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Shaking off a rough third inning and a clutch home run by their opponent, the Cal baseball team scored two runs in the bottom of the ninth to beat Santa Clara in the Bears’ home opener at Evans Diamond on Saturday. 

Cal left fielder Curtis Johnson got his only hit of the day, a double down the third base line, to drive in Brian Horowitz to tie the game, then scored on pinch-hitter Noah Jackson’s looping drive that landed just inside the right field line to win the game for the Bears in dramatic fashion. 

The Bears had gone behind in the top of the ninth when Santa Clara third baseman Pat Peavey crushed a two-out drive over the left field wall off of Cal reliever David Cash. Peavey’s clout would have been a two-run homer, but Jack Headley took too wide a turn at first base on his leadoff single, and Cal right fielder Rob Meyer gunned him down heading back to the bag. 

Meyer provided some offensive heroics of his own in the seventh inning, hitting a bomb that landed on top of the Recreational Sports Facility that rises three stories above the left field fence to tie the game at 2-2. 

The Bears were kept in the game by starting pitcher Ryan Atkinson’s outstanding outing. The junior righty gave up just two runs in seven innings, both in the top of the third. Matt Miller hit a double off of Cal third baseman Conor Jackson’s glove, and was driven home by a double by DH Joe Diefenderfer. Headley followed with a scorcher that Bear second baseman Carson White couldn’t handle, and Diefenderfer came around to score. 

Atkinson went on to set down the next 13 Gaels before being pulled in the eighth inning. 

“The key for us today was Ryan Atkinson giving us seven strong innings,” said Cal coach David Esquer. “Santa Clara did a good job of holding us down offensively, and when you do that, you are capable of beating anyone. We did have some guys come off the bench and produce. Brian Horwitz and Noah Jackson got big hits for us, as well as Curtis Johnson getting a key hit and a stolen base.” 

Johnson’s clutch hit was a long time coming, as he left a man on third base in the second inning and two men on base in the fourth. He stole third base after his RBI double, and Santa Clara intentionally walked David Weiner, loading the bases and setting up Jackson’s hit.