Newcomers responsible for the fast starts of Cal Baseball and No.15 Cal Softball

Final Pac-12 season begins with Baseball hosting UCLA and Softball at Oregon

As Pac-12 play starts this weekend for Cal Baseball and Cal Softball, this is a great time to assess the teams' performance thus far. Both programs have exceeded preseason expectations thanks to the performances of key newcomers.

Cal Baseball is attempting to return to the NCAA Regionals for the first time since 2019, when the program got two MLB Draft round 1 picks: now Chicago White Sox teammates Andrew Vaughn and Korey Lee (that draft class has also produced a 3rd MLB Bear in Cam Eden for the Toronto Blue Jays). Head Coach Mike Neu added via all the ways (freshmen, junior college transfers, and graduate transfers) to support his two draft-eligible junior stars: Caleb Lomavita and Rodney Green Jr. With a lot of the season to go, the Golden Bears are on track for the postseason.

Cal Softball was able to make the postseason last year but graduated Makena Smith, a two-time All-American honoree. Head coach Chelsea Spencer does bring in a large and talented freshman class capable of launching the program back toward being a national championship contender. The all-freshman battery plus improvements of several returnees have put Cal back in the top 15 of human polls (and top 10 by RPI rankings). Golden Bears already earned a great win for their postseason resume after splitting two games against a top-3 ranked Georgia Bulldogs team.

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Cal Baseball (8-3), 45th in RPI

Rebuilding a pitching staff to complement a great offense was the off-season goal for head coach Mike Neu. With only former JuCo transfer RHP Tyler Stasiowski being a reliable pitching option on paper, Neu got some relatively promising early results from his new pitching staff, despite a still too-high staff ERA of 5.23 and too many baserunners with a staff WHIP of 1.62.

True freshman RHP Trey Newmann (5.79 ERA, 1.82 WHIP) made the first start of the season and has held on to that Friday starter role so far despite some struggles. Newmann opened his collegiate career with four scoreless innings against Kansas State but got hit hard against Connecticut and Ohio State.

Neu then calls upon two graduate transfers to start on Saturday and Sunday in LHP Luke Short (2.84 ERA, 1.50 WHIP) and RHP Tom Mayer (4.63 ERA, 1.11 WHIP). Short came from St. Edwards University, a Division 2 school. Mayer came from William & Mary University.

From the junior college ranks (Sacramento City College), LHP Logan Piper has emerged as a reliable relief option for that one key out against a lefty. Piper has a 0.00 ERA in 5 appearances but also only 1.1 IP. Also used to put out flames is another JuCo transfer (from San Joaquin Delta JC) in RHP Jake Guardiancic (6.00 ERA, 0.67 WHIP) who had 4 scoreless outings in 5 tries.

To build up experiences against lesser competitions midweek, Cal has two other true freshmen working in tandem who have both shown some great stuff and promise to be moved into the weekend later this year. RHP Quinn Larson (0.00 ERA, 1.27 WHIP) gets the start while RHP Oliver Boone (1.29 ERA, 1.00 WHIP) gets to do multiple-inning relief. Check out these two guys in the BYU and Sac State highlights below.

Cal has relied on a pair of true freshmen up the middle defensively. Shortstop PJ Moutzouridis has already been moved from the bottom of the lineup to the top after slashing 0.438/0.571/0.688 through 11 games. 2nd baseman Jarren Advincula (0.250/0.362/0.350) may not be hitting as well as Moutzouridis, but he has done well defensively.

Also new to the Cal lineup this season are freshman DH Ryan Tayman (0.229/0.270/0.514 but 3 homers) and graduate transfer OF speedster Alec Ritch (0.281/0.378/0.375).

Of course, the powerful Cal lineup that has already hit 20 homers while slashing 0.292/0.394/0.512 as a team is anchored by catcher Caleb Lomavita and CF Rodney Green Jr. Lomavita has a team-high five homers from slashing 0.391/0.453/0.739 to affirm his status as possibly the top catcher available this summer. Rodney Green Jr. (AKA RJ) has added four homers to a solid slash line of 0.268/0.412/0.610. Somewhat surprising is how both Lomavita AND Green have 4 steals in 5 attempts on the bases already. Holdovers from last year, 3B Max Hndron (0.256/0.352/0.419), 1B Peyton Schulze (0.333/0.383/0.500), and OF Carson Crawford (0.269/0.321/0.577) have all already hit homers this year to provide Cal with pop throughout the order.

Part of the early season success for the Bears is due to the perfect 6-0 home record. These are also the games where we get the fun highlights reels below.

