May 31, 2005
BERKELEY, CA -
Despite finishing 34-23 overall and 13-11 in the Pac-10, plus defeating No. 7-ranked Arizona two-of-three games last weekend in Tucson, the California baseball team did not receive a berth in the 2005 NCAA Baseball Tournament.
"First off, I'd like to say how proud we all are of Coach David Esquer and his team and how well they played all year," Athletic Director Sandy Barbour said. "They clearly performed at a level deserving of an NCAA Tournament bid.
"Obviously, we are very disappointed at this precedent-setting decision to not include a Pac-10 team with a winning conference record in the field. It is a great concern to all of us. Coach Esquer and I will be working with the conference staff and members to ensure that this doesn't happen to Cal or any other Pac-10 team in the future. We have already spoken to the Pac-10 staff and members of the NCAA Division I Baseball Committee and will continue to ask the appropriate questions to see what we can do to prevent this from occurring again."
Cal finished ahead of Stanford (32-23, 12-12) in the Pac-10 standings and defeated the Cardinal two-of-three games in the conference series May 6-9 at Evans Diamond. The Bears also won two-of-three games over Arizona State, who is hosting a NCAA Regional, and swept No. 11 Long Beach State, also hosting a NCAA Regional, in Long Beach, Feb. 18-20. Cal's 34 wins this season is the most wins since the Bears' 2001 NCAA Regional team went 34-25, and the Bears finished 11-10 versus teams ranked in Baseball America's Top 25. It was the first time a Pac-10 team did not advance to a NCAA Regional with a 13-11 league record.
"I hope that the disappointment we all have right now won't overshadow the feelings we had in the dugout at Arizona and what we accomplished there and during the entire year," Esquer said. "The decision to leave us out of the tournament set a precedent within our conference, and it is unfortunate that Cal is the school this happened to. However, I hope by working with the Pac-10 and the NCAA committee that this will be a situation that we, or any other Pac-10 school, will not be in again."
