Mar. 7, 1997
Bears Travel To No. 7 Ranked USC For Conference Series
The Schedule: The Bears (10-12, 0-3) travel to USC (17-6, 2-4 ranked 7th in Baseball America and 11th in Collegiate Baseball) for a three-game series at Dedeaux Field...
Day Date Opponent Site Time_____
Fri. Mar. 7 at USC Dedeaux Field, Los Angeles, CA 7:00 p.m.
Sat. Mar. 8 at USC Dedeaux Field, Los Angeles, CA 1:00 p.m.
Sun. Mar. 9 at USC Dedeaux Field, Los Angeles, CA 1:00 p.m.
Radio: KALX Radio (90.7 FM) will broadcast Mar. 7 and Mar. 9 games at USC...the Bob Milano Show will air 10 minutes before the first pitch...
Series Record: The Bears have a 122-195 overall series record against the USC Trojans...last season, Cal lost five-of-six games to USC; winning 7-5, losing 6-2, 8-7, Mar. 29-31 in Los Angeles, and losing 8-0, 3-2, 8-6, Apr. 19-21 in Berkeley...
Head Coach Bob Milano: The Bears skipper, who is in his 20th season at Cal, has a career record of 628-555-4 (.531)...Milano is the all-time winningest coach at Cal in terms of total victories, having passed Clint Evans (547-256 from 1930-54) Mar. 19, 1994 vs. Arizona (15-6)...he earned his 600th career win Feb. 24 with the Bears 5-3 victory over Fresno State...Milano has led Cal to six NCAA Regional berths ('80, '85, '88, '91, '92, '95) and three College World Series appearances ('80, '88, '92)...he was named Pac-10 South Co-Coach of the Year in 1980 and 1992...Milano will serve as the head coach of 1997 USA Baseball Team that will compete in the Intercontinental Cup, August 1-10 in Barcelona, Spain...
Bear Notes: The '97 Bears (10-12, 0-3) were swept by Arizona (8-7 in 15 innings, 2-1 in 10 innings, 5-3) last weekend at Evans Diamond...Cal had defeated the Wildcats eight straight game prior to last weekend...in 15-inning loss, the Bears had rallied from a 6-2 deficit going into the eighth inning and was able to get within 6-5 on a two-out RBI single by freshman David Yengoyan (Fresno, CA)...Cal tied the game in the bottom of the ninth when freshman Kevin Johnson (Oakland, CA) had a two-out single, scoring his twin brother Curtis...the Bears sophomore right-hander Tyler Walker (Ross, CA), came into the game in the 10th inning and twice had the bases loaded with one out (10th and 11th innings) and was able to get out of the jam (3.0 innings, three hits, no runs, three walks, three strikeouts)...a top hitter for Cal in the first game was sophomore outfielder Preston Sharp (Chico, CA), who was a career-high 4-for-6 with a double and two RBI...the second game of the Arizona series was an outstanding pitching dual between the Bears freshman starter Jon Shirley (Bakersfield, CA) and Wildcat starter James Johnson...both pitchers threw career-high 7.3 innings with Shirley getting a no decision (three hits, no hits between the second and seventh innings, with four walks and three strikeouts)...sophomore shortstop Brian Oliver (Antioch, CA) and senior first baseman John Furstenthal (Oakland, CA) had two hits apiece for Cal...in the Bears 5-3 loss, Cal made a run in the bottom of the ninth when Furstentahl had a one-out single and was later advanced to third on a two-out double by freshman designated hitter Barry Schell (Poway, CA)...both Furstenthal and Schell then scored on a two-run double by sophomore third baseman Dan Garfin (Kensington, CA)...the losing pitcher for the Bears was junior right-hander Doug Nickle (Sonoma, CA), who threw a career-high 7.0 innings with four hits, three earned runs, one walk and three strikeouts...Furstenthal had two more hits for Cal and finished the weekend 4-for-9 with a double and an RBI...on Wednesday, Oliver hit a two-run double in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Bears a 6-5 come-from-behind win over Cal State Hayward...the winning pitcher was junior Jim Vorhis (Mill Valley, CA), who pitched the ninth inning (two hits, two runs, no walks, one strikeout)...Oliver is having an outstanding sophomore season, starting all 22 games at shortstop and leading the Bears in average (.379), at bats (87), runs (20), hits (33), doubles (seven), triples (three), total bases (46), stolen bases (13-for-13), walks (11), on base percentage (.465) and assists (71)...he is a third team preseason All-American in Collegiate Baseball and last year he became the first Freshman All-American (selected in both Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball) in Cal baseball history...
