April 10, 1997
Bears Host No. 12 USC in Three-Game Series
THE SCHEDULE: The Bears (14-26, 1-17) host USC (30-13, 11-10, ranked 12th in Baseball America and 14th in Collegiate Baseball ) for a three-game series at Evans Diamond...
Day Date Opponent Site Time
Fri. Apr. 11 vs. USC Evans Diamond, Berkeley, CA 2:30 p.m.
Sat. Apr. 12 vs. USC Evans Diamond, Berkeley, CA 1:00 p.m.
Sun. Apr. 13 vs. USC Evans Diamond, Berkeley, CA 1:00 p.m.
RADIO: KALX Radio (90.7 FM) will broadcast all three games versus USC...the Bob Milano Show will air 10 minutes before the first pitch...SERIES RECORD: The Bears have a 122-198 overall series record against the USC Trojans...earlier this season, Cal was swept by USC; 7-5, 8-6 and 5-3, Mar. 7-9 in Los Angeles...last season, the Bears won one of six games versus the Trojans...
HEAD COACH BOB MILANO: The Bears skipper, who is in his 20th season at Cal, has a career record of 632-569-4 (.526)...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 (14-26, 1-17) broke a nine-game losing streak Tuesday, defeating Saint Mary's 8-7 at Evans Diamond...sophomore shortstop Brian Oliver (Antioch, CA) hit an RBI double in the bottom of the ninth to lead the Bears to the 8-7 come-from-behind win...Cal came back when senior first baseman John Furstenthal (Oakland, CA) had a one-out single, followed by Oliver's game-winning double...the winning pitcher for the Bears was junior reliever Doug Nickle (2-4, Sonoma, CA), who pitched the ninth inning with three hits, one run, no walks and a strikeout..the leading hitters for Cal were Oliver and Furstenthal...Oliver finished the day 3-for-5 with a double and four RBI...he had a key two-run single in the seventh inning to give the Bears their first lead of the day, 7-6...Furstenthal was 3-for-4 and hit his first collegiate home run with a solo shot in the third inning...last weekend Cal was swept, and shutout, by No. 21 ranked Arizona in Tucson (2-0, 12-0, 5-0)...it was the third consecutive weekend Cal has been swept by a conference opponent and in the last nine Six-Pac contests, the Bears have been outscored 91-16 and have only scored two runs in the last 54 innings...the Bears nine-game losing streak is believed to have been the longest losing streak in Cal baseball history and the longest losing streak since the Bears lost seven games in a row Apr. 20-29, 1990...despite the team struggling, sophomore shortstop Brian Oliver (Antioch, CA) is still having an outstanding sophomore season, starting all 40 games at shortstop (the only Cal player to start every game this season) and leading the Bears in average (.357), hits (56), doubles (10), triples (three), total bases (75), stolen bases (17-for-18, third in the Pac-10), walks (19), slugging percentage (.478) and on base percentage (.436)...Oliver 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...he is one of eight Pac-10 players (including Bear teammate, sophomore catcher Jason Hill , Alamo, CA) invited to the summer training camp for the USA Baseball National Team, coached by Bob Milano...Cal closer Tyler Walker (Ross, CA) is another one of the Bears top players...Walker, the top rated amauter baseball player in the nation according to the Major League Scouting Bureau, is 3-3 with a team-high three saves and a 3.09 ERA...he has an impressive 37 strikeouts in 35.0 innings and is fifth in the conference in saves...Walker, who began his Cal career as a catcher, was 2-1 with a save and a 3.58 ERA last year as a redshirt freshman and was selected the Top Professional Prospect at the National Baseball Congress World Series last summer...freshman submarine pitcher Jon Cuccias (0-0, one save, Woodland Hills, CA) has been impressive in league play so far this season...against Six-Pac competition, Cuccias has only given up three earned runs and has 12 strikeouts in 18.7 innings for a 1.45 league ERA...
