California Golden Bears Athletics
Saturday, February 9
Lafayette, LA
9:30 AM
California
vs
Fordham
Cal Opens Season in the Bayou State
2/7/2019 4:48 PM | Softball
BERKELEY – Opening Day is imminent and that means that the Golden Bears will take their show on the road for an extended period.
California softball opens up its 2019 campaign with six weeks away from the views of Strawberry Canyon, commencing with a 10-day, two-destination trip, with its first leg in Lafayette, La., for a five-game lineup at the Ragin' Cajuns Classic.
The program begins its 47th year in extant with a matchup against Fordham for the second consecutive year. Cal holds a 6-0 advantage in the brief series and looks to extend its lead on Feb. 9 at 9:30 a.m. (PT).
Cal continues its pursuits in the Bayou State Sunday with a double header against Incarnate Word at 8:30 a.m. (PT), followed by a bout with Texas A&M - Corpus Christi at 11 a.m. (PT).
On Monday, the Bears close out opening weekend with another double header (2 p.m. and 4 p.m.) with the hosting and 15th ranked Ragin' Cajuns of Louisiana Lafayette. Both games will be streamed on RaginCajuns.com. The series reignites a matchup that hasn't seen action since 1999, when the Bears won 8-1.
The week will set the stage for Cal's following week at the St. Pete/Clearwater ESPN Invitational where it'll face four top-25 opponents.
The Bears are confident in the experience of its senior corps which returns both aces Kamalani Dung (1.96 ERA) and Zoe Conley (2.25), who led the conference and became Cal's record holder with seven saves in a season in 2018. Lindsay Rood, Cal's top run scorer, hitter and the Pac-12's stolen base leader, is set to lead off the lineup in her final season and will likely move up in the all-time career charts in several categories this season. Rood also led the Bears in doubles (16) and led The Conference in triples (8).
A five-tooler, Rood's pressure of opposing defenses will be supported by sophomore Mikayla Coelho, who had a standout freshman campaign. Last season, Coelho led the Bears in homers (7) and RBIs (36), marking the first time a freshman has guided the team in both categories since two-time All-American Veronica Nelson did in 2000.
Confident in several newcomers who will likely appear in the starting nine, head coach Diane Ninemire believes the team is poised to battle through a tough preseason schedule to set the Bears up for more success in conference play, after being voted to finished fifth in the league this season.
For more information on Cal softball, follow the team on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @CalSB.
Scouting Fordham
California softball opens up its 2019 campaign with six weeks away from the views of Strawberry Canyon, commencing with a 10-day, two-destination trip, with its first leg in Lafayette, La., for a five-game lineup at the Ragin' Cajuns Classic.
The program begins its 47th year in extant with a matchup against Fordham for the second consecutive year. Cal holds a 6-0 advantage in the brief series and looks to extend its lead on Feb. 9 at 9:30 a.m. (PT).
Cal continues its pursuits in the Bayou State Sunday with a double header against Incarnate Word at 8:30 a.m. (PT), followed by a bout with Texas A&M - Corpus Christi at 11 a.m. (PT).
On Monday, the Bears close out opening weekend with another double header (2 p.m. and 4 p.m.) with the hosting and 15th ranked Ragin' Cajuns of Louisiana Lafayette. Both games will be streamed on RaginCajuns.com. The series reignites a matchup that hasn't seen action since 1999, when the Bears won 8-1.
The week will set the stage for Cal's following week at the St. Pete/Clearwater ESPN Invitational where it'll face four top-25 opponents.
The Bears are confident in the experience of its senior corps which returns both aces Kamalani Dung (1.96 ERA) and Zoe Conley (2.25), who led the conference and became Cal's record holder with seven saves in a season in 2018. Lindsay Rood, Cal's top run scorer, hitter and the Pac-12's stolen base leader, is set to lead off the lineup in her final season and will likely move up in the all-time career charts in several categories this season. Rood also led the Bears in doubles (16) and led The Conference in triples (8).
A five-tooler, Rood's pressure of opposing defenses will be supported by sophomore Mikayla Coelho, who had a standout freshman campaign. Last season, Coelho led the Bears in homers (7) and RBIs (36), marking the first time a freshman has guided the team in both categories since two-time All-American Veronica Nelson did in 2000.
Confident in several newcomers who will likely appear in the starting nine, head coach Diane Ninemire believes the team is poised to battle through a tough preseason schedule to set the Bears up for more success in conference play, after being voted to finished fifth in the league this season.
For more information on Cal softball, follow the team on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @CalSB.
Scouting Fordham
- Cal leads all-time series 6-0, with its last meeting on Feb. 17. 2018 resulting in a 9-2 win for the Bears
- Last season, Fordham softball program earned its sixth consecutive Atlantic 10 title and seventh in the last eight seasons
- The Rams are led by first-year head coach Melissa Inouye
- Cal and UIW have never played before
- The Cardinals finished the 2018 season with an 15-34 record overall, 7-19 in the Southland Conference
- California native Hope Sobolewski, started more games than any other Cardinal last year and hit .264 with four home runs and a team-high 20 RBIs. Sobolewski also ranked second on the team in walks (12) and home runs (four) and fourth on the team in doubles (three)
- Second overall meeting with the Bears and first since March 17, 2000 when the Bears won 3-2
- Led by now senior Kayla Sheridan who recorded a .326 batting average, 57 hits and 23 of 26 stolen bases in 2018
- Finished with a 14-37-1 overall record last season, with a 5-22 Southland Conference record
- Cal leads the all-time series 5-1 with the last meeting resulting in a 8-1 victory for the Bears on May 23, 1999
- Louisiana embarks on the second season of the Gerry Glasco era. In his first season with the program, Glasco led the Ragin' Cajuns to a 40-win season and an appearance in the NCAA Baton Rouge Regional final
- The Ragin' Cajuns were selected as the preseason favorite to claim the 2019 Sun Belt Conference crown, receiving eight out of a possible 10 first-place votes. Alissa Dalton (SBC Preseason Player of the Year) and Summer Ellyson (SBC Preseason Pitcher of the Year) were the top honorees on the preseason all-conference team.
Players Mentioned
Sunday, May 21
Sunday, May 21
Tuesday, May 09
Tuesday, May 09
