Bears Begin Four-Game Homestand

Friday, March 22

Berkeley, CA

1:05 PM

California

Utah

Cal looks to continue its home winning streak when Utah comes to Stu Gordon Stadium on Friday.

3/20/2024 3:03 PM | Baseball

Cal Hosts Utah For 3 This Weekend; Santa Clara On Monday

By: Cal Athletics

BERKELEY – The California baseball team will start a four-game homestand Friday when Utah comes to Stu Gordon Stadium for a Pac-12 series. The homestand concludes with a nonconference clash against Bay Area foe Santa Clara on Monday. All four games will be live streamed.

The Golden Bears (13-5, 4-2 Pac-12) look to remain perfect at home, having won their first nine games at Stu Gordon Stadium this season. It matches Cal's longest home winning streak to open a season since the 2013 squad did the same, and a 10th-straight win would make it the program's longest since at least 1979.

Utah (13-6, 2-2) is coming off a 20-6 win over Northern Colorado in seven innings at home on Tuesday. The two sides play another nonconference game Wednesday night before Utah travels to Berkeley. The Utes are 8-4 on the road this year, keyed by a series win over Washington State two weeks ago.

Santa Clara (12-6) is fresh off a 7-1 win over South Bay rival San Jose State. The Broncos host Portland in their WCC opening-series this weekend and is 4-5 on the road.

HOW TO FOLLOW

Friday, March 22, 6:05 p.m.: Cal Live Stream | CalBears.com
Saturday, March 23, 2:05 p.m.: Cal Live Stream | CalBears.com
Sunday, March 24, 1:05 p.m.: Cal Live Stream | CalBears.com
Monday, March 25, 6:05 p.m.: Cal Live Stream | CalBears.com

QUICK HITS

Cal is 9-0 at home this year, matching the 2013 team with the longest winning streak to begin a season since at least 1979. The Bears have swept two teams (UConn and UCLA) at Stu Gordon this year and boast midweek wins over Stanford and BYU. The Bears average over seven runs per game and have held opponents to 3.8 runs per game at home this season.
The Bears hit three home runs on Tuesday in an 11-3 win over San Francisco, stretching their season total to 32. Cal, averaging 1.79 home runs per game, is on pace to break the program's single-season home run record of 86, set in 1999.
Junior Nico Button smashed his first career home run Tuesday. He is the 11th Golden Bear to hit a home run this season and the fifth player to hit his first career home run in 2024.
- Max Handron and Matthew Thomas also went yard in the win over the Dons.
- Cal improved to 11-3 when hitting a home run and 8-1 when hitting two or more.
- Cal has hit three or more home runs in a game six times this season.
Cal improved to 4-0 in midweek games following the 11-3 win over San Francisco. The Bears have outscored their opponents 27-4 in those contests.
Cal's 13-5 mark is the best start through 18 games in the Mike Neu era. The 13-5 record is also the Bears' second-best start since the 2015 squad opened the year 15-3 en route to a 36-21 overall season and an appearance in the NCAA Regionals.
Jake Guardiancic and Logan Piper made their ninth and 10th appearance out of the pen yesterday, respectively, combining to throw a scoreless inning. The duo has been terrific at managing traffic on the base paths this year, collectively allowing just six of 22 inherited runners to score.
Over his last four appearances, Tyler Stasiowski has thrown 6.1 innings, surrendering two hits with no runs with nine strikeouts. In the eighth and ninth innings this season, he has made five appearances, going 6.1 innings, scattering three hits without allowing a run and striking out 10. Opponents are hitting just .111 against him in that situation.
After scoring 11 runs Tuesday and holding San Francisco to three, Cal improved to 11-2 when scoring five or more runs and 11-1 when holding its opponent to five of fewer runs. Cal also improved to 10-2 when scoring first.
Three current Golden Bears have solid numbers against Utah. Rodney Green Jr. is hitting .417 against the Utes, going 10-for-24 with two doubles, a triple and two home runs along with four stolen bases in four attempts. Caleb Lomavita is a career .389 hitter against Utah. Austin Turkington has a 0.00 ERA against Utah in two appearances out of the pen.

SERIES HISTORY

Friday will be the 37th time the Bears and Utes have squared off. Cal owns a 28-9 all-time advantage in the series. The Bears are 12-3 against Utah under Mike Neu and have not lost a series against the Utes. In the 2023 regular-season finale, Cal came back to win 11-8 and take two of three from the Utes in Salt Lake City. Cal scored four in the fifth to take the lead.The Bears are 14-3 against the Utes at home and have won four straight.
Monday will be the 262nd meeting between the Bears and Broncos. Cal owns a 164-97 record in the series that dates back to 1897. The Bears are 0-3 against the Broncos under Neu, most recently taking an 8-1 loss on the road on May 2, 2023.

UP NEXT
Cal hits the road next weekend, traveling to Phoenix for a three-game series against Arizona State. The series begins Thursday, March 28 at 6:30 p.m.

STAY POSTED
For coverage of Cal baseball, please follow the Bears on Twitter (@CalBaseball), Instagram (@CalBaseball), and Facebook (/CalBaseball/).