Cal Baseball drops Pac-12 semifinal to USC 7-4, awaits NCAA fate on Monday morning
Even with Friday's loss, Golden Bears (36-19) had won 20 of the last 25 games
QUICK UPDATE:
On the final day of the Pac-12 Networks, Cal at least got to participate in the penultimate live coverage. Despite an early 2-0 lead, Cal drops the Pac-12 Baseball semifinal to USC by a 7-4 result. It was a 4-4 game going to the bottom of the 7th when the Trojans scored the go-ahead run and then tagged on two more runs in the bottom of the 8th with situational hitting.
USC will take on Arizona in the Pac-12 Baseball championship final on Saturday night on ESPNU. Cal fans should be rooting for Arizona and the other favorites around the country on Saturday’s conference championship finals to increase the likelihood of Cal earning an at-large bid.
California Golden Bears will find out if they have made the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019 on Monday morning. The 2024 NCAA College Baseball Championship Selection Show will air on ESPN2 on Monday, May 27 at 9 AM PT.
One last note, a special shoutout to Cal alum Roxy Bernstein on nailing the last moment of Pac-12 Networks. For all its distribution issues, Pac-12 Networks had fine coverage with great Pac-12 alumni across all sports. It is just too bad that very few people, particularly the general sports fans across the country, got to see that.
With the tying run at the plate, Arizona’s Richie Morales lined into a 4-3 double play to end the game. By the way, junior Carson Crawford is playing 2nd base for the first time in his collegiate career after entering the game as a pinch hitter.
Maybe this Cal Baseball (36-18) team has destiny on its side!
California Golden Bears did jump out to a 7-1 lead by the 5th inning thanks to two long homers (3-run and 2-run) from 1st baseman Peyton Schulze. Five of the top 6 batters in the Cal lineup had multiple hits to set the table for Schulze. Cal did their damage against Arizona’s regular weekend starter LHP Jackson Kent. The Wildcats could have held him back for the knockout round today but did not.
Despite the big early lead, things are never easy for Cal Baseball, which is never for the faint of heart.
Graduate transfer LHP Luke Short was brilliant as the starter, providing 5.1 IP while allowing just 2 earned runs and striking out 8. Short was pulled after giving up a solo homer to Arizona’s Mason White. Somewhat surprisingly, Cal head coach Mike Neu opted to go with his most reliable reliever Tyler Stasiowski despite a 7-2 lead. Stasiowski went 3 innings in relief to probably be done for the week. Stasiowski did allow a three-run homer to Arizona’s Maddox Mihalakis to make it a 7-5 game in the bottom of the 8th.
https://x.com/CalBaseball/status/1793848098948845844
After Arizona beat the shift to get a runner on with one out, senior Christian Becerra came on to induce the 4-3 double play and earn his 4th save.
Cal was able to continue the season by winning Pool A. They will face a slightly surprising USC team in the semifinal on Friday afternoon. Arizona, who had already clinched a semifinal berth on Wednesday night, will play Stanford in the other semifinal. Pac-12 Baseball tournament will conclude on Saturday night.
While the win over Arizona probably bumped the Cal Bears from the “last four out” to the “last four in”, the team is focused on trying to win the Pac-12 automatic bid. USC is a team that Cal just beat 2 out of 3 in Irvine (USC is renovating their home field and somehow opting to play way down in Irvine) earlier this month. Trojans only can make the NCAA tournament by winning the Pac-12, which would be the kind of unpleasant surprise that might cost a bubble team like Cal an at-large bid.
D1Baseball’s latest projection today has Cal as the last at-large bid. Their projection also assumes that Arizona will win the Pac-12 tournament.
Cal’s pitching staff appears to be in good shape with only Andres Galan, Luke Short, and Tyler Stasiowski unavailable for Friday and Saturday, if necessary.
Ian May or Trey Newmann will probably get the start today. Austin Turkington, Connor Sullivan, and Tom Mayer are all accustomed to pitching multiple innings.
Cal Bears just need to keep on bashing in the hitter-friendly environment of Scottsdale, AZ. And they just might be the last team standing for the final Pac-12 title ever.
Pac-12 Baseball Tournament: Semifinal
Cal (36-18) vs. USC (30-27)
Where: Scottsdale Stadium (Scottsdale, AZ)
When: 2:30 PM PT
TV: Pac-12 Network
Live Stats: Statbroadcast
ROLL ON YOU BEARS!
https://d1baseball.com/stories/2024-d1baseball-field-of-64-projections/
This is what D1Baseball had to say after Friday's result:
"There are no at-large changes in the latest iteration of the projections. Though California lost at the Pac-12 tournament, no team warranted moving that far up the ladder. The only team that hopped on and moved up the ladder was Georgia Southern, which is in the driver’s seat on one side of the bracket at the Sun Belt tournament. The Eagles are 2-0 at the Sun Belt tournament and are up to 55 in the RPI."
They say that Cal is on the bubble for getting into the tournament. They have won more games than a lot of teams across the country. If they don't get into the NCAA tournament, then they simply don't want Cal to make the tournament.