TEMPE, Ariz. – BYU baseball dropped a Presidents’ Day contest to California on Monday, losing 10-6 to the Golden Bears at Tempe Diablo Stadium.

“I felt like we let one slip away today,” BYU head coach Mike Littlewood said. “We had a three-run lead in mid-innings and just couldn’t execute on the mound like we did Friday and Saturday.  We are fairly young as far as Division I experience goes, so the exciting thing about this team is we will continue to get better.”

Game Summary

• BYU came back from a 3-0 hole to tie the game in the third inning
• The Cougars took a 6-3 lead after five
• Cal pulled away with runs in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings

Player Highlights

• Noah Hill: 2-4, 2 RBI
• Brock Hale: 2-5, 2B, 1 R, 1 RBI
• Easton Walker: 4.0 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 1 K

BYU answered back well early after Cal scored three runs in the bottom of the first. Walks by Brian Hsu and Keaton Kringlen led to a single by Noah Hill to get one run back. In the third with the bases loaded, a grounder got the man out at second, but the throw to first on the double play chance went awry, helping Mitch McIntyre and Brock Hale come around to tie the game, 3-3.

Sophomore Easton Walker pitched solidly for the Cougars, keeping the Golden Bears scoreless from innings two through five. In the meantime, BYU took its first lead of the game in the fourth off an RBI-double by Danny Gelalich and an RBI-single two batters later by Hale.

Hill brought home Hsu on a single through the left side, but the run would prove to be the final score for the Cougars. A Cal triple cleared the bases loaded before a sac fly gave the Golden Bears a 7-6 in the sixth. A double in the seventh scored two runs and an RBI-single in the eighth added one more for the final 10-6 margin.

Hill finished the day going 2-for-4 with two RBIs while Hale added two hits, including a double, with one run and an RBI.

BYU will next head to Corpus Christi, Texas, for the Kleberg Bank College Classic. The Cougars will face Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Thursday, Ohio State on Friday and Oral Roberts on Saturday.

PROVO, Utah – The BYU baseball team will begin its 2019 season with a three-game series against Northwestern in Mesa, Arizona, starting Friday, Feb. 15, before playing Cal in Tempe, Arizona, on Monday, Feb. 18.

All games will be streamed live on BYU Baseball’s Facebook page with live stats available here. Fans can listen to BYU Radio and ESPN 960 for live action of game one on Friday starting at 6 p.m. MT. ESPN 960 will broadcast the first game of a doubleheader on Saturday starting at 1 p.m. MT, and BYU Radio will broadcast Saturday’s second game. The Cal game will also air live on BYU Radio and ESPN 960 at 11 a.m. MT on Monday.

Week 1 Game Notes

Led by head coach Mike Littlewood in his seventh season at BYU, the Cougars return 2018 All-WCC First Team honorees Brock Hale, a senior outfielder with a .368 career average, and senior right-handed pitcher Jordan Wood, who boasted a 2.66 ERA with 63 strikeouts last season.

Other top returnees include senior Keaton Kringlen, a 2017 All-WCC awardee who will see time at first base and in the outfield, and 2018 Freshman All-American pitcher Drew Zimmerman, who will move to a starting role after excelling in relief for the Cougars last year.

BYU also welcomes three players – infielder Jackson Cluff, outfielder Danny Gelalich and pitcher Easton Walker – back from missions and have added 18 new players to the roster.

The Cougars are playing Northwestern for the first time since 2003; the Wildcats hold a 2-0 advantage in the previous two games. Northwestern went 17-32 overall, 6-18 in the Big Ten, in 2018.

The Cal Golden Bears lead the series against BYU, 12-8, including a 1-0 win in Berkeley last season. Cal went 32-22 in 2018, including 16-14 in the Pac-12.