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California scored four runs in the fourth inning against rival Stanford Friday afternoon at Evans Field, jumping out to an early lead in the opener of the non-league series. But the Cardinal responded with seven runs in the seventh inning, then eight runs in the eighth, pounding the Bears 15-4. 

California ace Trevor Hutchinson (4-2) faced the minimum amount of batters through the first six innings, allowing only three Cardinal baserunners and then promptly erasing them on two double plays and a caught stealing. But when second baseman Carson White bobbled an easy double-play ball in the seventh, the Cardinal erupted. 

“Getting two (outs) would have been great, but not getting one was big,” Cal head coach David Esquer said. “(The error) really changed the complexion of the whole inning.” 

Hutchison, who had been cruising, was visibly shaken by the error. The next batter, catcher Ryan Garko, took Hutchison deep to left-center for a three-run homer. Designated hitter Jason Cooper made it back-to-back jacks and a tie ballgame with a bomb to right. Three batters later right fielder Carlos Quentin chased Hutchinson with a two-run shot to left, and the rout was on. 

“You’ve got to play very well to beat them,” Esquer said of the Cardinal, Baseball America’s  

No. 1 ranked team in the nation. “I knew four wasn’t going to be enough to win - I just didn’t know it would take 16 to win.” 

The California bullpen gave up six straight hits to open the eighth inning, giving up four runs. Cooper, whose seventh inning solo home run had sailed deep onto the adjacent soccer field, then hit an even louder three-run shot - avoiding the soccer field by connecting dead-on about three-fourths of the way up the pole of a right field light standard. He finished the game 5-for-5 at the plate. 

The Cardinal rode seven strong innings from starting pitcher Jeremy Guthrie (5-0), who is rated one of the top hurlers in the nation. Guthrie was the Pittsburg Pirates’ third-round draft pick last June, and is the highest-drafted player returning to the college scene this season. No less than fifteen scouts were seen raising and lowering radar guns on every Guthrie pitch in the first two innings. 

Guthrie leads a full complement of Cardinal stars returning from a team that was runner-up at last year’s College World Series. All nine players who started the championship game in Omaha last year remain on the Cardinal roster this season. 

Esquer, who starred at shortstop for the Cardinal from 1984 to 1987 under current Stanford head coach Mark Marquess, said that Friday’s loss wouldn’t get his team down. The Bears are the last team to defeat Stanford in a three-game series, taking two of three from the Cardinal at home last April. 

“We’ve got our work cut out for us in order to do it again,” Esquer said. “But we played them tough all year last year.” 

California faces the Cardinal again Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m. at Evans Diamond.