University of California Athletics

April 27, 2000

BERKELEY, Calif. - The 2000 California baseball team (23-22, 9-9 Pac-10) won one-of-three games Apr. 20-20 versus Oregon State (lost 12-4, won 15-9, lost 4-3) at Evans Diamond, defeated Sac. St. 5-3 Monday in Sacramento and defeated Pacific, 10-3, Tuesday at Evans Diamond ... the Bears have now won 12 of their last 18 games ... junior third baseman Xavier Nady (Salinas, CA) has been extremely hot at the plate lately as he is currently on a 10-game hitting streak (19-for-41, .463, 3-2B, 7-HR, 15 RBI) from Apr. 9 and has hit a home run in three of his last five games ... Nady went 5-for-11 with two home runs and six RBI Apr. 20-22 versus. Oregon State, went 2-for-5 with two home runs and three RBI Monday at Sac. St. and was 1-for-4 with a double Tuesday versus Pacific ... he is batting a team-leading .350 (.375 vs. Pac-10) with team-high 17 home runs and 53 RBI ... Nady now has the Cal record for career home runs (55, fourth-best mark in Pac-10 history, recently passing Mark McGwire's 54 homers at USC from 1982-84) ... he had broken the Bear school record of 50 (Troy Penix, 1990-92) Apr. 14 versus USC ... Nady is also now second on the Cal all-time RBI list with 185, only five RBI short of passing Lance Blankenship's 189 RBI from 1983-86 ... another player who has been outstanding is freshman left fielder David Weiner (Los Angeles, CA), who was 2-for-5 and had a grand slam Tuesday vs. Pacific ... Weiner played well Apr. 14-16 in the USC series, going 6-for-14 with a home run and five RBI ... he helped the Bears to the 9-5 win Apr. 15, breaking a 5-5 tie by hitting a two-run homer in the eighth inning ... then on Apr. 16, Weiner had the game-winning RBI single in the bottom of the ninth ... senior right-hander Jon Shirley (Bakersfield, CA) has had a no decision in his last two outings (Apr. 16 versus USC, Apr. 22 versus Oregon State), but is closing in on the school's all-time strikeout record as he has 265 K's, behind only Doug Weiss' 275 strikeouts from 1955-57 ... in his last six outings, he has thrown 28.3 innings with 35 strikeouts...senior right-handed submarine pitcher Jon Cuccias (Woodland Hills, CA) became the school's all-time appearance leader with 111 games, surpassing the old record of 109 games set by Alex Franklin from 1993-95 ... Cuccias is now tied with Chuck Yeager (UCLA, 1981-84) for third on the Pac-10 all-time appearance list ...

ADDITIONAL CAL NOTES: The Bears have hit 63 home runs this season, including a school-record four home runs in the seventh inning Feb. 2 at Santa Clara ... Nady has hit two grand slams, Feb. 19 at Pepperdine and Mar. 18 at Arizona ... the Bears have a team batting average of .290 and are hitting .310 as a team against Pac-10 competition ... Cal also scored an impressive 26 and 24 runs on 51 hits in two games Mar. 18-19 at Arizona, had 20 hits and three home runs Feb. 19 at Pepperdine and 18 hits and five home runs Feb. 2 at Santa Clara ... on the mound, Cal has maintained a respectable 4.98 team ERA, led by junior reliever Rob Meyer's (Antioch, CA) 1.64 ERA ... the Bears are also third in the nation in fielding percentage (.975) and have turned 49 double plays, mostly via junior shortstop Jason Williams (Fairfield, CA) and senior second baseman Tommy Callen (Burlingame, CA) ... the Bears are currently 7-10 against teams ranked in this week's Baseball America Top 25 poll-No. 3 Arizona State (1-2), No. 4 Stanford (0-3), No. 6 Texas (1-2), No. 16 Fresno State (1-0), No. 21 Cal State Fullerton (2-1), No. 22 Loyola Marymount (1-2) and No. 23 Wichita State (1-0) ...

RADIO: KALX Radio (90.7 FM) will broadcast the Apr. 28-30 Cal-Stanford games...the David Esquer Show will air 10 minutes before the first pitch...SERIES RECORD: Cal has a 202-207 overall series record against the Stanford Cardinal...earlier this season, the Bears were swept by Stanford Feb. 25-27 at Evans Diamond (6-2, 4-1, 8-2) ...

