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…)

Tyson Ross didn’t seem like he was at his best today against Oregon State. That’s all right, though. Ross on a decent day is still better than about 90 percent of college pitchers on the best day of their careers.

The No. 7 Cal baseball team’s ace had some uncharacteristic trouble locating his fastball in the middle innings, gave up seven hits and walked three Beavers hitters in seven innings. But he allowed just two runs, stranded 10 runners and pitched himself out of a couple of jams in the early innings to lead the Bears to a 5-2 win over the two-time defending national champions and improve his own record to 5-0.
(Click here to read more…)

I may not be able to be in Berkeley to see the showdown between the No. 11 Cal baseball team and the No. 5 Dirtbags of Long Beach State, but at least I have Gametracker. (Click here to read more…)

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…)

The No. 12 Cal baseball team (11-1-1) won its eighth straight game today at Evans Diamond by the tally of 10-4 against Loyola Marymount (7-8). The headliner of the game was supposed to be starter Tyson Ross, returning from two weeks on the injured list. Ross worked a solid three no-hit innings, before a dying quail fell in front of right fielder Blake Smith in the top of the fourth to break up the no-no. Given Smith’s toughness and grit, I expected him to dive, and it looked like Ross did too, because immediately afterward, he gave up a two-run home run. Ross gave up one more run – again on a homer – in the fifth before the weather turned chilly and damp. I’d bet that coach David Esquer pulled Ross so as to not aggravate the injury more, which is probably a good idea. He definitely was fidgeting and looked uncomfortable. (Click here to read more…)

The No. 18 Cal baseball team claimed yet another victory today, defeating Northern Iowa 11-3 on the artificial turf of the Minnesota Twins’ Metrodome in Minneapolis, Minn.

The Bears opened the University of Minnesota Tournament with a solid win, led by hefty lefty Chris Petrini, who looked superb in his second outing of the year. The sophomore southpaw upped his record to 2-0 with 7 quality innings, allowing three hits and three runs with four walks and six strikeouts. The good pitching continued for Cal, as sophomore Michael Bugary came on to toss two innings of scoreless relief, allowing only one hit and two walks while striking out five.

The middle of the Bears lineup was scintillating … again. (Click here to read more…)

Junior ace Tyson Ross will miss his scheduled showdown with fellow Preseason All-American pitcher Aaron Crow of No. 5 Missouri tomorrow. Ross did not travel with the Cal baseball team down to San Diego for the tournament this weekend due to unspecified illness.

“Tyson’s not throwing,” senior second baseman Josh Satin said. “He stayed back this weekend. He wasn’t feeling well.” (Click here to read more…)

Two main news items out of Cal baseball following the team’s 2-0-1 opening weekend. First, starting catcher Charlie Cutler will miss 8-10 games because of a broken pinky finger on his left (catching) hand.  Cutler is optimistic and has all the confidence in the world in backup Dylan Tonneson, who went 1-for-4 on the weekend with a run scored.

Second, junior ace Tyson Ross received Pac-10 Pitcher of the Week honors from the conference for his opening day start against Kansas State. Despite intermittent rain, Ross went five one-hit innings against the Wildcats, walking one and striking out seven.  The only hit Ross allowed was a leadoff home run to Kansas State rightfielder Jordan Cruz. Transfer Daniel Wolford finished the game for Ross, throwing four no-hit innings in his first appearance for the Bears since he transferred from Long Beach State.  Wolford struck out five and walked three to earn his first save.