Cal Baseball: California Sweeps San Diego to Extend Winning Streak to 11
Bears outscore Toreros 40-13 and move to 13-3 one week before ACC conference play.
BERKELEY – The California Golden Bears look good. After coming up short in many metrics in 2025, the 2026 Cal Baseball squad under Mike Neu in year nine in Berkeley has been a surprising gem to witness on Evans Diamond and across California throughout late February and early March.
Keeping kosher with low-demand travel, Cal’s out-of-conference matchups against California-based colleges were ones that preseason predications had working against their favor, with their transfer and freshmen-heavy roster with very little known as far as cohesion and ability. Against these doubts, California is in the midst of an 11-game winning streak for the first time since 1989 and has tied the second-longest winning streak in program history after taking all four games against San Diego over the weekend at Stu Gordon Stadium.
The last time the Cal Bears were 13-3 to start a season was in 2015, when former Cal head coach and current Stanford head coach David Esquer took the team to the College Station Regional, where the Bears made it to the Regional Finals before losing to the one-seeded Texas A&M.
Game 1, Friday 3/6/2026: California 11 – San Diego 1
The Cal offense is hot. Winning in “walk-off” fashion on a Friday night under the lights in Berkeley, the Golden Bears sent the Toreros back to their hotels a half hour earlier than expected as Cal 10-run-ruled San Diego in eight innings to open the four-game weekend series, which is technically the fourth walk-off victory of the season thus far for California.
California came into the weekend with a seven-game winning streak while the Toreros dropped two of three to the Michigan Wolverines last weekend. Oliver de la Torre got the Friday nod once again to open up the series for the Bears and was matched up against USD’s Diego Gutierrez. Gutierrez, a Graduate Student from CSUN, appeared in 46 games (27 starts) over four seasons with the Matadors and made his fourth start of the season for the Toreros against the Bears. De la Torre had not allowed more than two earned runs in his first three starts of the season, lasting at least 4.0 innings in each, going 5.0 innings and striking out six in his last start against the Sac State Hornets.
The Toreros got on the board first to open up the series in front of a Berkeley crowd of around 388 fans as Jayden Lobliner opened up the top of the 2nd with a leadoff triple on the first pitch of the inning and was brought in on a SAC-Fly to the following hitter. De la Torre quickly settled in after that, dominating the San Diego offense with a final stat line of the day of 6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, and 9 K – a career high for the Pleasanton/East Bay native. Cal’s offense got on the board and took away San Diego’s only lead in this game with a one-out walk to Jett Kenady in the bottom of the 2nd, who would score on a two-out double to deep left field from Gannon Snyder to make it a 1-1 game.
Cal began to pile on from there, as Hideki Prather led off the top of the 3rd with a home run to left for his fourth of the year, Jett Kenady launched a two-run home run to center in the bottom of the 4th, and Jacob French followed later in the inning with a two-RBI double to right to make it a 6-1 ball game, thus ending Gutierrez’s night at 3.2 IP, 9 H, 6 ER, 1 BB, and 6 K.
Four runs on three hits, including a two-run home run from Cade Campbell in the bottom half of the 6th, gave the Bears a 10-1 lead heading into the last leg of this game. Ultimately, a two-out RBI-single from Campbell in the bottom of the 8th would put the Bears ahead by 10, thus activating the NCAA mercy rule and ending the game via walk-off for the Golden Bears. California had 15 hits in 37 Abs, with Jacob French going 4-5 (2B, 2 R, 2 RBI) and Cade Campbell going 2-5 (HR, 3 RBI). Game 1: California. WP: Oliver de la Torre (6.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 9 K). LP: Diego Gutiérrez (3.2 IP, 9 H, 6 ER, 1 BB, 6 K).
Game 2, Saturday (Doubleheader Game 1) 3/7/2026: California 15 – San Diego 9
Saturday morning showed what Cal could do when they are down. The Golden Bears began game one of Saturday’s doubleheaders down 0-4 after surrendering three unearned runs in the top of the 1st. Nonetheless, they overcame this deficit to keep the winning streak alive.
