BERKELEY – The California baseball team completed a perfect 5-0 homestand on Tuesday night with a 3-1 win over visiting Sacramento State. The Golden Bears will now head back out on the road for three neutral site games in the Las Vegas Baseball Classic at the Las Vegas Ballpark, home of the Oakland A's Triple-A affiliate Las Vegas Aces.
 
Thanks to Tuesday's win, the Golden Bears (7-1) have opened the year 5-0 at home for the first time since 2018. Caleb Lomavita and Carson Crawford went deep for the Bears, giving them 17 home runs through eight games.
 
Ohio State (4-4) split a four-game series with Arizona State over the weekend, falling 10-8 in eight innings in the finale on Sunday. Oklahoma is 5-3 on the year -  on Sunday the Sooners were unable to finish the sweep over visiting Wright State, falling 12-2. Pittsburgh is 6-1 on the year and defeated Washington and Texas A&M Corpus Christi in the Kleberg Bank College Classic.
 
HOW TO FOLLOW

• Friday, 6 p.m.:  D1Baseball.com ($) | PeakSports.com
• Saturday, 4 p.m.:  D1Baseball.com ($) |PeakSports.com
• Sunday, 3 p.m.:  D1Baseball.com ($) | PeakSports.com

PROJECTED STARTERS

• Friday: RHP Trey Newman (0-0, 4.26 ERA) vs. LHP Landon Beidelschies (1-1, 3.27 ERA)
• Saturday: LHP Luke Short (0-0, 5.40 ERA) vs. RHP Brenden Girton (0-0, 2.35 ERA)
• Sunday: RHP Tom Mayer (0-0, 2.00 ERA) vs. TBD

 
QUICK HITS
 

• The Bears boast a .312 batting average (84-for-269) as a team and average 8.4 runs per game, which is fifth-best in the Pac-12.
• Cal clubbed two more home runs in the win over the Hornets on Tuesday. The Bears are averaging 2.12 home runs per game, which is 14th in the nation and second in the Pac-12. Cal has three players in the top 75 nationally in total home runs: Rodney Green Jr. and Caleb Lomavita are tied at 30th with four apiece while freshman designated hitter Ryan Tayman is 75th in the nation with three, which is fourth-most in the nation among freshmen.
• On the mound, Cal's pitching staff boasts an ERA of 4.25 which is also fifth-best in the Pac-12. Cal's pitchers have struck out 93 on the year. The Bears' 11.6 K/9 IP ranks 26th in the nation. Cal has struck out 10 or more batters in seven of the eight contests this season and in five consecutive games. The Bears struck out 10 or more just 12 times in 2023.
• Cal head coach Mike Neu is two wins away from career win number 200. In nine seasons as a head coach, he is 198-200. He went went 40-65 at Pacific and is 158-135 at Cal. He ranks fifth on the program's all-time wins list.
• Cal is hitting .331 (44-for-133) with runners on base. They are even better with runners in scoring position, hitting .378 (28-for-74). Freshman shortstop PJ Moutzouridis has been nearly automatic with runners in scoring position, going 7-for-8 in those situations.
• Cal enters Friday's game 4-0 in night games in 2024. A big reason for the Bears' early success in games under the lights has been the pitching staff. Cal's staff boasts an ERA of 2.00 and has held hitters to a .200 batting average while averaging 11.5 strikeouts per nine in night games.
• Cal is receiving votes in two polls -  The National College Baseball Writers of America (NCBWA) and the USA Today Coaches Poll.

 
SERIES HISTORY

• Friday will be the seventh time Cal and OSU have squared off. All-time the Bears are 5-1, which includes a 16-1 win over the Buckeyes at the Frisco Classic last March.
• The Bears are 1-5 all-time against Oklahoma. Last season, the Bears fell to the Sooners 9-5 in the opener of the Frisco Classic. In that contest, the Bears lost starter Ian May for the year with an injury. Cal was leading 2-0 when May exited in the bottom of the third.
• Sunday will be the fifth meeting between Cal and future conference foe Pitt. Last season, the Panthers swept the Bears in Pittsburgh to improve to 4-0 all-time against the Bears.

 
UP NEXT
Cal returns home for a nonconference clash against rival Stanford on Tuesday. The game against the Cardinal is scheduled for a 7 p.m. first pitch and will be televised on the Pac-12 Network.
 
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