the season against North Carolina a week prior. Gavin kept pace with Boston’s starting pitcher Brady Miller in a pitcher’s duel, giving up a game tying run off an RBI single hit by Boston’s Cesar Gonzalez in the bottom of the second. A couple innings later, and an RBI single by Colin Larson in the fourth gave Boston the lead. Cal responded two frames later, with Kenady on second after knocking a one-out double into left field. Two at-bats later, a throwing error allowed Murillo to reach first while Kenady raced home to tie the game at 2-2.
The game reached a stalemate, and Gavin Eddy would be relieved before the start of the eighth inning. Eddy finished his outing with 7.0 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, and he was relieved by Mackowiak–who gave up a walk before Neu pulled him and sent out Quinn Larson to finish out the eighth. Larson neutralized Boston’s threat in the eighth with bases loaded and only one out, throwing a pair of strikeouts to strand all three base runners. In the bottom of the ninth, Larson’s day ended after 1.1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, and 2 Ks, his relief Cade Colombara stepping in to finish the game. Colombara kept Boston off the board in the ninth, pitching Boston’s Mainolfi into a 9-2 double play to retire the side.
With the score still tied at two apiece after the bottom of the ninth, Cal was sent into their first extra innings of the 2026 season. Cal threatened early in the tenth, putting runners at first and second with only one out. However a popout and a fielder’s choice stopped the Bears in their tracks before they could do any damage. After a quick bottom frame, Cal again threatened in the eleventh. With Olmstead on third, Campbell on second, and two down, Cal desperately needed a base hit to take the lead. Unfortunately, a grounder hit to second was the final nail in the coffin for the Golden Bears. The following inning a walk, a bunt, and a throwing error gave Boston College a runner a third with no outs. A Cal pitching change later (Jordy Lopez for Cade Colombara) wouldn’t be enough to keep the game going, and a walk-off sacrifice fly from pinch hitter Kyle Wolff was all the Eagles needed to bring in their third run.
California recorded 6 hits in 37 at-bats in the series finale, with Jett Kenady going 2-5 with two doubles, while Daniel Murillo went 2-5 with a pair of singles. Cade Campbell and Daniel Murillo each stole a base, while Cade Colombara recorded an error. Winner: Boston College. WP: John Kwiatkowski (3-0), 3.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER. LP: Cade Colombara (0-1) 1.2 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 2 BB.
What’s Next:
The California Golden Bears fall to 0-6 in conference play, and will look to turn things around in another three game road series back east, this time taking on the Wake Forest Demon Deacons in Winston-Salem, NC. Play begins on Friday, March 27th at 3pm, with games at 1pm on Saturday, and 10am on Sunday. All games will be streamed on ACCNX/ESPN+. Go Bears!
Cal baseball may not be able to come up clutch, but Callie can. Thank you again for the great last minute coverage. Onto the next. Go bears.
Well written article. Bottom line: Cal got beat 3 times by a team with lesser talent that small balled Cal to death, combined with Cal failing to hit with any consistency with runners on base. Two crucial throwing errors by Cal pitchers plus walking the lead off batter repeatedly and getting behind in counts gave BC just enough ammunition to win with their small balled tactics. These are correctable mental mistakes. Hopefully the team can turn it around!