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A season-high hit total wasn't enough, nearly, as the Utes conceded four home runs and grounded into four double plays to lose their Pac-12 home opener, 14-6, to Cal on Friday night.
Utah head coach Bill Kinneberg said that while it may be a positive that Utah totaled 15 hits, "on the flip side, I think that was the worst pitching effort we had all year, and the competitive side I wasn't really happy with."
Cal freshman catcher Brett Cumberland went deep to right twice as the league-leading Golden Bears (19-5, 6-1 Pac-12) extended their Pac-12-high home-run total to 27, and freshman starter Jeff Bain moved to 4-0.
Utah (8-16, 2-5 Pac-12) yanked its own struggling starter, Bret Helton, after just one complete inning — "He didn't have much and wasn't throwing strikes," Kinneberg said — and freshman Trenton Stoltz (0-1) inherited a 0-1 deficit and runners on second and third in the top of the second.
He was greeted rudely with a two-RBI single to left from Cal freshman Preston Grand Pre, and the rout was on.
Grand Pre motored to third after an errant pickoff throw from Stoltz and scored on a sacrifice fly to left from sophomore center fielder Aaron Knapp. Sophomore third baseman Lucas Erceg hit a solo shot into the right-field corner for good measure, 5-0 visitors.
After Utah sophomore Dallas Carroll led off the bottom of the fourth with a double and junior center fielder Wyler Smith singled to left, sophomore Max Schuman plated Carroll by grounding into a double play, pulling within four.
But that was as close as they'd get.
Cumberland hit a solo shot to right in the top of the fifth, and junior Nick Halamandaris had another in the top of a five-run sixth inning.
Cal stretched the lead to 13-3 on Cumberland's second home run, a towering blast just under the Smith's Ballpark scoreboard.
Junior center fielder Wyler Smith led the Utes at the plate with a 3-for-5 performance, and freshman left fielder Wade Gulden went 2 for 5 with an RBI and a run scored.
The Golden Bears were 28th in the latest USA Today poll but entered Friday's contest losers of three of their past six, including a 7-2 loss at Fresno on Wednesday.
Utah had lost three straight at UCLA by a combined score of 28-4, after taking two out of three against Arizona in Tucson to open its Pac-12 slate.
Kinneberg credited Stoltz and freshman Tanner Thomas for giving his team eight innings and preserving the rest of the pen for the weekend.
First pitch Saturday is at 5 p.m., followed by the finale at 3 p.m. Sunday. No. 13 Arizona State will visit Smith's Ballpark for a three-game series next weekend.
Twitter: @matthew_piper —
California 14, Utah 6
R Utah grabs 15 hits, but coach Bill Kinneberg cites "the worst pitching effort we had all year."
• Bret Helton pitches just one complete inning for the Utes.
• Junior center fielder Wyler Smith leads at the plate for the Utes, going 3 for 5.