Andres Galan

Both games, the Bears had the lead — and both were blown. Despite the final results, it’s worth noting the uphill battle Mike Neu’s team had to face entering the tournament as the lowest-seeded team.

While the Bears have lost their past five games, Santa Clara is on a five-game winning streak, most recently sweeping Pepperdine in a conference series on the road.

Coming off its first conference series win of the season against the Utah Utes, Cal baseball continued its hot streak Tuesday night, blowing out the USF Dons 17-3.

The Bears got back on track with two resounding midweek victories — 14-2 over Nevada and 9-3 over Saint Mary’s. Cal now boasts an 11-3 non-conference record, a sign of a solid club, if not the nearly completely opposite 3-12 conference record.

Coming off a series loss against Arizona State over the weekend, Cal baseball was able to add an entry to the win column Monday night by defeating Pacific 5-4.