Friday, February 21
Berkeley, CA
6:00 PM
California
vs
St. John's
2/19/2020 6:30 PM | Baseball
Cal Hosts St. John’s In Three-Game Series This Weekend
BERKELEY – California will look to gain momentum as it welcomes St. John's to Evans Diamond for its home-opening series this weekend on Feb. 21-23.
The Bears (1-3) are coming off a four-game road swing through SoCal that kicked off the season with stops at Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara. Cal's lone win of the trip was a 7-5 victory in Sunday's series finale in Long Beach. Visiting St. John's (1-2) earned its first win on Sunday against No. 18 Georgia Tech in Atlanta.
Friday's series opener will start at 6 p.m. (PT). Games two and three of the weekend tilt will start at 3 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday. All three games will be live streamed with former Cal baseball player Jim Darby on the call.
WEEKEND LINEUP
Junior third baseman Quentin Selma's rise has been a fast one. After breaking into the Bears' lineup in midway through the 2019 season as a sophomore, Selma has developed into one of the team's most consistent hitters. He landed on the All-Pac-12 First Team with a .311 batting average, 14 doubles, 10 home runs and 27 RBI and also participated in the College Home Run Derby in Omaha during the summer. The Clovis, Calif., native leads Cal in hits (6) and RBI (7) so far this season and went 2-for-4 with five RBI at UCSB on Monday.
HIT THE GROUND RUNNING
Multiple freshmen had the chance to prove their worth during the first weekend of the season. Among the impact-makers were Nathan Martorella, who started all four games at first base and designated hitter, and pitchers Joseph King and Steven Zobac. Martorella had a breakout game in Sunday's win at Long Beach State, going 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles and a game-tying RBI in the eighth inning. Zobac earned the win on Sunday with three strikeouts over two innings pitched and King struck out the side while working out of a jam in the 11th inning of Friday's rollercoaster loss to the Dirtbags.
Other freshmen who played noticeable roles throughout the weekend included:
Much of Cal's success will ride on a talented crop of sophomore pitchers. Sam Stoutenborough and Grant Holman are slotted as Friday and Saturday's starters after tossing six innings apiece last week. Sean Sullivan, Cal's saves leader in 2019, is expected to join them in the weekend rotation in the weeks to come.
Nick Proctor, Mitchell Scott and Ian Villers excelled out of the bullpen during the first weekend; Proctor struck out six batters over five scoreless innings, Scott earned Sunday's save and Villers did not allow a run over three appearances, including a scheduled one-inning "opener" start on Sunday.
MR. RELIABLE
Senior right fielder Max Flower is the Bears' most experienced player in the 2020 campaign with 150 career games played, including 131 starts (67 consecutive starts dating back to 2018). With 50 career RBI and a 2019 Pac-12 All-Defensive Team honorable mention under his belt, Flower is expected to do a bit of everything for Cal.
CONTRACT EXTENSION FOR NEU
Cal head coach Mike Neu agreed to a contract extension with the Bears through the 2024 season in late October 2019. Neu's Bears have won 32 games in back-to-back seasons along with 33 total Pac-12 victories since he took over the helm. Cal finished fourth and fifth in the Pac-12 over the last two seasons, respectively. Neu has already seen 12 Bears drafted in two seasons, none more accomplished than 2018 Golden Spikes Award winner Andrew Vaughn.
MAKE AN IMPACT
Darren Baker is poised to be one of the most dynamic players in the Pac-12 this spring after putting together a successful sophomore season and eye-catching summer in the Cape Cod League. As a sophomore last year, Baker batted .306 with 21 stolen bases and was a Pac-12 All-Defensive Team selection. He then slashed .342/.384/.376 in the Cape Cod League and earned an all-star selection. So far this season, Baker has two multi-hit games added a RBI triple in the season opener.