Ethan Foley started game two for the Bears just as he has been this season, but hits and errors gave USD an early lead. Gabe Springer led off the game with an infield single to third, while CJ Moran reached on an error by French to put runners on the corners for Lobliner. Prather would throw out Moran trying to steal second, but an RBI-double from Lobliner would bring in Springer for an unearned run, with Aden Howard reaching next on a fielder’s choice. Tanner Kern then launched a three-run home run to right center field to put the Toreros up 4-0 in the 1st.
The Bears did add two quick runs back against USD’s Kyle Bade, who made 12 relief appearances for the Oklahoma State Cowboys in two seasons while totaling 13 strikeouts across 10.1 IP. Prather got the offense started for the Bears by reaching base on a 1-2 HBP, while Jacob French followed with a double to left to put runners in scoring position for Murillo. Murillo hit a deep enough fly ball to right to bring Prather home from third, and Campbell followed with a SAC-Fly of his own to bring home French to make it a 2-4 ball game.
San Diego got those two runs from the Bears right back in their pocket as Gage Mestas led off the top of the 2nd with a double down the left field line and advanced to third on a SAC-bunt from Cade Martinez. Springer followed with a walk and a stolen base, which triggered a BALK from Foley to bring home Mestas, and Connor Meidroth singled to right-center field to bring home Springer to make it a 2-6 lead for the Toreros.
But keeping it consistent, Cal got those two runs right back in the bottom half of the inning as Joshua Hanson reached on an error to lead off the inning and scored on an RBI-double from Snyder to make it a three-run deficit. Jeon and Prather followed with back-to-back walks, and both advanced into scoring position for Jacob French to bring the fourth run home on a SAC-fly, and Murillo followed with a bloop single to right to load the bases for the Bears with one out, but Campbell and Schmidt could not get any more across in the inning for Cal.
The offense mellowed out in both dugouts until the bottom of the 5th when a leadoff triple from Jett Kenady sent Hayden Cody into the game to replace Kyle Bade. Cody surrendered an RBI-single to his first batter in Joshua Hanson, and Kevin Jeon hit a solo shot to tie the game at six apiece. Prather followed with a walk to put a runner on for French, who ripped a double down the left field line to give Cal their first lead of the ball game. That lead was short-lived as San Diego got one across with a two-out RBI-double from Springer to end Foley’s night at 5.2 IP, 10 H, 7 R, 3 ER, 1 BB, and 3 K – before Take Kreis got Meidroth to pop-up to Jeon in right on the first pitch of the at-bat to end the inning.
Former Cal Bear Logan Piper then took the mound for the Toreros, and the Golden Bears jumped all over his fastball. A matchup of former teammates, Cade Campbell led off the inning against his former pitcher with a double to left and scored on an RBI-single from Kenady to give Cal an 8-7 lead, with Hanson and Gannon following with back-to-back doubles to make it 10-7. Jeon then followed with a two-run home run to right to make it 12-7, his second of the game and season.
A few insurance runs in the bottom of the 8th gave Cal a 15-7 lead thanks to a leadoff home run from Kenady and a two-out two-run home run from Prather, but San Diego clawed back for two runs of their own in the 9th on a Springer home run and Lobliner RBI-single before Jordy Lopez shut down the final two batters for San Diego and ended the game with the Bears winning 15-9. Offensive standouts included Hideki Prather going 1-2 with a HR, 3 R, 2 RBI, and 3 BB, Jett Kenady going 3-5 with 3 R, a HR, and 2 RBI. Game 2: California. WP: Take Kreis (2.2 IP, 2 h, 2 ER, 1 BB, K) LP: Logan Piper (.1 IP, 5 ER, 1 BB, 5 H).
Game 3, Saturday (Doubleheader Game 2) 3/7/2026: California 9 – San Diego 0
A couple of hours after an offensive slugfest at Evans Diamond, Cal’s Freshman Pitcher Otto Espinoza put on a clinic in front of 500+ fans in Berkeley. Earning the game four start after three consecutive stellar relief appearances, Espinoza led the Golden Bears to the series victory against San Diego with a 7-inning three-hitter while only walking two batters and striking out 10 in his first career start in Blue and Gold.
