Cal baseball zeroes in on UCLA, Pacific
Coming off of its victories against Wasington and Saint Mary’s, Cal rode its momentum into its Washington State series.
The Bears were welcomed to Pullman, Washington with a mid-April snowstorm that postponed their Thursday game. The Bears then split the Friday double-header, winning the second leg 16-4 to force a rubber match.
Washington State opened up the scoring in the series decider, but senior catcher Cole Elvis led the Bears’ late rally to take their first lead in the seventh inning. Elvis delivered a sensational performance, batting in three crucial runs to secure the Bears’ victory.
After Cal’s cougar conquest, it returned to Berkeley to host San Francisco on Tuesday, April 19. The Dons brought Cal back down to Earth, taking an early lead the first inning and then never trailing thereafter.
USF won comprehensively 14-9.
After their Tuesday hiccup, the Bears’ eyes will now turn towards UCLA. Cal will host the Bruins in a three-game series next weekend.
The Bruins will arrive in Berkeley ranked No. 13 in the nation, with an impressive 25-11 record.
While Cal’s Tuesday was spoiled with its loss to USF, UCLA’s was more productive — the Bruins dominated UCSB 14-4 on the same night. Nonetheless, Cal will not be a pushover for UCLA — it is 8-9 against ranked teams this season and is coming off a hot streak in Pac-12 play, with series victories against Washington and Washington State.
“They’re a good team, no question about it,” said head coach Mike Neu. “But when we play our best baseball, we can compete with anybody. Every team we’re going to play for the rest of the season is going to be tough.”
After their homestand against UCLA, Cal will stay in Bear Territory to host Pacific on Tuesday, April 26.
The Tigers, 11-24 on the season, are heading into their weekend series against Portland University on a six-game losing streak before they head to Berkeley.
The Bears should be flowing with confidence heading into the clash — they boast a superior record, having also played significantly more competitive opposition this season.
Cal will be the clear favorites heading into its Tuesday matchup, but with losses to Illinois-Chicago, Saint Mary’s and Santa Clara this season, no game is a given.
Each of Cal’s games against UCLA and Pacific will be available for streaming on Cal Live Stream-2.
Colin Mequet covers baseball. Contact him at cmequet@dailycal.org.