SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. (AP) — Peyton Schulze homered twice and drove in five runs to lead to lead No. 6 seed California to a 7-5 victory over top-seeded Arizona at the Pac-12 Tournament on Thursday night.
California (36-18) and Arizona (34-21) both advance to Friday’s semifinals. Cal moves on as one of three pool-play winners, while the Wildcats grab the wild-card spot as the top remaining seed. The Golden Bears will play Southern California in the first semifinal and Arizona will square off against Stanford in the nightcap. The two winners will play for the championship on Saturday.
The Golden Bears grabbed the lead in the top of the third inning and never relinquished it. Jarren Advincula led off with a walk and took second on a single by Caleb Lomavita. Schulze sent a 2-0 pitch over the wall in left-center field for a 3-0 lead.
Arizona scored a run in the bottom of the fourth inning on a sacrifice fly from Maddox Mihalakis, but Cal broke the game open with a four-run fifth.
Advincula had a lead-off single in the pivotal inning and Lomavita reached when he was hit by a pitch. Rodney Green Jr. drilled a two-run double to right and Schulze followed with another home run to left center, this time on the first pitch.
The Wildcats pulled within two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning on a three-run homer by Mihalakis.
Arizona’s Brendan Summerhill singled off Tyler Stasiowski with one out in the bottom of the ninth. Christian Becerra relieved and got Richie Morales to line out in a game-ending double play on his third pitch. It was his fourth save of the season.
Luke Short (6-2) pitched 5 1/3 innings to get the win in a start for the Bears. He allowed two runs on four hits and two walks, striking out eight.
Jackson Kent (3-4) was saddled with the loss for the Wildcats. He surrendered seven runs on seven hits and two walks, striking out seven in five innings of work.
Arizona was 3-0 against Cal in three previous matchups this season.
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