Cal 8, BYU 0

Larson shined on the mound in Cal's home opener..

https://twitter.com/CalBaseball/status/1760873812328116403

Cal 8, UConn 4

Cal 15, UConn 12

Cal 5, UConn 4 (RJ with the walk-off hit!)

https://twitter.com/CalBaseball/status/1762603849112813689

Cal 3, Sac State 1

Freshman pitcher Oliver Boone is highlighted.

https://twitter.com/CalBaseball/status/1763381189736611841

After dropping two in Las Vegas last weekend (4-9 to Ohio State and 7-19 to Pitt after rain washed away the Oklahoma game), Luke Short got the midweek non-conference start against Stanford.

Cal 5, Stanford 0

https://twitter.com/CalBaseball/status/1765810614868619414

Cal Bears will open Pac-12 play at home against the dangerous but inconsistent UCLA Bruins (5-6, RPI of 76). All three games will be streamed for free online.

• Friday, March 8, 6:05 p.m.:  Cal Live Stream | CalBears.com

• Saturday, March 9, 2:05 p.m.:  Cal Live Stream | CalBears.com

• Sunday, March 10, 1:05 p.m.:  Cal Live Stream | CalBears.com

Cal swept UCLA down in Los Angeles last year to make a late-season push to qualify for the Pac-12 Baseball tournament (once again, only the top 9 of 11 teams will make it). Bears will look to replicate that success this weekend in their last series against the Bruins as Pac-12 foes.

LHP Ian May, the former ace last year before undergoing Tommy John surgery, may be back in action this weekend for the Bears. It will be interesting to see how carefully Mike Neu and the staff will be with May.

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Cal Softball (20-2), 9th in RPI

The first Cal women's program to win an NCAA title, Cal Softball is looking to return to the glory of head coach Chelsea Spencer's playing days when the Golden Bears were perennial Women's College World Series participants. Somewhat unexpectedly, Cal Softball might just have made that big jump in 2024.

After opening the year on the road at the Louisiana Classics (hosted by Louisiana), Littlewood Classic (hosted by Grand Canyon), and the prestigious Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic (where Cal did not play the toughest teams there), Cal had a 16-1 record but not the national respect before last weekend.

Cal 1, UC Davis 0

Senior RHP Haylei Archer was able to hold UC David in check.

https://twitter.com/CalSB/status/1763262211458568309

At the DeMarini Invitational hosted by Stanford last weekend, Cal ended up playing Georgia twice. Golden Bears lost 2-4 on Friday but rebounded with a 7-2 victory on Saturday in a weekend schedule altered by weather.

https://twitter.com/CalSB/status/1764069809275244903

Freshman budding ace LHP Randi Roelling (2.29 ERA, 1.25 WHIP) has given Cal that previously missing pitcher to compete against the top teams in the nation. She has tremendously improved a Cal pitching staff that had seen junior RHP Anna Reimers (1.56 ER, 1.00 WHIP) and senior RHP Haylei Archer (2.15 ERA, 1.43 WHIP) in recent years struggle against the top-25 caliber teams.

https://twitter.com/CalSB/status/1763650604986237097

Catching Roelling is a fellow true freshman Lagi Quiroga, who has hit well with a slash line of 0.352/0.417/0.722 and six homers. Another freshman in the Cal lineup is Kyndal Todd with 0.291/0..371/0.527 and three homers. Also new to the team’s lineup this season is Iowa transfer Kaylee Pond, who has provided 0.339/0.418/0.625 and three homers.

Cal 6, Boise State 4

Cal 8, Boise State 2

https://twitter.com/CalSB/status/1764498256137203847

Then again, Cal's potent offense in 2024 (team slash line of 0.313/0.406/0.555) with a Pac-12 leading 34 homers already is buoyed by the drastic improvements of the sophomore class. 2nd baseman Elon Butler is leading the team with 0.418/0.515/0.855 and seven homers. She is currently leading the conference in slugging percentage (.855), tied for the lead in home runs (7), and sixth in batting average (.418). Fellow sophomore Tianna Bell is hitting 0.288/0.406/0.654 with six homers.

Cal is also getting great hitting from junior Acacia Anders (0.433/0.506/0.746 with three homers and 10 doubles), 5th-year senior Tatum Anzaldo (0.328/0.487/0.448 but seeking her power), and junior Mika Lee (0.300, 0.333/0.500 and three homers after hitting none last year). 

We shall see if Cal can keep up this kind of offense, currently 9th best home run rate nationally at 1.55 hr/game, in the tougher Pac-12 action. 

Due to the weather forecast, this weekend's games at Oregon (12-8, 78th on RPI) have been rescheduled as a Friday doubleheader and a Saturday finale.

• Friday 3 pm PT: Live Stats | Oregon Live Stream

• Friday 6 pm PT: Live Stats | Oregon Live Stream

• Saturday 2 pm PT: Live Stats | Oregon Live Stream

Bears dig the long balls in both baseball and softball! So do most fans! Be sure to go support them and watch the Bears hit dingers in Berkeley this year!

ROLL ON YOU BEARS!