USC: The USC Trojans, coached by Mike Gillespie (11th year as head coach at USC, 422-243-2, .634), are 30-13, 11-10 (fourth in the Pac-10 Southern Division) after being swept at Stanford (15-9, 4-2, 10-3) last weekend and winning at Cal State Fullerton, 8-5, Tuesday...top hitters for the Trojans include sophomore left fielder Greg Hanioan (.429, 1 HR, 30 RBI), senior catcher Jason Brown (.423, 4 HR, 28 RBI) and sophomore center fielder Robb Gorr (.345, 1 HR, 34 RBI)...USC's tentative starting pitching rotation is senior left-hander Randy Flores (7-4, 3.91 ERA), junior right-hander Seth Etherton (5-2, 4.09 ERA) and either senior right-hander Scott Henderson (5-2, 5.68) or sophomore righthander Steve Immel (6-3, 3.35 ERA)...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 (second)...
TENTATIVE LINEUP AND STATS: Here is a look at Cal's tentative lineup and pitching rotation...
No. Pos. Player '97 stats
26 LF Ivan Lewis, Sr. .200, 11 RBI, 7 2B
2 1B John Furstenthal, Sr. .333, 14 RBI, 1 HR
5 SS Brian Oliver, So. .357, 24 RBI, 1 HR
33 DH Aaron Gordnier, Jr. .273, 24 RBI, 4 HR
45 C Jason Hill, So. .193, 23 RBI, 3 HR
10 RF Juan Hernandez, Fr. .284, 11 RBI, 2 HR
6 CF Preston Sharp, So. .221, 13 RBI, 1 HR
9 2B Jim Schmidt, Sr. .324, 10 RBI, 6 2B
22 3B Kevin Johnson, Fr. .185, 5 RBI, 1 HR
30 RHP Drew Fischer, Sr. (Fri.) 2-4, 4.42 ERA
34 RHP Jon Shirley, Fr. (Sat.) 2-4, 5.13 ERA
28 RHP Brad Steele, Fr. (Sun.) 2-3, 5.76 ERA
SIX-PAC RACE (as of April 10)
Conference Overall
W L PCT GB W L T .PCT
Stanford 13 2 .867 -- 27 8 .771
Arizona 11 7 .611 3.5 29 16 .644
UCLA 9 6 .600 4.0 29 10 1 .738
USC 11 10 .524 5.0 30 13 .714
Arizona State 9 12 .429 7.0 24 16 .600
CALIFORNIA 1 17 .056 13.5 14 26 .350
CAL INDIVIDUAL PLAYER NOTES
DREW FISCHER: Is 2-4 with a 4.42 ERA...in last start pitched well but suffered the loss Apr. 4 at Arizona (6.7 innings, three hits, no earned runs, four walks, four strikeouts...got a no decision but pitch well Mar. 15 vs. Arizona State (6.0 innings, five hits, only one earned run, no walks, five strikeouts)...picked up 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)...picked up win Jan. 30 at Hawaii (5.0 innings, four hits, three runs, one walk, two strikeouts)...is fourth in the conference in complete games, seventh in hits/nine innings (8.32) and ninth in walks/nine innings (2.72)...suffered the loss Mar. 7 at USC (4.3 innings, six hits, six runs, four walks, no strikeouts)...has an 0-2 career record with two saves and a 5.67 ERA vs. USC...is slated to start Friday for the Bears...
JOHN FURSTENTHAL: Is second on the team in hitting, batting .333 with four doubles, home run and 14 RBI...also leads team in hit by pitch (eight), on base percentage (.436) and putouts (346)...went 1-for-10 last weekend at Arizona, but was 3-for-4 with his first collegiate home run Tuesday vs. Saint Mary's...at Hawaii went 6-for-11 with two RBI...went 4-for-9 with a double and an RBI in the first Arizona series, 4-for-10 with a double and an RBI at USC, 3-for-8 with two RBI vs. Stanford and 3-for-9 at UCLA...is 7-for-33 (.212) with 12 RBI with runners in scoring position...has a career batting average of .267 (4-for-15) with a double and an RBI vs. USC...
AARON GORDNIER: Is batting .273 with five doubles, and a team-leading four home runs and 24 RBI...was 5-for-12 with two doubles, a home run and two RBI at USC, 5-for-11 with a home run and two RBI vs. Arizona State, was 3-for-12 with a home run and two RBI vs. Stanford and last weekend was 1-for-5 at Arizona...hit his first collegiate home run Feb. 4 vs. Santa Clara (1-for-3, HR, two RBI)...went 5-for-11 with two doubles and five RBI in the Hawaii series...had a career-high 11-game hitting streak (16-for-43, .372, 2-2B, 3-HR, seven RBI) from Mar. 7-24...is 15-for-43 (.349) with two home runs and 22 RBI with runners in scoring position...
