BERKELEY, Calif. – The visiting Roadrunners gave Cal all they wanted in the early going and held a 5-4 lead as late as the bottom of the fourth inning, but couldn't hold on as the Golden Bears defeated the CSU Bakersfield baseball team 17-6 on Friday night at Evans Diamond. 

Andrew Penner provided early fireworks for `Runner (2-3) offensive attack in the third inning when he blasted a home run over the left field fence to give CSUB a 3-2 lead.  The long ball was Penner's first in a `Runner uniform, who is now hitting an impressive .500 on the season.  In the previous inning, Noah Barba executed a sacrifice bunt to plate Alec Daily and get CSUB on the board.  Daily led off the inning with a single, advanced to second on a balk, and moved to third on a single by Mark Pena. 

After Cal (2-2) answered Penner's long ball with a pair of runs in the bottom of the third, the `Runners were able to force two Golden Bear miscues to score two unearned runs and regain a 5-4 advantage.  Pena walked to start the rally and went to third on a one-out base hit by Evan Berkey.  Lewis Dirkes laid down a sacrifice bunt to score Pena and made it safely to first on a throwing error by the Cal defense.  With Berkey at second and Dirkes at third, the `Runners kept the pressure on the defense with a double steal that was promptly thrown away by the Cal catcher and allowed Berkey to scamper home. 

The 5-4 lead didn't last long for the visitors though as Cal answered with three more runs in the bottom of the fourth to claim a 7-5 advantage.  After a scoreless fifth inning, the only one of the game, Cal's Jonah Davis gave the home team a commanding 10-5 lead on a three-run shot to left center field. 

Ryan Koch closed out the scoring for the `Runners in the eighth when he doubled home Dirkes for the sixth and final tally. 

"Our guys were challenged by a good ball club tonight," said `Runner head coach Jeremy Beard.  "We can take away some positives regardless of the score tonight.  Our defense let us down at key times and the momentum swung quickly." 

Opening Day starter Aaron Charles received the loss after allowing seven earned runs in four innings pitched, while Isaiah Moten gave up eight runs, five of which were earned, in three innings.  Andrew Ciandro allowed a hit and a walk in the eighth, but didn't allow a run in a full inning pitched. 

Offensively, Penner led the way with two hits, a home run and two RBI for CSUB.  His homer was also the first of the season for the `Runners. Freshman Evan Berkey continued his tremendous start to his career with two more hits and continues to lead the team with a .526 average.  Dirkes, a fellow freshman middle infielder, also had two hits.  As a team, the `Runners pounded out 10 hits, but left 10 men on base.

The Golden Bears registered 16 hits on the evening, including seven extra-base hits.  Andrew Vaughn went 3-for-3 for Cal with two home runs, three walks, three runs scored and four RBI. 

The two teams will meet again tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. and again at 6:00 p.m. for Games 2 and 3 of a four-game series in Berkeley.