HEAD COACH DAVID ESQUER: The Bears coach is in his first season at Cal and has a career record of 23-22 (.511) ... Esquer, 34, became only the 10th coach in the long history of Cal baseball, which began in 1892, when he was hired June 10, 1999 ... Esquer replaced longtime Bear mentor Bob Milano, who retired May 17 after 22 years as the Bears head coach and 29 years involved in the Cal baseball program ... Esquer comes to Berkeley after serving as the top assistant at Pepperdine since 1996 ... prior to working at Pepperdine, he was the No. 2 assistant coach at Stanford under Mark Marquess from 1991-96 ... a shortstop at Stanford from 1984-87, Esquer was a starter on Stanford's 1987 College World Series championship team, earning All-Tournament honors after hitting .350 with six RBI in Omaha ... he also earned All-Pac-10 Southern Division honors as a senior and went on to play professional baseball for four seasons with the Baltimore Orioles, California Angels and Milwaukee Brewers organizations ...

PAC-10 RACE (as of Apr. 26)

PLAYER NOTES

DAVID CASH: Is 7-3 with a 4.85 ERA (2-1, 7.03 ERA vs. Pac-10) ... leads the team in appearances (24) and wins (seven) ... has 54 strikeouts in 59.3 innings ... earned the win Tuesday vs. Pacific (2.0 innings, one hit, one run on a balk, no walks, two strikeouts) ... earned win Apr. 15 vs. USC (3.0 innings, two hits, no earned runs, two walks, two strikeouts) ... started Apr. 4 vs. Saint Mary's, pitching a career-high 7.0 innings (six hits, two runs, two walks) with a career-high seven strikeouts ... also earned wins Feb. 4 vs. Loyola Marymount (1.0 inning, no hits, no runs), Feb. 11 at Long Beach State (2.0 innings, no hits, no runs, no walks, two strikeouts), Mar. 11 vs. CS Fullerton (1.0 inning, one strikeout) and Mar. 26 vs. Arizona State (5.7 innings, six hits, one run, one walk, five strikeouts) ... has two Pac-10 appearances against Stanford (0-0, 54.00 ERA, 1.0 inning, four hits, six runs, three walks) ... is slated to start Saturday ...

JON CUCCIAS: Is 2-1 with a 5.87 ERA (2-1, 6.46 ERA vs. Pac-10) ... is first on the Cal all-time appearance list with 111 games (tied for third-most in Pac-10 history) ... had a streak from Mar. 26-Apr. 16 of not giving up a run (seven outings, 15.0 innings, five hits, no runs, five walks, eight strikeouts) ... picked up win Apr. 16 vs. USC, pitching the final 3.0 innings (one hit, no runs, one walk, two strikeouts) ... pitched well Apr. 7 and Apr. 8 at No. 2 Texas (total 5.7 innings, two hits, no runs, three walks, two strikeouts) ...

CLINT HOOVER: Is batting .316 (.367 vs. Pac-10) with 11 doubles, three triples, 12 home runs and 39 RBI ... is seventh on the Cal all-time career home run list (27) ... was 3-for-12 with a triple and two RBI Apr. 20-22 vs. Oregon State and was 4-for-9 with an RBI this week at Sac. St. and vs. Pacific ... was named Pac-10 Player of the Week Apr. 24 after going 7-for-12 with two doubles, two home runs and five RBI in the Apr. 14-16 USC series ... on Apr. 16 vs. USC, had a two-run single in the first inning and tied the game with a lead-off homer in the ninth inning ... was 7-for-18 with a triple, three home runs and nine RBI Mar. 28-Apr. 2 at Wichita State and Washington ... hit the game-winning three-run homer Mar. 28 at Wichita State ... went 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBI Apr. 4 vs. Saint Mary's ... went 9-for-17 (.529) with two doubles, a triple and three RBI Mar. 17-19 at Arizona ... was 5-for-14 with two home runs and four RBI Mar. 10-12 vs. Cal State Fullerton ... hit the game-tying home run in the ninth inning Mar. 12 vs. CSF ... hit the game-winning homer in the 11th inning Mar. 3 vs. Washington State ... went 4-for-5 with two doubles, a home run and three RBI Feb. 2 at Santa Clara ... has a .179 (5-for-28, 2B, four RBI) career Pac-10 batting average vs. Stanford ...

