Cal Baseball: Cole Tremain Does it All For the Bears Against Bakersfield
California walks it off against the Cal State Bakersfield Roadrunners thanks to a memorable pitching, hitting, and defensive performance from Cole Tremain
Wednesday, 2/27: The California Golden Bears continued their 10-game homestand to open up the 2025 season with a 6:00 PM game against the CSU Bakersfield Roadrunners. Cal had won five of the last six games against Bakersfield, having last played in 2019, where the Bears lost 3-4 in Tempe, AZ, at the Angels College Classic.
Cal Pitcher and UC Santa Barabra transfer JJ Hollis made his collegiate debut starting for the Golden Bears on a warm Wednesday night in Berkeley at Evans Diamond, retiring the first two batters to open the game before giving up a single and hitting Evan Cloyd to get two men on base for a 2-RBI Brock Perreira double.
Cal’s bats were able to even up the score in the bottom of the 2nd, after Dominic Smaldino ripped a double down the left field line, advancing to third on a Seth Gwynn sac-fly, and scored on an error.
Hollis would go on to give up a double to Nick Mascaro to open up the top of the 3rd inning before giving up a single and walk to load the bases with one out. Mike Neu decided to go to Pitcher Jake Guardiancic to try and get them out of the inning, but after surrendering a four-pitch walk to his first batter, the Roadrunners took the lead before ending the inning by grounding into a double play.
Cole Tremain got the game tied right back up on a leadoff homerun in the bottom of the 3rd inning, but the offense for Cal would be cut short each inning before any run production would come any further, as the Roadrunners took a quick 4-2 lead in the top of the 4th inning on a leadoff single and a two-run home run from Jared Bujanda-McConnell to end Guardiancic’s night. Logan Piper came in relief and struck out the next two batters, swinging to end the inning, and he would finish his night with 2.2 innings, giving up only one hit and one walk and striking out four to keep the Golden Bears within reach.
Ryan Spalliero came in to pitch for Cal in the top of the 7th inning but was quickly relieved after giving up two walks and a wild pitch by Lucas Alaniz for his first career game since transferring from Modesto Junior College and not seeing any action last year in Berkeley. Alaniz got out of the 7th inning jam by getting Brock Perreira to ground out to PJ Moutzouridis at short and striking out Louis Zulaica on a 3-2 pitch to end the inning with no runs scored for the Roadrunners.
Cal Catcher Alex Birge got his first-ever collegiate home run and hit of the season with a one-out solo shot to right to bring the Bears back within one, but a two-out throwing error in the top of the 8th inning by Cade Campbell allowed Bakersfield to regain their two-run lead, but thanks to a heads-up defensive play by Cole Tremain, Cal ended the inning there after he was backing up an overthrow at first base and was able to throw out Bujanda-McConnell who tried to advance home on the error.
Cal’s Moutzouridis and Smaldino both were retired to start the bottom of the 8th inning for Bakersfield’s relief pitcher Michael Riler, but a two-out Seth Gwynn single and pinch hit-Ryan Tayman single would put two runners on for Cade Campbell to hit a basehit to right field, and both runners would score on a throwing error before Birge struck out swinging on three pitches to end the inning.
Cal’s reliance on the bullpen early in the season is valuable in saving starters’ arms for the tough ACC baseball season, but it will create scenarios where a weekend series is coming up, and those arms need to be saved, whereas this Wednesday night game needs to end. So, you’re the Bears coaching staff- Alaniz is getting tired and losing velocity, and he’s given up a leadoff single and a sacrifice. Who’s the next pitcher up? Go to a guy who has pitched in college. Who’s pitched in college? Cole Tremain. Cole Tremain pitched in his freshman season at Sacramento State in 2021, where he pitched 19.2 innings in 15 appearances. Mike Neu brought Tremain in to pitch from right field, thus burning Handron’s spot at DH, and Matthew Thomas came in at right.
Tremain retired the next two batters to end the top of the 9th with a runner stranded on second base, and he opened the bottom of the 9th, striking out swinging on a 3-2 pitch. Jarren Advincula struck out looking on three pitches in the next at-bat, and Thomas lined out to left to end the inning for Cal and bring the Bears into their first extra-innings game of the 2025 season.
Bakersfield would go down in order as Tremain would get Pelayo to line out on the first pitch of the 10th inning, and then struck out the next two batters swinging. Cal would go down in order even faster, as Moutzouridis grounded out to third on the first pitch he saw, Smaldino popped up to first on an 0-1 count, and Seth Gwynn flied out to right after fouling off one pitch.
Tremain would remain in the game and would get Mascaro and Barnum V out to start the inning, but hit Noah Alvarez on a 2-0 pitch to give up his first base runner of the night. Tremain would go down 2-0 in the next at-bat’s count to Evan Cloyd, but he would line out to short to end the inning with no runs across for the Roadrunners.
Cal brought a pinch hitter in to start the bottom of the 11th, but R-Freshman Carl Schmidt also popped up on a 0-0 count to give Bakersfield an early advantage in the half-inning. Cade Campbell hit a single up the middle to improve his batting average to .406 to open up the season, and an Alex Birge walk got two runners on for the Bears with Cole Tremain up to bat. Tremain got a base hit through the left side of the infield that scored Campbell, giving the Bears the walk-off 6-5 win over CSU Bakersfield. Tremain would be credited with the walk-off hit, win, and game-saving play at right field all in one night; an amazing night for the college journeyman as he is settling into a new team and role with the California Golden Bears.
Cal moves to 5-3 on the season with their next game/series against Santa Clara University in Berkeley, at Evans Diamond at Stu Gordon Stadium for Friday night and Saturday afternoon, before they hit the road for their first away series at Santa Clara, at 2:00 PM Sunday and 6:00 PM Monday- both away games available to all ESPN+ subscribers (Not just ACCNX+).
California baseball travels to ranked No. 17 Duke on March 7th to begin ACC Play.
That was a quirky but clutch win for the Bears. They’re going to need some lesser known players to similarly emerge as consistent contributors if this season is to come close to .500, IMHO. Cal’s middle infielders are their strength. Last year was a storybook year for Cal, and they lost most of their pitching and heavy hitters from that squad. I’m still angry they were excluded from the NCAA Tournament last year. But, I am excited to attend lots of games this season. Go Bears, through thick and thin!