Cal’s offense just kept on rolling in game three and the second game of Saturday’s doubleheader as Daniel Murillo gave Cal the immediate 2-0 lead with a two-run home run to left for his third of the season. Campbell and Schmidt followed with back-to-back singles to put two runners on for Hanson, who pulled an RBI-double down the right field line before Gannon singled him home to make it a quick 5-0 in the bottom of the 1st.
San Diego did plate one run across with a Phoenix Brant home run to left off of Espinoza, but that would be the only run the Toreros would score in this Friday evening matchup against the Golden Bears. San Diego’s Fernando Palencia held the Cal offense at bay for three more innings and finished his night with 4.0 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 4 ER, and 5 K, as Espinoza cruised through the San Diego lineup for a stellar performance that saw him go 7.0 IP, allowing just 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, and 10 Ks.
California scored four more in their last opportunity at the plate in the bottom of the 8th, with Carl Schmidt leading off the inning with a solo shot to right for his 3rd of the year, followed by back-to-back hits from Kenady and Hanson to make it 7-1. Olmstead and Prather would follow later in the inning with back-to-back RBI-doubles to make it 9-1, and the Golden Bears would win the series as Cole Clark shut down the Toreros to close out game three of the series. Kenady went 3-4 with two doubles and a run, while Joshua Hanson went 2-4 with 3 RBIs. Game 3: California. WP: Otto Espinoza (7.0 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 10 K) LP: Fernando Palencia (4.0 IP, 7 H, 5 R, 4 ER, 5 K).
Game 4, Sunday 3/8/2026: California 5 – San Diego 2
On Sunday afternoon, California swept San Diego to pick up their 11th straight win to tie the 2nd longest winning streak in program history. This is the first time Cal has won 11 in a row since 1989, when the Golden Bears finished 35-24 in future HOF Jeff Kent’s final (shortened) season in a Golden Bears uniform.
Gavin Eddy took the mound for Cal against the Toreros’ Drake Frize in Sunday’s 1:05 game at Evans Diamond, and San Diego did strike first again against the Bears with a one-out solo home run from Springer to give the Toreros an early 1-0 lead. Springer, a Stanford alum, went 6-15 with two home runs in four games against his former rivals in this series.
Frize worked through the Cal lineup with two base runners in the first two innings, but the Golden Bears got ahead in the bottom half of the 3rd with a two-run home run from Daniel Murillo, his second of the series, to make it 2-1 California. That lead was immediately taken away in the top half of the 4th on a double steal from the Toreros that sent Aden Howard to second and allowed CJ Moran to score, effectively stealing home.
Frize’s afternoon ended after 4.2 IP with a tie game still in play, and Nate Deschryver took the mound out of the bullpen for San Diego. Deschryver faced the Cal lineup in the bottom half of the 6th with the game still tied at 2-2, and surrendered two one-out walks (one via HBP) to Kenady and Hanson before Snyder singled to left to give Cal a 3-2 lead. Jordy Lopez followed with a double to right that brought in Hanson, but Snyder was thrown out on the play trying to score, and San Diego got out of the inning down 2-4. Hayden Cole relieved Deschryver in the 7th, and Cal added one more, and their last run of the weekend on a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch to Joshua Hanson that brought in French from third, giving Cal their 5-2 lead that they would hold onto and ride into the 9th with, winning this game and sweeping the Toreros in four games.
Jacob French went 3-5 with a run, Daniel Murillo went 4-4 with a HR and 2 RBI – increasing his BA to .408 on the season. Cal outscored San Diego 40-13 in this series and improved to 13-3 with an 11-game winning streak. Game 4: California. WP: Gavin Eddy (7.0 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, BB, 6 K) LP: Nate Deschryver (1.1 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, BB, 2 K).
The Golden Bears remain in the Bay Area but travel south to San Jose to take on the San Jose State Spartans at Excite Ballpark on Tuesday, March 10th, at 6:05 PM. Streaming will be available on Mountain West Network (themw.com).
For what it's worth, Cal is currently No.24 in RPI (https://www.warrennolan.com/baseball/2026/rpi-live).
We will see what happens when they start playing real teams. They can’t do any worse than they did last year.