Taking the week off for finals didn’t hurt the Cal baseball team (32-17-2, 11-10 in the Pac-10) too much, as the Bears dropped two spots to No. 15 in the weekly poll after coming in at No. 13 last week.  Stanford (31-19-2, 12-8), which had three games last week, also dropped two spots after going 2-1.  This weekend will be huge for Cal, even though UCLA (29-23, 11-10) has fallen far from its lofty preseason No. 1 perch.  The Bruins find themselves in much the same situation as Bears teams of recent years, going into the final weekend desperately trying to cash in enough wins to make the NCAA tournament. (Click here to read more…)

The Cal baseball team has ascended to No. 10 in the latest Rivals.com rankings, with Stanford sinking to No. 15.  Surprisingly, the Bears only moved up three spots to No. 13 with the Cardinal dropping to No. 14 in the Baseball America rankings.  I can’t say how shocked I am.  For once, I trust the Rivals rankings way more.  Baseball America must be joking.  The statement that Cal made this weekend was enormous, and the Bears took the wood to what was a top-10 team on the road.  Why they’ve only moved up three spots is beyond me. >

A horrid weekend by the Cal baseball team’s pitching staff busted the team that was once at No. 5 in the country, according to Baseball America, down to No. 16.  The Bears (27-13-2, 7-8 in the Pac-10) have now dropped two conference road series in a row, and in both the Friday losses, starter Tyson Ross was wild, ineffective and downright terrible.  (Click here to read more…)

After a three-win weekend, the No. 18 Cal baseball team should inch higher in the rankings coming out tomorrow from Baseball America. The 9-1-1 Bears have been rolling even without junior ace Tyson Ross, who did not start for the second consecutive weekend. Without Ross, sophomore lefty Craig Bennigson has stepped up big time, winning two big starts over the past two weekends, including a 10-strikeout effort on Saturday in a 4-1 win over Minnesota. (Click here to read more…)

Look for next week’s new Baseball America Top 25 sometime on Monday, because after downing three ranked teams this weekend and coming within a sneeze of beating No. 5 Missouri, there’s a good chance the Cal baseball team will be up in the low 20’s.

“I wouldn’t be surprised,” junior pitcher Craig Bennigson said. “But, we’ll see how it goes.” (Click here to read more…)

The Cal baseball team felled yet another ranked team tonight in the San Diego Invitational, defeating No. 22 San Diego State 5-3. That makes two wins over ranked teams this weekend, and one heartbreaker two-run loss to No. 5 Missouri.

Overall, this has been a huge weekend so far for the Bears. They definitely have made some noise during the first tournament weekend of the collegiate baseball season. It wouldn’t be surprising in the least if Cal (5-1-1) is ranked in next week’s Baseball America Top 25. (Click here to read more…)