TREVOR HUTCHINSON: Is 4-3 with a 4.87 ERA (2-1, 4.17 ERA vs. Pac-10) and has 56 strikeouts in 77.7 innings ... last outing picked up win Apr. 21 vs. Oregon State (6.3 innings, six hits, five runs, five walks, career-high eight strikeouts) ... got no decision Apr. 15 vs. USC (6.0 innings, six hits, three earned runs, four walks, three strikeouts) ... got no decision Apr. 7 at Texas (3.0 innings, five hits, five earned runs, five walks, one strikeout) ... earned win Mar. 31 at Washington (7.0 innings, nine hits, one run, two walks, career-high eight strikeouts) ... got no decision Mar. 24 vs. Arizona State (7.0 innings, five hits, three runs, three walks, five strikeouts) ... earned win Mar. 10 vs. Cal State Fullerton (career-high 8.0 innings, six hits, four runs, two walks, four strikeouts) ... got no decision Mar. 3 vs. Washington State (6.0 innings, six hits, two runs, four walks, seven strikeouts) ... got no decision Feb. 11 at Long Beach State (7.0 innings, seven hits, three runs, two walks, four strikeouts) ... got no decision Feb. 4 vs. Loyola Marymount (6.0 innings, six hits, one run, one walk, four strikeouts) ... won season-opener Jan. 25 vs. USF (5.0 innings, six hits, three runs, three walks, two strikeouts)...has not faced Stanford in a Pac-10 game but defeated the Cardinal Feb. 22, 1999 (5.0 innings in relief, no hits, no runs, four walks, five strikeouts) ... is slated to start Friday...

ROB MEYER: Is batting .310 (.347 vs. Pac-10) with seven doubles, two home runs and 21 RBI ... is 2-0 with three saves and a 1.64 ERA (22.0 innings, 14 hits, four runs, nine strikeouts) on the mound ... went 4-for-12 with a double and an RBI Apr. 20-22 vs. Oregon State, picked up the save Monday at Sac. St. (perfect ninth inning) and was 2-4 with two RBI Tuesday vs. Pacific ... went 4-for-12 with a double Apr. 14-16 vs. USC ... picked up the save Apr. 11 vs. Santa Clara, pitching a perfect ninth inning ... went 6-for-16 with a double and two RBI Mar. 28-Apr. 2 at Wichita State and Washington ... earned save against the Shockers, pitching the ninth inning (one hit, one run, two walks) ... was 5-for-11 with a double and an RBI against Arizona State Mar. 24-26 ... went 5-for-16 with a double and three RBI Mar. 17-19 at Arizona ... vs. Washington State Mar. 3-5 was 4-for-12 and pitched a total of 5.0 innings in two games (two hits, two strikeouts), earning the win in relief Mar. 3 (1.0 inning, one strikeout) ... Feb. 29 at Fresno State went 2-for-6 with an RBI and picked up the win in relief (2.0 innings, one hit, three walks) ... was 6-for-15 with a home run and three RBI Feb. 18-20 at Pepperdine ... was 3-for-4 with an RBI Feb. 6 vs. Loyola Marymount ... went 4-for-5 with a home run and two RBI in the season-opener Jan. 25 vs. San Francisco ... has a .269 (7-for-26, two RBI) career Pac-10 batting average vs. Stanford ...

XAVIER NADY: Is batting a team-leading .350 (.375 vs. Pac-10) with team-high 17 home runs and 53 RBI ... has the Cal record for career home runs (55, fourth-best mark in Pac-10 history) ... broke the school record of 50 (Troy Penix, 1990-92) Apr. 14 vs. USC ... is also second on the Bears all-time RBI list (185, behind Lance Blankenship's 189 RBI from 1983-86) ... is currently on a 10-game hitting streak (19-for-41, .463, 3-2B, 7-HR, 15 RBI) from Apr. 9 ... went 5-for-11 with two home runs and six RBI Apr. 20-22 vs. Oregon State, went 2-for-5 with two home runs and three RBI Monday at Sac. St. and was 1-for-4 with a double Tuesday vs. Pacific ... went 6-for-12 with a double, a home run and three RBI Apr. 14-16 vs. USC ... went 2-for-4 with a three-run homer Apr. 11 vs. Santa Clara ... was 3-for-10 with a double Apr. 7-9 at Texas and was 3-for-11 with a home run and three RBI Mar. 31-Apr. 2 at Washington ... Mar. 17-19 at Arizona went 7-for-13 with three home runs and 11 RBI ... on Mar. 18 vs. UA was 3-for-4 with a two-run homer and a grand slam for a career-high seven RBI ... earned Pac-10 Player of the Week honors for his exploits at Arizona ... was 5-for-13 with a home run Mar. 10-12 vs. Cal State Fullerton ... went 4-for-13 with a double, home run and two RBI Mar. 3-5 vs. Washington State ... was 5-15 with a double and a grand slam Feb. 18-20 at Pepperdine ... knocked in the game-winning RBI Feb. 4 and was 3-for-3 with a home run and two RBI Feb. 6 vs. Loyola Marymount ... has a .306 (11-for-36, 2B, HR, five RBI) career Pac-10 batting average vs. Stanford ...

