Pac-12 Play Begins

Friday, March 26

Salt Lake City, UT

4:00 PM

California

Utah

Darren Baker and the Golden Bears will face Utah for the first time since May 2019 this weekend.

Photo by: Rob Edwards/klcfotos

3/24/2021 12:57 PM | Baseball

Watch (Game 1)Watch (Game 2)Watch (Game 3)Live Stats Notes (PDF)

Bears Travel To Utah For First Taste Of Conference Action

By: Cal Athletics

BERKELEY – California kicks off Pac-12 Conference play with a weekend trip to face Utah in Salt Lake City on March 26-28. All three games will be televised on the Pac-12 Network with Thad Anderson on the call from Smith's Ballpark, starting with Friday's series opener at 4 p.m. PT.

Winners of their previous four series and 11 of 15 games, the Golden Bears (12-7) look to get off on the right foot in Pac-12 action against a Utah squad that is 4-11 overall and 1-2 in conference play so far this season.

WEEKEND LINEUP

Matchup: Cal (12-7, 0-0 Pac-12) vs. Utah (4-11, 1-2 Pac-12) | Smith's Ballpark – Salt Lake City, Utah
Friday: 4 p.m. PDT | Pac-12 Network | Live Stats
Saturday: 2 p.m. PDT | Pac-12 Network | Live Stats
Sunday: 10 a.m. PDT | Pac-12 Network | Live Stats
Projected rotation: Friday: RHP Grant Holman | Saturday: RHP Sean Sullivan | Sunday: RHP Paulshawn Pasqualotto

QUICK HITS

Cal is 21-6 all-time against Utah, most recently sweeping the Utes in Salt Lake City in 2019. Cal is also 5-1 vs. Utah under Mike Neu.
Four of the Bears' 12 wins have been walk-offs, most recently including a 9-8 win against CBU on March 21. Dylan Beavers – who is tied for the Pac-12 lead with seven home runs – ended the contest with a solo home run in the bottom of the ninth.
Junior right-handed pitcher Grant Holman is expected to make his season debut on the mound Friday. Holman was named a preseason All-American by Baseball America and earned a spot on the Golden Spikes Award preseason watch list.
The Bears are making their first true road trip of the season. All six road games played so far have been parts of split-series weekends.
Cal is 10-0 when it scores first and 7-2 when scoring at least once in the first inning.
Cal's pitching staff is second in the Pac-12 and ranks 16th nationally by allowing just 2.82 walks per nine innings. The Bears own a collective 3.13 strikeout-to-walk ratio, led individually by Josh White (6.80 K-to-BB ratio).
The bullpen has posted a 2.99 ERA in 102.1 innings pitched. Opposing batters are hitting .216 against the 14 Bears who have appeared out of the bullpen for Cal.
Dylan Beavers was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week on March 16 after batting .375 with two home runs and six RBI in Cal's four-game series against LMU. It was the first conference award of his career.
The Bears lead the Pac-12 and rank 12th nationally with 16 double plays defensively.
Darren Baker (24 games), Dylan Beavers (20) and Quentin Selma (18) all have active reached-base streaks of 18-plus games.
Sophomore Nathan Manning went 5-for-5 in Cal's win vs. CBU on March 20. He became just the fourth Bear with a five-hit performance dating back to the 2012 season.

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