The No. 21 Cal softball team heads to the desert to begin its 2025 slate at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Arizona. It will be the Golden Bears' ninth all-time appearance in the Arizona State tournament and first since 2016. The Bears have a 29-7 record in the classic and have won nine of their last 10 games, including the last four, at the Sun Devil event.
 
The Bears will begin the weekend with a doubleheader Friday against Minnesota and Maryland, followed by another doubleheader Saturday against Utah and Maryland, and close out the tournament Sunday against Arizona State.
 
ON DECK
FRIDAY, FEB. 7 – SUNDAY, FEB. 9
Kajikawa Classic | Alberta B. Farrington Softball Stadium | Tempe, Ariz.
Teams: Cal, Minnesota, Maryland, Utah, Arizona State
 
HOW TO FOLLOW
Minnesota: Feb. 7 | 10:30 AM PT | Live Stats | Live Stream: N/A
Maryland: Feb. 7 | 1 PM PT | Live Stats | Live Stream: N/A
Utah: Feb. 8 | 8 AM PT | Live Stats | Live Stream: N/A
Maryland: Feb. 8 | 10:15 AM PT | Live Stats | Live Stream: N/A
Arizona State: Feb. 9 |12:30 PM PT | Live Stats | ESPN+
 
PRESEASON HONORS
Junior Elon Butler and senior Acacia Anders piled up several preseason accolades. Butler (No. 29) and Anders (No. 33) were named on Softball America Preseason Top 100 and and both received Softball America Preseason All-American honors. Butler made D1Softball's Preseason Top 100 list (No. 35), while both were ranked in the top 15 in their respective position rankings – Butler was the No. 3 second baseman, while Anders was the No. 13 shortstop. Butler was also selected to the 2025 ACC Softball Preseason All-ACC Team.
 
START OF NEW ERA
The University of California, Berkeley, announced Sept. 1 that its athletic department was joining the Atlantic Coast Conference, beginning with the 2024-25 academic year. With that, the Bears begin their inaugural season in the ACC and were picked to finish sixth in the league by the conference's coaches, earning 130 points in the preseason poll. Duke was the favorite with 193 points and 11 first-place votes, followed by Florida State with 183 points and four first-place votes. Virginia Tech (165), Stanford (143) and Virginia (140) rounded out the top five.

In the NFCA/GoRout Softball Preseason Poll, Duke led the conference at No. 7, followed by Florida State (No. 9), Virginia Tech (No. 17), Stanford (No.18) and Clemson (No. 25).
 
Five ACC teams were ranked in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Preseason Top 25, led by No. 8 Duke. Joining the Blue Devils were No. 12 Florida State, No. 18 Virginia Tech, No. 21 Cal and No. 22 Stanford.
 
FAMILIAR FACES
Cal has a slew of returning starters who were key to the success of last year's team, including a pair of All-American honorees. Elon Butler earned NFCA Second-Team All-American honors, while Lagi Quiroga received Softball America Freshman All-American recognition. The group of Tianna Bell, Mika Lee, Kaylee Pond, Acacia Anders, Butler and Quiroga combined for 65 home runs, 185 runs, 199 RBIs and 299 hits, which accounted for nearly sixty-three percent of the offensive production from a year ago.


WELCOME TO BERKELEY
The Bears welcome seven newcomers from the upcoming season, including six freshmen: Harmony Andrade (Surprise, Arizona/Willow HS), Kayli Counts (Garden Grove/Pacifica HS), Kayla Mashhoud (Northridge/Notre Dame HS), Mia Phillips (San Jose/Hollister HS), Miranda Temple (Riverbank/Central Catholic HS) and Miranda De Nava (Riverside/Riverside Polytechnic HS), along with Xiomei Geluz, a junior transfer from Long Beach City College. On Jan. 14, Andrade and De Nava were named to Softball America's Freshman Watch List.
 
STAY POSTED
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