California Golden Bears Athletics
Thursday, April 13
Salt Lake City, Utah
10:30 AM
California
at
Utah
Denis Karas continues to rank as one of the Pac-12's top power hitters this year (Stephen Wandzura)
Photo by: Stephen Wandzura
Pac-12 Play Resumes With Trip To Utah
4/12/2017 12:02 PM | Baseball
BERKELEY - The Cal baseball team jumps back into Pac-12 play with its first road trip in three weeks as the Bears head to Salt Lake City for three games against reigning Pac-12 champion Utah. The series will be a Thursday-Saturday series and all three games will start at 10:30 a.m. from Smith's Ballpark. All three contests will be streamed live by Utah.
Cal will look to keep its Pac-12 roll going as the Bears have won six straight in conference play entering Thursday's contest. A Tuesday loss at Saint Mary's featured plenty of offense but the Bears will look to get more strong starting pitching in Utah from a weekend trio of Jared Horn, Joey Matulovich and Matt Ladrech that led the charge in a sweep of Arizona State.
PROBABLE STARTERS
Thursday, April 13, 10:30 a.m. (PT)
Cal: RHP Jared Horn (3-2, 3.23 ERA)
Utah: RHP Jayson Rose (3-2, 4.72 ERA)
Friday, April 14, 10:30 a.m. (PT)
Cal: RHP Joey Matulovich (4-0, 3.57 ERA)
Utah: RHP Riley Ottesen (4-1, 3.25 ERA)
Saturday, April 15, 10:30 a.m. (PT)
Cal: LHP Matt Ladrech (2-0, 0.90 ERA)
Utah: LHP Josh Lapiana (2-4, 4.02 ERA)
LAST TIME OUT
A mid-week trip to nearby Saint Mary's saw Cal produce plenty of offense but free passes proved the Bears' undoing as 11 walks and three batsmen led to a 24-7 defeat in Moraga. Jeffrey Mitchell Jr. and Denis Karas each homered in the effort for Cal.
Before hitting the road, the Bears kept their Pac-12 momentum at the forefront and continued to move up the conference standings as Cal earned a second-straight Pac-12 sweep, this time over Arizona State, to improve to 7-5 in conference play.
A 9-6 win on Friday got the Bears rolling as they built a 9-1 lead before the Sun Devils scored five in the fifth inning to close the gap. On Saturday, Cal again set an early tone, building a 6-0 lead behind strong solid pitching from Joey Matulovich. And Sunday brought more of the same as Matt Ladrech delivered another quality start and the Cal offense delivered 10 runs on 11 hits.
DIGGING THE LONG BALL
With the first few weeks of Pac-12 play in the books, Cal leads the conference when it comes to home runs. The Bears have hit 24 big flies as a team, led by a conference-high eight from freshman Andrew Vaughn. Junior Denis Karas hit one against Saint Mary's and ranks second on the team with five while Cameron Eden and Jeffrey Mitchell, Jr. each have three and Tanner Dodson has two.
VAUGHN'S VERSATILITY
Installed right away as Cal's No. 3 hitter, true freshman Andrew Vaughn has established himself as one of the team's top run producers. The Santa Rosa, Calif. native leads the Bears in batting average (.379), home runs (8), RBI (27) and runs scored (22). Vaughn's contributions aren't limited to the plate though, as Cal's starting first baseman doubles as a key arm out the bullpen and owns a 1-0 record in eight relief appearances (7.1 IP).
MR. DO-EVERYTHING
Asked to fill a variety of roles this season, sophomore Tanner Dodson has played a key role in several different spots for the Bears this year. Cal's opening day starter is now thriving out of the bullpen and has allowed just one earned run in three relief appearances. At the plate, the Elk Grove, Calif. native is a middle of the order mainstay and is hitting .286 with 10 doubles, two home runs, one triple, 20 RBI and 16 runs scored. Dodson has also seen time in the outfield and started in center field for two of the Bears' three games against Arizona State.
CLOSING TIME
Cal can call on one of the nation's top options in the bullpen in junior RHP Erik Martinez. The West Covina, Calif. native saved eight games in 2016 and, after notching four saves so far in 2017, enters the Saint Mary's game tied for 8th all-time (Jon Zuber) at Cal with 13.
