California Golden Bears Athletics
Thursday, February 14
Clearwater, FL
10:00 AM
California
vs
Texas
Cal Faces Top Competition in Clearwater
2/13/2019 9:17 AM | Softball
Clearwater, Fla. – Continuing the back half of a 10-day road trip, the Golden Bears arrived in Florida Tuesday night for the St. Pete/Clearwater Elite Invitational Presented by Wilson, ESPN Events' first owned and operated softball tournament that will be held at the Eddie C. Moore Complex.
The weekend boasts an all-star cast calling the games including the voice of softball Beth Mowins, lead softball analysts Michele Smith and Amanda Scarborough and sideline staple Holly Rowe. Kayla Braud and Danielle Lawrie will also serve as game analysts. Covering play-by-play duties will be Tiffany Greene, Kevin Fitzgerald and Kirsten Karbach.
Beginning Thursday at 10 a.m. (PT), Cal faces No. 11/12 Texas, before seeing four more teams in or near the top-25, including No. 23/25 James Madison (Fri. at 9:30 a.m.), No. 20/17 Oklahoma State (Sat. at 10 a.m.), No. RV/24 Notre Dame (Sat. at 4 p.m.) and RV/RV Minnesota (Sun. at 7 a.m.), who fell out the rankings this week.
The Bears (3-2, 0-0 Pac-12) started off at the Ragin' Cajuns Classic in Lafayette, La., recording three decisive victories before a pair of hard-fought losses against then No. 15 Louisiana.
Head coach Diane Ninemire, who celebrated her 62nd birthday on Tuesday and is in her 31st season at the helm, saw glimpses of progress in the Louisiana doubleheader, despite the result.
"I think there were some great signs that will propel us into this week's games in Florida," Ninemire said. "Ok really happy to see how we battled back after the first loss. We'll get back to work and go after it."
Cal will rely on its experienced pitching staff in Zoe Conley and Kamalani Dung as well as senior infielder Lindsay Rood, who leads the Pac-12 with a .700 batting average and seven steals after opening weekend. Rood also stole home twice through Cal's first three outings.
Matchups
vs. Texas
vs. James Madison
vs. Oklahoma State
vs. Notre Dame
vs. Minnesota
For more information on Cal softball, follow the team on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @CalSB.
The weekend boasts an all-star cast calling the games including the voice of softball Beth Mowins, lead softball analysts Michele Smith and Amanda Scarborough and sideline staple Holly Rowe. Kayla Braud and Danielle Lawrie will also serve as game analysts. Covering play-by-play duties will be Tiffany Greene, Kevin Fitzgerald and Kirsten Karbach.
Beginning Thursday at 10 a.m. (PT), Cal faces No. 11/12 Texas, before seeing four more teams in or near the top-25, including No. 23/25 James Madison (Fri. at 9:30 a.m.), No. 20/17 Oklahoma State (Sat. at 10 a.m.), No. RV/24 Notre Dame (Sat. at 4 p.m.) and RV/RV Minnesota (Sun. at 7 a.m.), who fell out the rankings this week.
The Bears (3-2, 0-0 Pac-12) started off at the Ragin' Cajuns Classic in Lafayette, La., recording three decisive victories before a pair of hard-fought losses against then No. 15 Louisiana.
Head coach Diane Ninemire, who celebrated her 62nd birthday on Tuesday and is in her 31st season at the helm, saw glimpses of progress in the Louisiana doubleheader, despite the result.
"I think there were some great signs that will propel us into this week's games in Florida," Ninemire said. "Ok really happy to see how we battled back after the first loss. We'll get back to work and go after it."
Cal will rely on its experienced pitching staff in Zoe Conley and Kamalani Dung as well as senior infielder Lindsay Rood, who leads the Pac-12 with a .700 batting average and seven steals after opening weekend. Rood also stole home twice through Cal's first three outings.
Matchups
vs. Texas
- Game will be televised on ESPNU with Tiffany Greene on the play-by-play and Amanda Scarborough provide analysis
- First year head coach Mike White, previously led the charge at reigning Pac-12 champion Oregon
- Cal is 5-3 all-time against Longhorns, with a 5-2 win in the most recent matchup on Feb. 23, 2014
- UT is currently 4-0 and collectively batting .378
- In four games the Longhorns posted three run rules, two shutouts and gave up just three runs
vs. James Madison
- Cal will be the season opener for the Dukes
- JMU is currently ranked No. 25 and was selected as the preseason favorite on the Colonial Athletic Association poll
- Finished with a 43-14 record last season to make its sixth consecutive trip to postseason
- Cal is 0-3 against James Madison suffering its most recent loss last year in Honolulu in a 5-1 decision
vs. Oklahoma State
- Game will be streamed on ESPN 3 with Kevin Fitzgerald and Danielle Lawrie providing play-by-play and analysis, respectively
- Went 4-1 in this tournament last season
- Led by Taylor Lynch and Madi Sue Montgomery, with Lynch recording a hit in 54 of her last 66 games and Montgomery logging 67 hits in 2018
- Currently 4-1, including a win over No. 13 Kentucky last weekend
- Cal is 8-6 against the Cowgirls with its most recent victory on Feb. 24, 2017 when the Bears run-ruled OSU 9-1 in five
vs. Notre Dame
- Game will be streamed on ESPN 3 with Beth Mowins, the voice of softball, Michele Smith and Holly Rowe covering the action
- Currently 2-2 and faced two top-10 teams opening weekend
- Upset then second-ranked Washington 3-2 to close Puerto Vallarta Challenge
- Picked to finish second in ACC on preseason poll
- Cal is 8-1 against fighting Irish, picking up a pair of wins in the Auburn Regional in 2017
vs. Minnesota
- Game will be streamed on ESPN 3 with Kirsten Karbach on the play-by-play and Kayla Braud providing analysis
- Currently 2-1, with both wins coming from shutouts
- Sophomore infielder Hope Brandner picker up Big Ten Player of the Week batting .556 across three games
- Cal leads series 10-4 but lost most recently in a 10-0 display on March 15, 2017 in Berkeley
For more information on Cal softball, follow the team on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @CalSB.
Players Mentioned
Sunday, May 21
Sunday, May 21
Tuesday, May 09
Tuesday, May 09
