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In a game that featured more plot twists and suspense than an Academy Award-winning drama, the Bears were unable to come up with the requisite happy ending. Pacific’s Jason Walker smacked an opposite-field homerun to give the Tigers (16-15) a 9-8 victory over Cal in 13 innings at Evans Diamond.  

The Bears (15-14) are now 7-11 in games decided by two runs or less.  

“We need to find a way to win these games; the telltale sign of this ballclub will be how we come out of this,” said Cal head coach David Esquer. “There’s better things in store for us.” 

Walker’s homerun, his third of the season, came off of reliever Matt Payne (0-1), who was making his first appearance as a Golden Bear. Todd Culp (1-3) pitched four innings in relief for the Tigers to pick up the win.  

Though the game lasted nearly four hours, the first six innings zipped by at a crisp pace. Cal catcher Creighton Kahoalii opened the scoring with a two-run homerun to left, giving the Bears a 2-0 lead in the third inning. Cal starter David Cash was sharp, allowing only one run in six innings of work and striking out a career high 11 batters. 

The Bears plated three more runs in the fifth, making the lead 5-1. Everything seemed in control. Everything was an illusion. 

Ryan Lubener started the seventh in place of Cash. Two outs, four hits, and two runs later, he was relieved by Blake Read. Read faced only one batter, Brian Hackett, whom he walked. With cleanup hitter Rick Morton due at the plate, Coach Esquer made the decision to go to his ace reliever, Matt Brown.  

Brown fell behind Morton 3-0, then threw a fastball that Morton slapped over the rightfield fence for a grand slam and a 7-5 Pacific lead.  

“We were in position to win, and we didn’t hold them,” said Esquer after the game. “We made a couple of pitches that we would like to have back.” 

The Bears fought back to tie the score with two in the ninth. Ben Conley scored on a single by Clint Hoover, and with Horowitz representing the tying run at third, Conor Jackson beat out a double play, allowing Horowitz to tie the score at 9-9. 

The teams traded sacrifice flies in the tenth, and both squandered opportunities in the eleventh inning. Pacific left the go-ahead runner on third when Payne got centerfielder Joel Summers to ground out to second base. Spencer Wyman came up with the bases loaded in the bottom half, but grounded into a double play to end the threat.  

“They’re trying hard, sometimes too hard,” said Esquer. 

Horowitz’s 23-game hitting streak came to an end with an 0-for-5 performance. The freshman outfielder’s streak now stands as the longest in Cal history.