Bears Travel To Salt Lake City

Friday, April 14

Salt Lake City, UT

5:00 PM

California

Utah

Cal looks to add to its two-game winning streak this weekend when it takes on Utah.

4/13/2023 4:23 PM | Baseball

Cal Takes On Utah For 3-Game Series Against Utah

By: Cal Athletics

BERKELEY – The California baseball team leaves the Bay Area for the first time since March 26 when it travels to Salt Lake City for a three-game series against Utah starting Friday at 5 p.m. PT. All three games this weekend will be streamed on the Utah Live Stream.

Cal (14-15, 3-12 Pac-12) has spent the last nine games in the Bay Area, which included a season-long eight-game homestand. The Golden Bears have gone 4-5 over the last nine contests. They are currently riding a two-game winning streak after defeating Nevada 14-2 on Monday and Saint Mary's 9-3 on Tuesday. Utah (12-19-1) is currently 3-11-1 in the Pac-12 and sits ahead of the Bears thanks to a 10-10 tie against UCLA last Sunday. Earlier this week, the Utes split a pair of midweek contests against Utah Valley, losing 6-5 on Tuesday in Orem, Utah.

HOW TO FOLLOW

Friday 5:00 p.m. PT: Utah Live Stream | Live Stats
Saturday 1:00 p.m. PT: Utah Live Stream | Live Stats
Sunday 11:00 a.m. PT: Utah Live Stream | Live Stats

PROJECTED STARTERS

Friday – RHP Christian Becerra (0-2, 5.62 ERA) vs. TBD
Saturday – RHP Paulshawn Pasqualotto (2-0, 3.10 ERA) vs. TBD
Sunday – RHP Connor Sullivan (1-2, 4.78 ERA) vs. TBD

QUICK HITS

The Bears are back on the road where they are 5-6 this season and just 1-5 in Pac-12 play. Cal is hitting .236 (87-for-369) on the road as a team. Rodney Green Jr. leads the team with a .292 (14-for-48) average in road contests. On the mound, Cal's pitching staff has a 4.75 ERA in road contests.
Relief pitchers Tyler Stasiowski and Joe Williams have not allowed a run in 11 combined innings on the road this season.
Green Jr. continues to lead the Bears at the plate. He saw his average climb to .299 after going 5-for-8 (.625) with five runs scored and 10 driven in over the last two contests. All five of RJ's hits went for extra bases (two doubles, a triple, and two home runs).
Green Jr. stole three more bags earlier this week. He is now up to 21 steals on the year in 23 attempts. He ranks 15th in the nation in total steals and is 13th in the nation in stolen bases per game at 0.72. At his current pace, Green Jr. will finish the season with 36.84 stolen bases, which would be just outside the top 10 in a single season at Cal.
Kade Kretzschmar has been on a tear in the month of April, hitting a team-leading .406 (13-for-32). During that stretch, he has his two doubles and four home runs and slugged .844. For the year, Kretzschmar has seen his average steadily rise to .262 (27-for-103), which is third on the team.
Cal's pitching staff sports an ERA of 4.73 which ranks 61st out of 295 teams in the nation. Cal's starters have been fantastic this season, sporting an ERA of 3.16. Paulshawn Pasqualotto leads the Bears' starting staff with an ERA of 3.10. He is holding opponents to a .194 batting average, which leads the team.
Milestone Watch: Several Cal players are nearing individual milestones.
- Kade Kretzschmar is three hits shy of 100 for his career. He has 27 this season and 70 in three seasons at Dartmouth.
- Caleb Lomavita is four hits shy of 100 for his career. Cal's sophomore catcher has 31 this season.
- Rodney Green Jr. has 45 career RBI. RJ is third on the team with 24 RBI this season.
- Sophomore Peyton Schulze is three RBI away from 50 career RBI. Schulze has 27 RBI, which leads the team.

SERIES HISTORY

Friday will be the 34th time the Bears and Utes have squared off. All-time, Cal owns a 26-7 advantage in the series. Under Mike Neu, the Bears are 10-2 against Utah and have not lost a series against the Utes. Last season, Cal swept Utah in three crucial games at Stu Gordon Stadium to secure the final spot in the inaugural Pac-12 Baseball Tournament. Dom Souto delivered the walk-off single in the ninth to cap off a 9-8 over Utah on May 21, 2022.

UP NEXT
Cal will return home for four games next week, starting with a nonconference clash against cross-bay rival San Francisco on Tuesday. The Bears and Dons are scheduled to play at 6:05 p.m. That game will be streamed on Cal Livestream-2. The following weekend, the Bears will host Oregon for a three-game series beginning Friday, April 21, at 7:05 p.m.

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