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Many of the Cal baseball team’s 14 wins this season have been dramatic, come-from-behind affairs. But on Tuesday against USF, the Bears didn’t need any late inning heroics as they scored nine runs in the first four innings on the way to a 12-4 win at Evans Diamond. 

Second baseman Carson White led the Cal attack with two doubles and four RBIs. The Bears also got multiple hits from three other players, with leadoff hitter David Nicholson finishing with three singles and three runs scored. 

The Bears set a season-high for runs against the Dons, all without a major contribution from leading hitter Conor Jackson, who had two singles and scored a run. 

“We have to get production from everyone,” Cal head coach David Esquer said. “We can’t rely on one or two players for the bulk of our runs. We need the top and bottom of the order to produce runs, not just the middle.” 

Esquer’s team got their first five runs without hitting the ball very hard. Nicholson led off the game with a swinging bunt down the third base line that pitcher Peter Dunkle threw away, sending Nicholson to second base. Following a sacrifice bunt, White hit a nearly identical squibber that Dunkle couldn’t get a handle on, scoring Nicholson. Jackson walked, and catcher John Baker hit a grounder into the right-side hole to score White. In all, the Bears three hits went a total of perhaps 150 feet, but they got the job done for a quick 2-0 lead. 

The third inning was more frustration for Dunkle and the Dons. Nicholson bunted his way on before David Weiner and White grounded out. Jackson then dumped a popup just over the infield, and Baker knocked a single up the middle to plate Nicholson. Brian Horwitz looped a soft single into right for another run, then got caught up in a rundown that allowed Baker to score from third. 

“We’ve been hitting some hard outs lately, so maybe that will be the start of us getting some breaks,” Esquer said. “We were fortunate to get some runs early, and we kept our pitching and defense solid behind it.” 

Tuesday marked another two-inning start from Cal’s Ryan Atkinson as he makes his way back from an arm injury. The senior right-hander looked solid, giving up two hits in his two innings before giving way to Brent Hale. 

“We thought maybe (Atkinson) was ready to get farther,” Esquer said. “But that’s two innings out of the way for us, and he’s getting healthier and healthier.” 

Hale threw four innings to pick up the win on Tuesday, giving up three unearned runs on four hits. The freshman looked alternately overpowering and wild, striking out four but allowing one runner to score from second on two wild pitches. Blake Read and Creighton Kahoalii combined to finish the game for Cal. 

Cal freshman Justin Nelson continued his slugging ways, taking advantage of a start in centerfield to hit his fourth homerun of the season, the second-most on the team. With Jackson’s move to first base and Nicholson vacating center to play third base, Nelson could get some more at-bats in the outfield as the season wears on. 

“We might have to look at (Nelson) a little more,” Esquer said. “He does some immature things, as you would expect from a freshman, but we’ve also seen some good things. Four of them, actually.”