Just checking in with a few notes on the newly-minted No. 11 Cal baseball team. The Bears finally supplanted the Southern Branch, which dropped to No. 23. The team who dealt Cal its first loss of the season, Missouri, vaulted itself to No. 2 on the arm of ace Aaron Crow. That loss is actually looking better and better as the Tigers climb up the ranks.

UCLA was swept over the weekend by Long Beach State (which climbed from No. 7 to No. 5) and has fallen far from its preseason No. 1 ranking. The next team that the Bears face in a weekend series? Those same Dirtbags, this weekend at Evans Diamond, while I will be at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum watching the Dodgers and the BoSox. If only I had a jetpack. If you are still in Berkeley, CATCH THIS SERIES. It could very well be a key to the Cal season, as a very interesting rivalry has developed between these two teams since the Bears shocked Long Beach State in 2005. It should be a great back-and-forth series.

Over the weekend against Wazzu (the Bears took the series 2-1), senior second baseman Josh Satin claimed the school consecutive-game hit streak record for his own. On Saturday, Satin broke the record in dramatic fashion, smacking his eighth home run of the season over the left field wall at Bailey-Brayton Field to record a hit in 24 straight games dating back to last season. The previous record holder was Brian Horwitz, who hit in 23 straight back in 2001. Satin will be this week’s Cal nominee for Pac-10 Player of the Week. Satin is hitting .443 with 22 runs, eight longballs, and 24 RBI. Only junior first baseman David Cooper has more roundtrippers (9) and RBI (26) than Satin.

That’s it for this installment of your Spring Break Baseball Update. More to come after the Bears take on Santa Clara in a midweek game, well, I guess that would be today, wouldn’t it?  Until then, take care, and keep reading.

The No. 12 Cal baseball team looks to be back in proper form after a mid-week hiccup against 5-11 Sacramento State. Through three innings against No. 25 Washington State (13-5), the Bears are chipping away as usual, scoring a run in the second and a pair in the third. Senior Josh Satin is 1-for-2 so far, extending his season hit streak to 17 games. As a side note, the record-keepers in the media relations department have informed us that not only has Satin hit in 17 consecutive games this season, but he also hit in the last five games of the 2007 season, making his real streak 22 games.

This being Purim, let’s have a little fun with that. The record holder, Brian Horwitz (who hit in 23 straight from Feb. 9-Mar. 25, 2001), is, like Satin and myself, a Member of the Tribe (Jewish). Way to keep the record in the family, Josh. One more single tomorrow, and we can all wish Satin a hearty ‘Mazel Tov!’

More updates as the game progresses. (Click here to read more…)