OJAI, Calif. - California had an immediate chance to make up for its setback against Oregon in last weekend's regular-season finale when the teams played in Thursday's Pac-12 Championship quarterfinals. But the No. 32 Golden Bears, seeded fifth, lost to the fourth-seeded and 35th-ranked Ducks, 4-3, at Libbey Park.

The Ducks clinched when 54th-ranked Cal senior Billy Griffith lost to Oregon's 22nd-ranked Thomas Laurent, 6-3, 6-7, 6-3, at court-one singles. Thursday's loss dropped Cal's record to 11-9, while Oregon – which advanced to Friday's semifinals – improved to 17-8.
 
Oregon won the season series over Cal, 2-1, which included a 4-3 Cal win over the Ducks in January in the ITA Kick-Off Weekend in Berkeley.
 
Unlike last time, when Cal won the doubles point by winning on courts two and three (with court one going unfinished), Oregon won on courts two and three, while Cal won on one, to give the Ducks the point. First the Cal pair of sophomore Dominic Barretto and freshman Ben Draper fell to Charles Roberts and Armando Soemarno, 6-2, on court three, and then Cal's 32nd-ranked duo of Griffith and senior J.T. Nishimura defeated Laurent and Cormac Clissold, 6-3, on court one. The Ducks clinched the point when Simon Stevens and Ty Gentry beat Cal freshman Can Kaya and Jack Molloy, 6-4, on court two.
 
With Molloy unavailable for singles, the Bears from courts three through six moved up one spot and sophomore Bjorn Hoffmann took over on court six. That seemed to pay dividends when freshman Jacob Brumm defeated Clissold, 6-3, 6-3, on court five to the match, 1-1. Later with Cal down 2-1, Hoffmann beat Riki Oshima, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4, on court six to tie the match, 2-2.
 
Trailing again at 3-2, Cal got a victory from Paul Barretto on court four, with the freshman topping Gentry, 6-3, 2-6, 6-4, to tie the match again, 3-3, until the court one result ended Cal's stay in Ojai.
 
"All our guys fought hard today, and we came up a little short," said Peter Wright, Cal's Director of Men's Tennis. "Credit to Oregon as they're playing with a lot of confidence. We focus our attention on the NCAAs in two weeks, and we need to work on playing better in doubles. We've had some spotty results in doubles lately, and it's clearly made it more difficult for us to win in singles. We're going to regroup and come into the NCAAs with some creativity and inspiration."
 
The NCAA announces its postseason field on May 1.

Pac-12 Championship Quarterfinal Round

[4] No. 35 Oregon defeated [5] No. 32 California, 4-3
April 26, 2018, in Ojai, Calif.
Libbey Park

Doubles

1. No. 32 Billy Griffith/J.T. Nishimura, CAL def. No. 45 Thomas Laurent/Cormac Clissold, ORE 6-3

2. Simon Stevens/Ty Gentry, ORE def. Can Kaya/Jack Molloy, CAL 6-4*

3. Armando Soemarno/Charles Roberts, ORE def. Dominic Barretto/Ben Draper, CAL 6-2

Oregon won the doubles point
*Clinched the doubles point
Order of finish: 3, 1, 2*

Singles

1. No. 22 Thomas Laurent, ORE def. No. 54 Billy Griffith, CAL (6-3, 7-6, 6-3)^

2. Simon Stevens, ORE def. J.T. Nishimura, CAL (6-2, 3-6, 6-1)

3 Akihiro Tanaka, ORE def. Ben Draper, CAL (6-3, 7-6)

4. Paul Barretto, CAL def. Ty Gentry, ORE (6-3, 2-6, 6-4)

5. Jacob Brumm, CAL def. Cormac Clissold, ORE (6-3, 6-3)

6. Bjorn Hoffmann, CAL def. Riki Oshima, ORE (1-6, 6-3, 6-4)

^Clinched the overall match

Order of finish 5, 3, 6, 2, 4, 1^