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. >

Every Sunday, the Cal baseball team nominates a pitcher and player of the week based on performances in the previous week’s games. If Kevin Miller isn’t the Bears’ pitcher of the week tomorrow, somebody’s taken a few too many Blake Smith fastballs to the head.

Miller pitched two scoreless innings to get the win against Fresno State on Wednesday, then replaced Craig Bennigson in the top of the third today and proceeded to throw a career-high 6 2/3 innings of shutout baseball to lead Cal to a 9-3 victory and improve his own record to 5-0.

This was just the latest installment in what has been a phenomenal season for the right-hander from San Jose. As a true freshman, Miller has pitched 38.2 innings, struck out 38 batters and has yet to allow an earned run.
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