CLEAR FOCUS
After three years as a collegiate dual-sport athlete (football and baseball) at both South Carolina and Cal, outfielder Brandon McIlwain has spent the entire 2019-20 academic year fully focused on baseball. The Bears' starting center fielder and leadoff hitter has fully recovered from a foot injury that sidelined him for the second half of the 2019 season. Despite the injury, McIlwain was still drafted by Miami in the 26th round of the 2019 MLB Draft, but he did not sign. He batted .258 with two home runs and eight RBI in 20 games (18 starts) prior to his injury last spring.
2020 SCHEDULE BREAKDOWN
Cal's 2020 schedule features 53 total games, 26 of which will be played at Evans Diamond. Among those 53 games include 18 that will be featured on the Pac-12 Network as well. Key nonconference games include weekend series at TCU and Gonzaga as well as mid-week contests against 2019 national runner-up Michigan and rival Stanford (one of four games played vs. Stanford). In total, Cal will face eight teams that played in the 2019 NCAA Tournament.
STAY POSTED
For complete coverage of Cal baseball, please follow the Bears on Twitter (@CalBaseball), Instagram (@CalBaseball) and Facebook (/CalBaseball/).
The Bears (1-3) are coming off a four-game road swing through SoCal that kicked off the season with stops at Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara. Cal's lone win of the trip was a 7-5 victory in Sunday's series finale in Long Beach. Visiting St. John's (1-2) earned its first win on Sunday against No. 18 Georgia Tech in Atlanta.
Friday's series opener will start at 6 p.m. (PT). Games two and three of the weekend tilt will start at 3 p.m. on Saturday and 1 p.m. on Sunday. All three games will be live streamed with former Cal baseball player Jim Darby on the call.
WEEKEND LINEUP
- Teams: Cal (1-3) vs. St. John's (1-2)
- Locations: Berkeley, Calif. | Evans Diamond
- Friday: Feb. 21 | 6 p.m. | Live Stats | Live Stream
- Saturday: Feb. 22 | 3 p.m. | Live Stats | Live Stream
- Sunday: Feb. 23 | 1 p.m. | Live Stats | Live Stream
- Projected Rotations:
- Friday: RHP Sam Stoutenborough vs. LHP Nick Mondak
- Saturday: RHP Grant Holman vs. RHP Joe Joe Rodriguez
- Sunday: TBA vs. RHP Ian Murphy
- Cal is 37-15 at Evans Diamond under head coach Mike Neu.
- The Bears are 2-0 all-time against St. John's. The two programs last met in 1983 (5-3 win) and first clashed in the 1980 College World Series (8-5 win).
- Sophomore right-handers Sam Stoutenborough and Grant Holman are both projected to make their second starts on the mound this weekend. Both Bears tossed six innings apiece at Long Beach State last weekend.
- After struggling offensively with two runs through its first two games of the season, Cal's bats heated up on Sunday and Monday with a combined 14 runs on 25 hits against Long Beach State and UC Santa Barbara.
- Cal was picked to finish tied for seven in the Pac-12 Conference preseason coaches' poll.
- Cal went 32-20 overall and 17-11 in the Pac-12 last season while reaching the NCAA Fayetteville (Ark.) Regional. It was the Bears' first postseason appearance since 2015.
- Freshman pitcher Joseph King will celebrate his 19th birthday on Sunday.
Junior third baseman Quentin Selma's rise has been a fast one. After breaking into the Bears' lineup in midway through the 2019 season as a sophomore, Selma has developed into one of the team's most consistent hitters. He landed on the All-Pac-12 First Team with a .311 batting average, 14 doubles, 10 home runs and 27 RBI and also participated in the College Home Run Derby in Omaha during the summer. The Clovis, Calif., native leads Cal in hits (6) and RBI (7) so far this season and went 2-for-4 with five RBI at UCSB on Monday.
