TEMPE, Ariz. — California softball split the final day of the Littlewood Classic on Sunday at Farrington Stadium, losing to Minnesota 7-6 in eight innings, before blasting UTEP 13-1 in five innings.

The Bears finished the weekend 7-3 overall with the split. Cal clubbed six home runs in the day, including two each from Makena Smith and Aleia Agbayani.

Game 1 – Cal 6, Minnesota 7 (8)
It was an early attack for both teams to start the morning. After Minnesota scored two goals in the top half of Game 1, Cal responded in the bottom half. Tatum Anzaldo started with a hit before Acacia Ander broke his first career home run on the scoreboard in left field to make it 2-2 after one.

Cal took the lead, 3-2, in the second when Anzaldo doubled the wall on the left to score Sophie Medellin who made a first base on walks and passed second on a Kennedy Thomas sacrifice caries.

The Bears added some insurance in the fourth on doubles from Kacey Zobac and Aman Bradley with a base hit from Thomas to make it a 2-point play.

Minnesota fought back in the sixth, scoring four runs with two homers and a double to make it 6-4, Gophers.

Three consecutive singles from Anders, Smith and Sona Halajian loaded the bases with no one for the Bears in the seventh before back-to-back wild pitches tied the score at 6-6. The Gophers came out of the jam to send it to the international tiebreaker in the eighth and scored a run on two hits in the top half. Bradley reached third base in the Bears half, but was blocked to end the game.

Game 2 – 13 gauge, UTEP 1 (5)
Cal started swinging it early for the second straight game, taking a 2-0 lead on a brace from Anders followed by the third homer of the season for Smith. Continuing into the second, Zobac started the inning with a double and Cal had the bases loaded with no one after a Sophie Medellin walk and Bradley bunt single.

Back-to-back RBI singles from Anzaldo and Anders made Cal 5-0 until Smith blew his second home run of the game, a 3-point shot, making it an eight-point game. Solo homers from Halajian and Agbayani made the Bears 11-1 in the top of the fourth.

Agbayani broke his second home run in as many at-bats to make it 13-0 in the fifth, heading home Morgane Zamora after tripling to start the frame.

Following:
Cal returns to Berkeley for the 2022 home opener, hosting Saint Mary’s at Levine-Fricke Field for a first pitch at 2 p.m. The game will be televised on the Pac-12 networks.

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