USC: The USC Trojans, coached by Mike Gillespie (10th year as head coach at USC, 409-236-2, .634), are 17-6, 2-4 after being swept at Stanford (4-0, 5-4 in 12 innings, 22-13) Feb. 28-Mar. 2...top hitters for the Trojans include sophomore left fielder Greg Hanoian (.486, 1 HR, 18 RBI), junior second baseman Wes Rachels (.389, 1 HR, 10 RBI) and sophomore center fielder Robb Gorr (.381, 1 HR, 25 RBI)...USC's tentative starting pitching rotation is senior left-hander Randy Flores (4-2, 3.32 ERA), junior right-hander Seth Etherton (4-0, 2.38 ERA) and either senior right-hander Scott Henderson (4-1, 7.11 ERA) or sophomore right-hander Steve Immel (2-2, 2.48)...in 1996, the Trojans were 44-16-1 overall (24-6, first in Pac-10 Southern Division play) and 3-2 in the NCAA Central II Regional...
Tentative Lineup And Stats: Here is a look at Cal's tentative lineup and pitching rotation...
Tentative Lineup
No. Pos. Player '97 stats
10 RF Juan Hernandez, Fr. .259, 7 RBI, 1 HR
9 3B Jim Schmidt, Sr. .377, 9 RBI, 4 2B
5 SS Brian Oliver, So. .379, 12 RBI, 3 3B
6 CF Preston Sharp, So. .271, 11 RBI, 2 2B
45 C Jason Hill, So. .228, 15 RBI, 1 HR
2 1B John Furstenthal, Sr. .366, 9 RBI, 3 2B
33 LF Aaron Gordnier, Jr. .211, 17 RBI, 1 HR
17 DH Barry Schell, Fr. .275, 9 RBI, 3 HR
26 2B Ivan Lewis, Sr. .217, 3 RBI, 5 2B
30 RHP Drew Fischer, Sr. (Fri.) 2-2, 5.18 ERA
34 RHP Jon Shirley, Fr. (Sat.) 2-1, 2.67 ERA
35 RHP Doug Nickle, Jr. (Sun.) 1-2, 3.49 ERA
Six-Pac Race (as of March 6)
Conference Overall
W L PCT GB W L T .PCT
Stanford 3 0 1.000 -- 16 6 .727
Arizona 3 0 1.000 -- 17 9 .654
UCLA 2 1 .667 1.0 20 3 1 .854
USC 2 4 .333 2.5 17 6 .739
Arizona State 2 4 .333 2.5 14 8 .636
CALIFORNIA 0 3 .000 3.0 10 12 .455
Cal Individual Player Notes
Drew Fischer: Is 2-2 with a 5.18 ERA and leads the team in innings pitched (33.0, 10th in the Pac-10)...last outing got a no decision vs. Arizona Feb. 28 (6.0 innings, 10 hits, five earned runs, no walks, one strikeout...picked up the win Feb. 21 vs. Oregon State (7.0 innings, nine hits, six runs, only one walk, tied a career-high seven strikeouts)...suffered loss Feb. 14 at Long Beach State, throwing his first collegiate complete game (8.0 innings, five hits, three earned runs, two walks, six strikeouts)...only gave up one hit after the first inning against the 49ers...took loss Feb. 7 vs. Pepperdine (7.0 innings, five hits, two runs, two walks, four strikeouts)...picked up win Jan. 30 at Hawaii (5.0 innings, four hits, three runs, one walk, two strikeouts)...is fourth in the conference in walks/nine innings (1.64) and 10th in innings pitched...has an 0-1 career record with two saves and a 2.17 ERA vs. USC...is slated to start Friday for the Bears...
John Furstenthal: Is third on the team in hitting, batting .366 with three doubles and nine RBI...leads team in hit by pitch (six), on base percentage (.477) and putouts (181)...at Hawaii went 6-for-11 with two RBI...was 3-for-9 in the Pepperdine series, 6-for-16 with a double and an RBI at Long Beach State and 4-for-9 with a double and an RBI vs. Arizona...is 5-for-22 (.227) with eight RBI with runners in scoring position...has a career batting average of .000 (0-for-5) vs. USC...
Juan Hernandez: Has started 21 games in right field, batting .259 with five doubles, a home run and seven RBI...is tied for sixth in the conference in stolen bases (10-for-10)...was 4-for-5 and hit his first collegiate home run (three-run homer) Feb. 11 at Saint Mary's...was 4-for-12 with an RBI vs. Oregon State, but only 1-for-15 vs. Arizona...went 2-for-4 with three runs Wednesday vs. CS Hayward...is 4-for-23 (.174) with an HR and seven RBI with runners in scoring position...
Jason Hill: Is hitting .228 with four doubles, a home run and 15 RBI...was only 2-for-14 in the Arizona series...was 2-for-9 with a home run and five RBI in the Oregon State series...hit well at Long Beach State, going 7-for-17 with seven RBI...is 8-for-32 (.250) with 12 RBI with runners in scoring position...has thrown out 14 baserunners (14-for-41)...has a career average of .278 (5-for-18) with a double and an RBI vs. USC...
Ivan Lewis: Is batting .217 with five doubles and three RBI...was 3-for-13 with two doubles and two RBI at Hawaii, 3-for-12 vs. Pepperdine, 2-for-15 with a double at Long Beach State and 1-for-9 vs. Oregon State...was 3-for-6 with a double Feb. 11 at Saint Mary's...after sitting out four games, was 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI Wednesday vs. CS Hayward...is 3-for-19 (.158) with three RBI with runners in scoring position...has a career average of .207 (12-for-58) with two doubles and an RBI vs. USC...
