Bears Host Utah With Tourney Spot At Stake

Thursday, May 19

Berkeley, CA

6:00 PM

California

Utah

Dylan Beavers (right) leads Cal into a critical three-game series against Utah this weekend in Berkeley.

Photo by: Rob Edwards/klcfotos

5/18/2022 1:01 PM | Baseball

Watch Live Stats Notes (PDF)

Winner Of The Series Will Earn Final Spot In Inaugural Pac-12 Tournament

By: Cal Athletics

BERKELEY – A berth into the inaugural Pac-12 Baseball Tournament is at stake this week as California hosts Utah in the final series of the regular season at Stu Gordon Stadium.

The winner of the head-to-head series will clinch the final spot in the conference tournament, which will feature the top eight finishers in the regular season standings. Though none of the seeds are set yet, seven teams have already clinched tournament berths while Cal (25-25, 11-16 Pac-12) and Utah (26-24-1, 10-17) are in eighth and ninth place in the regular season standings, respectively, entering their three-game set that gets underway at 6 p.m. PT Thursday. All three games will be televised on the Pac-12 Network.

The Golden Bears dropped three consecutive conference series prior to earning a non-conference sweep of New Mexico last weekend. Utah has lost eight straight Pac-12 games dating back to April 30 and most recently snapped a nine-game overall skid with a 12-7 win at BYU on Tuesday.

Prior to Saturday's series finale at noon, Cal will recognize 12 seniors in an on-field ceremony.

SERIES LINEUP

Matchup: Cal (25-25, 11-16 Pac-12) vs. Utah (26-24-1, 10-17 Pac-12)
Location: Evans Diamond at Stu Gordon Stadium | Berkeley, California
First Pitch: Thursday, 6 p.m. PT | Friday, 7 p.m. PT | Saturday, 12 p.m. PT
Watch: Pac-12 Network Mountain (PxP: Guy Haberman)
Live Stats: StatBroadcast

PROBABLE PITCHERS

Thursday: RHP Joseph King vs. RHP Matthew Sox
Friday: RHP Steven Zobac vs. RHP Jaden Harris
Saturday: TBA vs. RHP Cam Day

QUICK HITS

Cal is 7-2 against Utah under head coach Mike Neu since 2018 and 23-7 in the all-time series. The Bears have not lost a series to Utah with Neu at the helm, winning two of three games in Berkeley in 2018 followed by five wins in six contests across a pair of series played in Salt Lake City in 2019 and 2021.
Cal outscored New Mexico 42-5 and hit a collective .405 with 10 home runs and 13 doubles in a three-game nonconference sweep last weekend. Its pitching staff tossed two shutouts in the series and issued just four walks to the visiting Lobos.
The Bears can finish with a winning record at home with at least two victories this weekend; they are 13-13 at home.
Cal is second in the Pac-12 with 67 total home runs and is one of three teams (Stanford, Oregon) with three players who have hit nine home runs or more; Dylan Beavers is second in the Pac-12 with 16 while Nathan Martorella (10) and Hance Smith (9) are tied for 11th and 15th.
Cal has won eight of 13 games this season started by Joseph King, who will get the ball on Thursday. He was used as an opener last Saturday against New Mexico but has pitched through the fifth inning 10 times this spring.
Steven Zobac, who will start game two on Friday, posted career highs in innings pitched (7.0) and strikeouts (12) against New Mexico last weekend. Prior to allowing six runs (four earned) in a loss at Stanford on May 6, Zobac had surrendered just two runs while striking out 18 batters over a 17.2-inning span from April 8-29.
Nathan Martorella is batting .407 (24-for-59) with six home runs during his current 15-game hitting streak. Two other Bears – Dom Souto and Caleb Lomavita – have respective hitting streaks of eight and seven games.
Dylan Beavers and Keshawn Ogans have reached base safely in 45 and 43 of Cal's 50 games played this season.

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