BERKELEY, Calif. — The ball flew out of California's Evans Diamond with ease Tuesday night, as the University of San Francisco baseball team and the Golden Bears combined for seven home runs and 11 extra-base hits, but it was Cal who came away with the midweek victory, holding off the Dons, 10-7, in a non-conference clash.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED

• San Francisco (12-8) battled all night long, coming from behind to take leads and trimming big advantages that California (10-8) had built up. The Dons sliced Cal's four-run fourth-inning lead to two in the top of the fifth, and cut down a five-run sixth-inning lead to three in the top of the eighth.
   
• San Francisco hit three home runs Tuesday night. RJ Cordeiro hit a two-run home run in the top of the second that put USF ahead, 2-1. Jonathan Allen hit a solo shot in the top of the fourth to put the Dons ahead, 3-2. And Robert Emery hit a two-run shot in the top of the eighth to cut California's lead to three runs at 10-7.
   
• The Dons' biggest chance to score runs and get back into the game came in the top of the sixth when they loaded the bases with no outs, trailing by two at 7-5. But a shallow fly ball, infield line out and a strikeout looking ended the threats and left the Dons empty handed.
   
• Having escaped a big jam in the top of the sixth and holding on to its two-run lead, California put a cap on a big power night in the bottom half with a three-run two-out rally. After a strikeout and a groundout, Bears slugger Andrew Vaughn was hit by a pitch, then later scored on an RBI double by Max Flower, making it 8-5. Cole Elvis followed with a two-run home run – the team's fourth of the night, to double up on USF at 10-5. It was Cal's second multi-run frame of the game.
   
• A big five-run fourth gave California some breathing room after both teams had traded the lead multiple times in the early innings. The Bears hit two home runs in the frame, including a three-run shot from defending Golden Spikes Award winner Andrew Vaughn that made it 7-3. Julian Washburn came on as USF's second relief pitcher of the inning and got two strikeouts to end the rally.
   
• San Francisco did not lie down after Cal had put up a five-spot in the fourth. Jacob Muñoz hit a one-out double in the top of the fifth and Tyler Villaroman logged USF's first triple of the year to bring him home. One batter later, Jack Winkler tallied his 16th RBI with a sacrifice fly to cut the Bears' new four-run lead to just two at 7-5.

COACH GIARRATANO QUOTES

• "I think I take away the positive that we played good defense tonight, we didn't make any errors. We battled back three times in the game when we probably could've just laid down, we put together really good at-bats."
   
• "Really disappointed in that bases-loaded, no-outs situation down 7-5, but then, I think it was just our inability to stop them with two outs. Just not staying on our game plan. We talked about not letting Vaughn beat us, and he beat us."
   
• "The positive that you can take away is that offensively, this is a really good club, defensively this is a good-enough club. We've just got to pitch better. When you score seven against Cal on a Tuesday, you probably should win that game."
   
• "We've got some things we've got to fix pitching-wise, but I'm really proud of this team. I like this team. This is a team I want to go to battle with. I want to fix the pitching, but this definitely is a team I want to go to battle with, we put some good at-bats together tonight."

NOTABLE NUMBERS

• 1 for 8: San Francisco went 1 for 8 Tuesday with runners in scoring position. Four of the eight Dons left on base were left in scoring position.
• 3: San Francisco hit a season-high three home runs in the game. It was the most home runs it had hit since also hitting three versus Pacific nearly a year to the day on March 17, 2018.
• 4: California hit four home runs, accounting for seven of their 10 runs. It was the most home runs USF had allowed since giving up five to the Golden Bears on April 10, 2018.

COMING UP

• The Dons' eight-game road trip continues this weekend at San Diego with their first road West Coast Conference series, a three-game set starting at 6 p.m. Friday night. Fans can find all live coverage links on USFDons.com.