ON DECK
Cal returns to the Bay Area next Tuesday for its second mid-week trip to Stanford this season. First pitch is scheduled for 5:35 p.m. and the game will be broadcast live by Pac-12 Networks. The Bears return to Evans Diamond next weekend for three games against USC before turning their attention to the road with seven of the next eight being contested away from Berkeley.
Cal will look to keep its Pac-12 roll going as the Bears have won six straight in conference play entering Thursday's contest. A Tuesday loss at Saint Mary's featured plenty of offense but the Bears will look to get more strong starting pitching in Utah from a weekend trio of Jared Horn, Joey Matulovich and Matt Ladrech that led the charge in a sweep of Arizona State.
PROBABLE STARTERS
Thursday, April 13, 10:30 a.m. (PT)
Cal: RHP Jared Horn (3-2, 3.23 ERA)
Utah: RHP Jayson Rose (3-2, 4.72 ERA)
Friday, April 14, 10:30 a.m. (PT)
Cal: RHP Joey Matulovich (4-0, 3.57 ERA)
Utah: RHP Riley Ottesen (4-1, 3.25 ERA)
Saturday, April 15, 10:30 a.m. (PT)
Cal: LHP Matt Ladrech (2-0, 0.90 ERA)
Utah: LHP Josh Lapiana (2-4, 4.02 ERA)
LAST TIME OUT
A mid-week trip to nearby Saint Mary's saw Cal produce plenty of offense but free passes proved the Bears' undoing as 11 walks and three batsmen led to a 24-7 defeat in Moraga. Jeffrey Mitchell Jr. and Denis Karas each homered in the effort for Cal.
Before hitting the road, the Bears kept their Pac-12 momentum at the forefront and continued to move up the conference standings as Cal earned a second-straight Pac-12 sweep, this time over Arizona State, to improve to 7-5 in conference play.
A 9-6 win on Friday got the Bears rolling as they built a 9-1 lead before the Sun Devils scored five in the fifth inning to close the gap. On Saturday, Cal again set an early tone, building a 6-0 lead behind strong solid pitching from Joey Matulovich. And Sunday brought more of the same as Matt Ladrech delivered another quality start and the Cal offense delivered 10 runs on 11 hits.
DIGGING THE LONG BALL
With the first few weeks of Pac-12 play in the books, Cal leads the conference when it comes to home runs. The Bears have hit 24 big flies as a team, led by a conference-high eight from freshman Andrew Vaughn. Junior Denis Karas hit one against Saint Mary's and ranks second on the team with five while Cameron Eden and Jeffrey Mitchell, Jr. each have three and Tanner Dodson has two.
VAUGHN'S VERSATILITY
Installed right away as Cal's No. 3 hitter, true freshman Andrew Vaughn has established himself as one of the team's top run producers. The Santa Rosa, Calif. native leads the Bears in batting average (.379), home runs (8), RBI (27) and runs scored (22). Vaughn's contributions aren't limited to the plate though, as Cal's starting first baseman doubles as a key arm out the bullpen and owns a 1-0 record in eight relief appearances (7.1 IP).
MR. DO-EVERYTHING
Asked to fill a variety of roles this season, sophomore Tanner Dodson has played a key role in several different spots for the Bears this year. Cal's opening day starter is now thriving out of the bullpen and has allowed just one earned run in three relief appearances. At the plate, the Elk Grove, Calif. native is a middle of the order mainstay and is hitting .286 with 10 doubles, two home runs, one triple, 20 RBI and 16 runs scored. Dodson has also seen time in the outfield and started in center field for two of the Bears' three games against Arizona State.
CLOSING TIME
Cal can call on one of the nation's top options in the bullpen in junior RHP Erik Martinez. The West Covina, Calif. native saved eight games in 2016 and, after notching four saves so far in 2017, enters the Saint Mary's game tied for 8th all-time (Jon Zuber) at Cal with 13.
ON DECK
Cal returns to the Bay Area next Tuesday for its second mid-week trip to Stanford this season. First pitch is scheduled for 5:35 p.m. and the game will be broadcast live by Pac-12 Networks. The Bears return to Evans Diamond next weekend for three games against USC before turning their attention to the road with seven of the next eight being contested away from Berkeley.
Players Mentioned
P/OF
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
P
/ Baseball
INF
/ Baseball
P
/ Baseball
P
/ Baseball
P
/ Baseball
OF
/ Baseball
INF/P
/ BaseballMonday, July 15
Tuesday, February 06
Thursday, May 25
Sunday, May 21