Doug Nickle: Is 1-2 and leads the Bears in saves (two) and strikeouts (22)...in last outing suffered the loss Mar. 2 to Arizona, pitching a career-high 7.0 innings (four hits, three earned runs, one walk, three strikeouts)...had a phenominal game in his first collegiate start Feb. 19 vs. San Francisco State (two hits, no runs, only one walk, career-high nine strikeouts)...earned the save Jan. 31 at Hawaii (4.0 innings, one hit, no runs, two strikeouts)...also picked up the save Feb. 4 vs. Santa Clara, coming into the game in the ninth inning and giving up two hits, but not allowing the Broncos to score with the bases loaded and no outs...suffered loss Feb. 23 vs. Oregon State (2.0 innings, three hits, three runs, two walks, two strikeouts)...is fourth in the conference in saves and hits/nine innings (6.11), and eighth in appearances...is slated to start Sunday for the Bears...
Brian Oliver: Is leading the team in batting average (.379), runs (20), hits (33), doubles (seven), triples (three), total bases (46), walks (11) and stolen bases (13-for-13)...was 7-for-14 with a double, a triple and three RBI at Hawaii, 6-for-11 with a double and an RBI vs. Pepperdine; 7-for-18 with a double, a triple and three RBI at Long Beach State, 3-for-10 with a double, triple and two RBI vs. Oregon State and 5-for-13 with a double vs. Arizona...on Wednesday, knocked in the game-winning RBI vs. CS Hayward with a two-run double in the bottom of the ninth...was 4-for-5 with a double, a triple and an RBI in the Jan. 31 Hawaii game...is 8-for-28 (.286) with 11 RBI with runners in scoring position...leads the conference in stolen bases, is second in triples and eighth in batting...has a career average of .318 (7-for-22) with two doubles, a triple and an RBI vs. USC...
Barry Schell: Is hitting .275 with two doubles, two triples, a team-leading three home runs and has nine RBI...leads the team with a .650 slugging percentage and hit a two-run home run in his first collegiate at-bat Jan. 28 at San Francisco...was 1-for-4 with a home run at Long Beach State, 2-for-11 with a triple, home run and two RBI vs. Oregon State and had a key three-run triple Wednesday vs. CS Hayward...is 4-for-14 (.286) with a home run and six RBI with runners in scoring position...
Jim Schmidt: Is Cal's second leading hitter, batting .377 with four doubles and nine RBI...has started 18 games this season--eight times at third base, seven times at second base and three times as a designated hitter...was 5-for-10 with a double and two RBI at Hawaii, an impressive 10-for-17 with a double and three RBI at Long Beach State and 5-for-12 with three RBI vs. Oregon State...was 0-for-8 vs. Arizona...had a career-high 10-game hitting streak (19-for-39, .487, two doubles, seven RBI) from Feb. 8-28...is 10-for-21 (.476) with nine RBI with runners in scoring position...is ninth in the conference in batting and sixth in stolen bases (nine)...has a career average of .182 (2-for-11) with an RBI vs. USC...
Jon Shirley: Is 2-1 with a team-leading 2.67 ERA, has a save and 20 strikeouts in 27.0 innings...in last outing , got a no decision Mar. 1 vs. Arizona, pitching a career-high 7.3 innings (three hits, one run, four walks, three strikeouts)...earned his second collegiate win, Feb. 22 vs. Oregon State (6.0 innings, two hits, no runs, no walks, career-high seven strikeouts)...picked up a save Jan. 30 at Hawaii, shutting down the Rainbows with the bases loaded and no outs in the bottom of the ninth...suffered the loss to Hawaii Feb. 1 (1.7 innings, three hits, three runs, two walks, four strikeouts)...got a no decision in a Feb. 9 start vs. Pepperdine (4.0 innings, four hits, one run, one walk, two strikeouts)...picked up his first collegiate victory Feb. 16 at Long Beach State (6.0 innings, two runs, three walks, one strikeout)...is ninth in the conference in ERA and hits/nine innings (6.67)...is slated to start Saturday for the Bears...
Tyler Walker: Is 1-0 with a team-high two saves and a 3.32 ERA as a reliever...has 19 strikeouts and only seven walks in 19.0 innings pitched...picked up the win Feb. 9 vs. Pepperdine, throwing a career-high 5.0 innings (one hit, no runs, no walks, three strikeouts)...picked up save Feb. 16 at Long Beach State (3.0 innings, four hits, two runs, two walks, three strikeouts)...earned save Feb. 21 vs. Oregon State (1.0 inning, no hits, no runs, no walks, two strikeouts)...in last outing Mar. 2 vs. Arizona, threw 2.0 innings with three hits, one run, no walks and one strikeout...is tied for fourth in the conference in saves...has a 0-0 career record vs. USC with three strikeouts, no walks and a 3.86 ERA...
