Cal went 6-0 over two days to win the Battle in the Bay Powered by Serevi on Treasure Island in San Francisco, Calif. The Bears defeated Arizona State 40-12 in the final, exiting the 16-team tourney with the most points (170), most tries (28) and best try differential (+20) at the event. The Bears handed the Sun Devils their only two losses on the weekend, also beating them 19-14 in pool play.

"All in all it was a pretty solid performance," said head coach Jack Clark. "I thought we improved as the weekend went along and that's always an objective in 7s tournament rugby."

Cal opened its account in the final just seconds into the match. A bobbled Cal kickoff bounced off a couple of Sun Devils, and Alec Gletzer scooped up the loose ball and rumbled into the try zone.

Cal took the ensuing restart, but a couple of penalties and some good linkage by brothers Alex and Adam Sandstrom saw the Sun Devils score a long-range try through several phases. Gletzer chased the try scorer into the corner, making the conversion attempt difficult. It was missed, and Cal retained a 7-5 lead.

Ryan Spiwak put Arizona State up with a try not long after. The Sun Devils turned the ball over in a scrum, and Spiwock split two would-be Cal tacklers off a ruck near pay dirt for the converted score, making it 12-7.

ASU nearly went up two scores after taking the restart and swinging the ball to Alex Sandstrom on the wing. He turned the corner, but Andrew Battaglia made a phenomenal cover tackle, reining Sandstrom in by his jersey just feet from the try line.

Instead, Cal got the next score. Paul Bosco laid a grubber toward the corner, and was able to gather it, step back inside the defense and score. Russell Webb converted, and the Bears led 14-12 going into the half.

Cal opened the second half like the first, scoring off the first kickoff. Gletzer secured possession, Bosco broke the line up the middle of the field, and Jake Anderson took an offload untouched under the posts. The conversion was made, putting the Bears up 21-12.

"We just stuck with it," offered Cal captain Jake Anderson, who scored one of his two tries in the tourney final against ASU. "It's a really good sign when you can build on a lead and I'm glad we did that today."

The lead was extended immediately, with Cal taking the restart and a give-and-go between Anthony Salaber and Anderson leading to a Salaber try. The touch line conversion was missed, making it 26-12.

The backbreaker was a Battaglia score coming off a Patrick Barrientes line break. Webb converted it, pushing the lead to 21 at 33-12. The Bears managed one more converted score before the final, securing the tournament title.  

Arizona State knocked off two tournament favorites en route to the Cup final, beating Central Washington in the quarterfinals and UCLA in the semifinals. The Wildcats would go on to win the Plate and finish the tournament with a 5-1 record, and the Bruins lost to Cal Poly in the Cup consolation match. It was the Mustangs’ third third-place finish this season.