JON SHIRLEY: Is 2-3 with a 4.82 ERA (1-0, 3.54 ERA vs. Pac-10) ... has 51 strikeouts in 52.3 innings and is second on the Cal all-time strikeout list with 265 K's, behind only Doug Weiss' 275 strikeouts (1955-57) ... in last outing got no decision Apr. 22 vs. Oregon State (5.3 innings, 10 hits, three earned runs, no walks, four strikeouts) ... got no decision Apr. 16 vs. USC (6.0 innings, five hits, two earned runs, four walks, nine strikeouts) ... earned win Apr. 9 at then No. 2 Texas (5.0 innings, five hits, one run on a balk, two walks, six strikeouts) ... earned win Apr. 2 at Washington (6.0 innings, five hits, two runs, no walks, six strikeouts) ... was outstanding in a start Mar. 28 at Wichita State (3.0 innings, no hits, no runs, one walk, four strikeouts) ... prior to Wichita State, had not pitched since Mar. 5 vs. Washington State (3.0 innings, one hit, one run, one walk, six strikeouts) after suffering soreness in his right tricep ... had struck out six of the nine batters he had faced against the Cougars ... lost Feb. 27 vs. Stanford (5.3 innings, nine hits, seven runs, one walk, six strikeouts) ... lost Feb. 20 at Pepperdine (5.0 innings, eight hits, five runs, two walks, two strikeouts) ... suffered the loss Feb. 13 at Long Beach State, pitching a season-high 7.0 innings (eight hits, three runs, one walk five strikeouts) ... has thrown five complete-games in his career ... is 1-2 with a 5.59 ERA (29.0 innings, 31 hits, 18 earned runs, 13 walks, 15 strikeouts) Pac-10 career vs. Stanford ... is slated to start Saturday ...

ANDREW SPROUL: Is 3-2 with a 3.09 ERA (second on the team) ... has 36 strikeouts in 43.7 innings ... had first collegiate start Monday at Sac. St., earning the win (career-high 7.0 innings, nine hits, two runs, no walks, career-high six strikeouts) ... picked up win in relief Mar. 28 at Wichita State (5.0 innings, three hits, one earned run, two walks, five strikeouts) ... picked up win Apr. 11 vs. Santa Clara (3.0 innings, five hits, no runs, one walk, three strikeouts) ... had five strikeouts in 2.0 innings Mar. 4 vs. Washington State ...

BRAD STEELE: Is 3-8 with a 5.34 ERA (1-4, 6.62 ERA vs. Pac-10) and a team-high 86.0 innings pitched ... got a no decision in last outing Tuesday vs. Pacific (6.0 innings, five hits, one earned run, one walk, six strikeouts) ... lost Apr. 20 vs. Oregon State (1.7 innings, eight hits, five runs, no walks, one strikeout) ... suffered loss Apr. 14 vs. USC (6.7 innings, seven hits, six runs, five walks, three strikeouts) ... lost Apr. 8 at Texas (4.0 innings, seven hits, six runs, five walks, three strikeouts) ... lost Apr. 1 at Washington (5.3 innings, nine hits, six runs, four walks, four strikeouts) ... lost Mar. 25 vs. Arizona State (7.0 innings, eight hits, three earned runs, two walks, four strikeouts) ... earned win Mar. 18 at Arizona (5.7 innings, 11 hits, five runs, three walks, two strikeouts) ... got no decision Mar. 11 vs. Cal State Fullerton (7.0 innings, 11 hits, two earned runs, two walks, six strikeouts) ... got no decision Mar. 4 vs. WSU, with a career-high with 9.0 innings in an extra-inning contest (eight hits, two runs, two walks) with a career-high nine strikeouts ... threw first career complete-game in Feb. 19 win at Pepperdine (10 hits, four runs, two walks, four strikeouts) ... is 0-2 with a 10.93 ERA (14.0 innings, 23 hits, 17 earned runs, six walks, four strikeouts) Pac-10 career vs. Stanford ...

