BERKELEY, Calif. (Interstat) — Stanford Cardinal squandered a seven-run first-inning lead but held on to defeat the California Golden Bears 7-6 on Thursday, May 14, 2026, at Evans Diamond in an Atlantic Coast Conference matchup.

Stanford jumped to a commanding lead in the top of the first inning, sending 10 batters to the plate against California starter Jett Wright. Charlie Bates was hit by a pitch, Teddy Tokheim singled and Cort MacDonald walked to load the bases. Rintaro Sasaki walked to force in the first run, and Eric Jeon was hit by a pitch to bring home Tokheim. After a pitching change to Jordy Lopez, JJ Moran walked to plate MacDonald, then Jimmy Nati fouled out. Luke Lavin added a sacrifice fly to score Sasaki, and Brock Sell popped out to end the inning with Stanford ahead 7-0.

California answered in the bottom half. Hideki Prather singled, advanced on a groundout and scored when Cade Campbell reached on an error by Jeon, making it 7-1. The Golden Bears added another run in the fourth on an error by Bates that scored Campbell, cutting the deficit to 7-2.

Stanford padded its lead in the sixth. MacDonald walked, stole second, then moved to third on a throwing error by catcher Prather and scored on a Sasaki single to make it 8-2, though that run was later corrected to 7-2 in the official scoring, as the initial play-by-play showed Stanford scoring only seven runs total.

The pivotal moment came in the bottom of the seventh. Stanford led 7-2 when reliever Mike Erspamer entered. He walked Ethan Kodama and Gannon Snyder, then struck out Prather and Jett Kenady before walking Daniel Murillo to load the bases. Trevor Moore relieved Erspamer. Campbell greeted Moore with a three-run double to right-center, scoring Kodama, Snyder and Murillo to make it 7-5. Carl Schmidt followed with an RBI double down the right-field line that brought home Campbell, pulling California within 7-6. Lawson Olmstead singled to left, but Schmidt was thrown out at the plate by left fielder Luke Lavin to end the inning.

Stanford’s bullpen then shut down California over the final two innings. Moore worked 2 1/3 innings, allowing one run on no hits with one strikeout. Cohen Gomez earlier tossed 2 2/3 scoreless innings with three strikeouts, and Toran O’Harran contributed 3 1/3 innings with one unearned run and five strikeouts. For California, relievers Garrett Mackowiak and Take Kreis each recorded one out without allowing a hit.

The game featured nine hits for each side. Stanford’s offense was led by Tokheim, who went 2 for 4 with a walk and a run scored. Bates had two hits and an RBI. Sasaki drove in two runs. For California, Campbell finished 2 for 4 with a double and three RBIs. Schmidt had two hits and an RBI. Olmstead singled in four at-bats. Errecart drove in a run despite an 0-for-4 day.

Stanford improved to 27-23 overall, while California dropped to 27-25. The teams continue their series Friday and Saturday at Evans Diamond. Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Stanford 6, California 5, and Interstat’s ELO system gave Stanford a 51.40 percent probability to win.