BERKELEY - The 2017 season gets underway with three games at Evans Diamond as the Cal baseball team kicks off its new campaign against perennial Big West Conference contender Cal Poly. First pitch on Friday is set for 7:05 p.m. while Saturday's game will begin at 6:05 p.m. and Sunday's series finale will be a 1:05 p.m. matinee. 

A youthful bunch of Bears will take the field in 2017 as David Esquer's squad features 13 freshmen and five transfers after 11 players graduated and seven (four juniors, one sophomore) were selected in the MLB draft. Sophomore Tanner Dodson returns to lead Cal on the mound while junior infielders Preston Grand Pre and Denis Karas are back as the team's most experienced position players.

PROBABLE STARTERS
Friday, Feb. 17
Cal: RHP Tanner Dodson (4-5, 3.36 ERA in 2016)
Cal Poly: RHP Erich Uelmen (5-3, 3.68)

Saturday, Feb. 18
Cal: RHP Jared Horn (n/a)
Cal Poly: LHP Kyle Smith (6-6, 3.64)

Sunday, Feb. 19
Cal: LHP Matt Ladrech (3-4, 4.30)
Cal Poly: RHP Jarred Zill (4-3, 2.79)

SCOUTING REPORT: CAL POLY
• Went 32-25 in 2016
• Head coach Larry Lee welcomes back all four starting pitchers and a total of 22 lettermen from a team that placed fourth in the Big West in 2016.
• Cal Poly was picked to finish fourth in the 2017 season by Big West coaches. The Mustangs are ranked No. 22 in Perfect Game's preseason poll.
• Catcher Nick Meyer returns behind the plate after earning Big West Freshman Field Player of the Year in 2016.
• In 14 years under Lee's direction, Cal Poly has eight 30-win seasons and three trips to a NCAA regional.
• All-Time Series: Cal leads 39-12
• Last meeting: The Bears and Mustangs traded mid-week trips in 2016 with Cal earning a 7-1 win in San Luis Obispo and claiming a 5-4 victory in Berkeley.

IN WITH THE NEW
Cal fans may want to hold on to their roster sheets early in the season as the Bears will feature plenty of new faces right away. With 13 freshmen and five transfers on the roster, just over half of Cal's 2017 roster is comprised of players that will be making their Golden Bears' debut.

CLOSING TIME
Cal does return one of the nation's top options in the bullpen in junior RHP Erik Martinez. The West Covina, Calif. native saved eight games with a 3.13 ERA in 2016, was recently named to the Stopper of the Year watch list by the NCBWA and returns for his third collegiate season as one of the Pac-12's most experienced pitchers at the back end of the bullpen. 

PRE-VIOUS EXPERIENCE
Shortstop Preston Grand Pre returns for his junior season as Cal's most experienced field player. The native of Laguna Beach, Calif. hit .290 as a sophomore in 2016 and brings a career .276 average into the 2017 season. He has appeared in 108 games, starting all 108, and is averaging almost a hit a game with 106 career hits as a Golden Bear.    

STAYING LOCAL
A large portion of the 2017 Cal roster is comprised of players who call local baseball fields and high schools home. 10 Golden Bears -- Denis Karas, Jeffrey Mitchell, Jr., Joey Matulovich, Matt Ladrech, Rogelio Reyes, Jack Wolger, Andrew Buckley, Max Flower, Connor Jackson, Kevin Flemer -- hail from an East Bay high school. Two more -- Arman Sabouri and Zayne Patino -- are from nearby San Jose while Andrew Vaughn (Santa Rosa), Jared Horn (Napa) and Aaron Shortridge (Napa) also call the Bay Area home.

NO SENIORITIS HERE
Before earning recognition by D1Baseball.com as its projected Freshman of the Year in the Pac-12, RHP Jared Horn had a year to remember as a senior at Vintage High School in Napa, Calif. After a season in which he went 9-2 with a 0.67 ERA, 124 strikeouts and only 17 walks in 73.2 innings, Horn earned second team All-America honors from MaxPreps.com. He was also named All-Pacific Coast by the National High School Baseball Coaches Association, All-Region 8 by the ABCA and Rawlings, Monticello Empire League Player of the Year and was a first team Super Elite selection by CalHiSports.com. Horn was also a standout quarterback at Vintage, throwing for 1,352 yards and nine touchdowns in his senior season.

ON DECK
The going gets no easier for the Bears, who next head to Lubbock, Texas for four games against a Texas Tech team that appears in most national rankings to begin the season. Cal returns to Evans Diamond on March 3 for the first of four games (one doubleheader) against Gonzaga. The early season portion of the weekend non-conference schedule concludes with a trip to perennial West Coast Conference power Pepperdine from March 10-12.