Bears Travel To Seattle For Final Conference Clash

The Bears begin a crucial three game series at Washington on Thursday night.

BASE5/17/2023 1:39 PM | By: Cal Athletics

Cal Can Still Earn Postseason Berth With Series Victory

BERKELEY – The California baseball team travels to the Pacific Northwest for the final three games of the regular season starting Thursday when the Golden Bears take on No. 24 Washington. Thursday’s game is scheduled for a 7:05 p.m. PT start with all three games being televised on Pac-12 Network. A series victory for Cal can secure a spot in the Pac-12 Baseball Tournament.
 
Cal (22-25, 10-17 Pac-12) is coming off a home series loss at the hands of Washington State. The Bears are 10-12 on the road but have won three straight thanks to a series sweep at UCLA two weeks ago. Washington (32-14, 16-10 Pac-12) currently sits in second in the Pac-12 standings after sweeping then No. 24 Oregon in Eugene. The Huskies are 16-6 at Huskie Ballpark where they have won five straight.   
 
 
HOW TO FOLLOW

 
PROJECTED STARTERS

• Thursday: RHP Christian Becerra (2-4, 5.96 ERA) vs. LHP Stu Flesland III (5-2, 4.17 ERA)
• Friday: TBD vs. RHP Kiefer Lord (6-3, 4.03 ERA)
• Saturday: RHP Paulshawn Pasqualotto (4-1, 3.74 ERA) v. RHP Jared Engman (3-3, 4.67 ERA)

 
QUICK HITS

• The Bears enter this week with an overall record of 22-25; on the road they are 10-12 but have won three straight.
• Cal is hitting .259 as a team, which ranks 11th in the Pac-12. However, over the last six games, the Bears are hitting .328 (72-for-219) as a team with 14 doubles and 19 home runs.
• On the road, the Bears are hitting .272 (212-for-778) and averaging 5.7 runs per game. Kade Kretzschmar is one of three players hitting north of .300; he leads the team in hitting .341 on the road.
• Cal hit seven home runs against the Cougars last weekend, giving the Bears 73 for the year, which ranks fifth in the Pac-12 and 62nd in the nation.
• It is the eighth time since 1971 that the Bears have hit 70 or more home runs in a season. The team high under Mike Neu is 81, hit in 2019. The program record is 86, hit in 1999.
• The trio of Rodney Green Jr. (13), Kretzschmar (13) and Caleb Lomavita (11) has hit 37 combined home runs; with six more home runs they will be the most prolific home run trio in the Mike Neu era, surpassing Andrew Vaughn (23), Jonah Davis (14) and Sam Wezniak (6),…