HIT THE GROUND RUNNING
Multiple freshmen had the chance to prove their worth during the first weekend of the season. Among the impact-makers were Nathan Martorella, who started all four games at first base and designated hitter, and pitchers Joseph King and Steven Zobac. Martorella had a breakout game in Sunday's win at Long Beach State, going 3-for-4 with a pair of doubles and a game-tying RBI in the eighth inning. Zobac earned the win on Sunday with three strikeouts over two innings pitched and King struck out the side while working out of a jam in the 11th inning of Friday's rollercoaster loss to the Dirtbags.
Other freshmen who played noticeable roles throughout the weekend included:
- Jake Skipworth: RBI double in his first collegiate at bat on Monday
- Vaughn Mauterer: tied for national lead with three appearances on the mound
- Josh White: started on the mound on Monday and tossed 3.1 innings
- Ethan Cloyd: made his debut with a start at catcher on Monday (went 1-for-4 at the plate)
- Ben Lake: struck out three batters over 1.2 innings of relief on Monday
Much of Cal's success will ride on a talented crop of sophomore pitchers. Sam Stoutenborough and Grant Holman are slotted as Friday and Saturday's starters after tossing six innings apiece last week. Sean Sullivan, Cal's saves leader in 2019, is expected to join them in the weekend rotation in the weeks to come.
Nick Proctor, Mitchell Scott and Ian Villers excelled out of the bullpen during the first weekend; Proctor struck out six batters over five scoreless innings, Scott earned Sunday's save and Villers did not allow a run over three appearances, including a scheduled one-inning "opener" start on Sunday.
MR. RELIABLE
Senior right fielder Max Flower is the Bears' most experienced player in the 2020 campaign with 150 career games played, including 131 starts (67 consecutive starts dating back to 2018). With 50 career RBI and a 2019 Pac-12 All-Defensive Team honorable mention under his belt, Flower is expected to do a bit of everything for Cal.
CONTRACT EXTENSION FOR NEU
Cal head coach Mike Neu agreed to a contract extension with the Bears through the 2024 season in late October 2019. Neu's Bears have won 32 games in back-to-back seasons along with 33 total Pac-12 victories since he took over the helm. Cal finished fourth and fifth in the Pac-12 over the last two seasons, respectively. Neu has already seen 12 Bears drafted in two seasons, none more accomplished than 2018 Golden Spikes Award winner Andrew Vaughn.
MAKE AN IMPACT
Darren Baker is poised to be one of the most dynamic players in the Pac-12 this spring after putting together a successful sophomore season and eye-catching summer in the Cape Cod League. As a sophomore last year, Baker batted .306 with 21 stolen bases and was a Pac-12 All-Defensive Team selection. He then slashed .342/.384/.376 in the Cape Cod League and earned an all-star selection. So far this season, Baker has two multi-hit games added a RBI triple in the season opener.
CLEAR FOCUS
After three years as a collegiate dual-sport athlete (football and baseball) at both South Carolina and Cal, outfielder Brandon McIlwain has spent the entire 2019-20 academic year fully focused on baseball. The Bears' starting center fielder and leadoff hitter has fully recovered from a foot injury that sidelined him for the second half of the 2019 season. Despite the injury, McIlwain was still drafted by Miami in the 26th round of the 2019 MLB Draft, but he did not sign. He batted .258 with two home runs and eight RBI in 20 games (18 starts) prior to his injury last spring.
2020 SCHEDULE BREAKDOWN
Cal's 2020 schedule features 53 total games, 26 of which will be played at Evans Diamond. Among those 53 games include 18 that will be featured on the Pac-12 Network as well. Key nonconference games include weekend series at TCU and Gonzaga as well as mid-week contests against 2019 national runner-up Michigan and rival Stanford (one of four games played vs. Stanford). In total, Cal will face eight teams that played in the 2019 NCAA Tournament.
STAY POSTED
For complete coverage of Cal baseball, please follow the Bears on Twitter (@CalBaseball), Instagram (@CalBaseball) and Facebook (/CalBaseball/).
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