MIKE TONIS: Is batting .315 (.333 vs. Pac-10) with 17 doubles (team-high), 10 home runs and 36 RBI ... is fourth on the Cal all-time home run list (37) ... is a finalist for the Johnny Bench National Collegiate Catcher of the Year award ... was 5-for-13 with two doubles Apr. 20-22 vs. Oregon State and was 2-for-7 with a double and an RBI at Sac. St. and vs. Pacific this week ... went 3-for-12 with a double, home run and three RBI vs. USC Apr. 14-16 ... went 2-for-5 with a double and two RBI Mar. 28 at Wichita State and was 5-for-13 with a double, home run and two RBI Mar. 31-Apr. 2 at Washington ... had a team-high 14-game hitting streak this season (23-for-57, .404, seven doubles, five home runs, 18 RBI) from Mar. 10-Apr. 4 ... was 4-for-8 with three doubles against Arizona State Mar. 24-26 ... threw out five Sun Devil baserunners during the series, including three runners Mar. 26 ... went 7-for-14 with two doubles, three home runs and 10 RBI Mar. 17-19 at Arizona ... Mar. 19 at UA was 2-for-5 with a three-run homer and a two-run homer ... went 4-for-13 with a home run and three RBI Mar. 10-12 vs. Cal State Fullerton ... was 6-for-14 with a double, home run and two RBI Feb. 18-20 at Pepperdine ... went 2-for-4 with two doubles Feb. 9 at Saint Mary's ... was 3-for-4 with a double and an RBI Feb. 2 at Santa Clara ... has a .216 (8-for-37, 2B, HR, eight RBI) career Pac-10 batting average vs. Stanford ...

DAVID WEINER: Freshman left fielder is batting .299 (.324 vs. Pac-10) with three doubles, a triple, five home runs and 28 RBI ... was only 2-for-14 but had a two-run homer Apr. 20-22 vs. Oregon State ... went 2-for-5 with a grand slam Tuesday vs. Pacific ... went 6-for-14 with a home run and five RBI Apr. 14-16 vs. USC ... helped the Bears to the 9-5 win over the Trojans Apr. 15, breaking a 5-5 tie by hitting a two-run homer in the eighth inning ... had the game-winning RBI single in the bottom of the ninth Apr. 16 vs. USC ... was 5-for-15 with two RBI Apr. 7-9 at Texas ... went 3-for-6 with two RBI Apr. 4 vs. Saint Mary's ... had a career-high seven-game hitting streak from Mar. 31-Apr. 9 (12-for-34, .353, 2B, five RBI) ... was 7-for-16 with a double, triple, home run and five RBI Mar. 17-19 at Arizona ...

PRESEASON ACCOLADES: Junior third baseman Xavier Nady (Salinas, CA) is the Preseason National Player of the Year and a first team Preseason All-American by both Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball after hitting 40 home runs last year (school record 23 for Cal in the spring and 17 for the USA National Team during the summer) ... Nady, selected Baseball America's 1999 Summer Player of the Year, is also projected to be next June's No. 1 pick in the Amateur Draft by the baseball publication ... fellow USA National Team member, junior catcher Mike Tonis (Elk Grove, CA), is a second team Preseason All-American in Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball ...

STANFORD: The Stanford Cardinal (ranked fourth in Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball), coached by Mark Marquess (24th year at Stanford, 170-119-4, .665), are currently 32-10 and 11-4 in the Pac-10, winning two-of-three Apr. 20-22 at USC (lost 7-3, won 4-1, 18-4) and defeating Cal Poly, 11-3, Tuesday at Sunken Diamond ... top hitters for the Cardinal are senior third baseman John Gall (.366, 7 HR, 49 RBI), senior first baseman Craig Thompson (.347, 7 HR, 23 RBI) and senior center fielder Edmund Muth (.323, 13 HR, 47 RBI) ... Stanford's tentative pitching rotation is junior right-hander Jason Young (6-0, 3.32 ERA), junior right-hander Justin Wayne (9-2, 2.89 ERA) and freshman left-hander Tim Cunningham (4-1, 2.92 ERA) ...