JUAN HERNANDEZ: Has started 38 games in right field as a true freshman, batting .284 with nine doubles, two home runs and 11 RBI...is tied for fourth in the conference in stolen bases (15-for-16)...was 4-for-5 and hit his first collegiate home run (three-run homer) Feb. 11 at Saint Mary's...went 3-for-7 at USC, 4-for-11 with a double and two RBI vs. Arizona State, was an impressive 7-for-12 with two doubles vs. Stanford, was 2-for-11 with a home run at UCLA and last weekend was 2-for-10 with a double at Arizona...had a career-high seven game hitting streak (13-for-27, .481, 3-2B, three RBI) from Mar. 15-27...is 7-for-34 (.206) with an HR and 10 RBI with runners in scoring position...
JASON HILL: Is hitting .193 with five doubles, three home runs and 23 RBI...has not got a hit in his last 39 at bats and has gone hitless in the last three conference series...last hit was when he knocked in the game-winning RBI in the bottom of the 10th vs. Washington State Mar. 18...went an impressive 5-for-11 with two home runs and six RBI vs. Arizona State...was 3-for-4 with two home runs and four RBI Mar. 14 vs. ASU...hit well at Long Beach State, Feb. 14-17, going 7-for-17 with seven RBI...had a career-high five-game hitting streak (7-for-15, double, 2-HR, seven RBI) from Mar. 11-18...is 12-for-49 (.245) with a home run and 19 RBI with runners in scoring position...has thrown out 21 baserunners (21-for-65) this season...was 2-for-11 in the first USC series...has a career average of .241 (7-for-29) with a double and an RBI vs. USC...
IVAN LEWIS: Is batting .200 with seven doubles and 11 RBI...was 4-for-13 with four RBI at USC, 3-for-12 with a double and two RBI vs. Arizona State and was 3-for-16 with a double vs. Stanford...was 1-for-8 last weekend at Arizona and has gone 1-for-19 in his last two conference series...went 3-for-5 with a double and an RBI Mar. 14 vs. Arizona State...is 9-for-34 (.265) with 11 RBI with runners in scoring position...has a career average of .225 (16-for-71) with a double and five RBI vs. USC...
BRIAN OLIVER: Leads the team in batting average (.357), at bats (157), hits (56), doubles (10), triples (three), RBI (24), total bases (75), slugging percentage (.478), on-base percentage (.436), walks (19) and stolen bases (17-for-18)...on Tuesday vs. Saint Mary's went 3-for-5 with four RBI and knocked in the game-winning RBI with a double in the bottom of the ninth...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...went 5-for-12 with a home run and five RBI vs. Stanford, 5-for-11 with an RBI at UCLA and last weekend was only 1-for-12 at Arizona...had an eight-game hitting streak (15-for-31, .484, double, home run, six RBI) from Mar. 17-29...knocked in the game-winning RBI Mar. 5 vs. CS Hayward with a two-run double in the bottom of the ninth...is 14-for-40 (.350) with a home run and 22 RBI with runners in scoring position...is second in the conference in triples and third in stolen bases...has a career average of .281 (9-for-32) with two doubles, a triple and two RBI vs. USC...
JON SHIRLEY: Is 2-4 with a 5.13 ERA, a save and a team-leading 39 strikeouts in 54.3 innings...in last outing, suffered the loss at Arizona Apr. 5 (5.7 innings, 11 hits, nine runs, five walks, six strikeouts)...got a no decision vs. Stanford Mar. 22 (6.0 innings, eight hits, three runs, one walk, three strikeouts)...got a no decision Mar. 8 at USC (6.3 innings, nine hits, three runs, two walks, career-high seven strikeouts)...got no decision Mar. 1 vs. Arizona, pitching a career-high 7.3 innings (three hits, one run, four walks, three strikeouts)...earned 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...picked up first collegiate victory Feb. 16 at Long Beach State (6.0 innings, two runs, three walks, one strikeout)...is slated to start Saturday for the Bears...
TYLER WALKER: Is 3-3 with a team-high three saves and a 3.09 ERA...has 37 strikeouts in 35.0 innings pitched...in last outing Tuesday vs. Saint Mary's, threw 2.0 innings with one hit and three strikeouts...picked up two wins in relief in one week, defeating Arizona State Mar. 15 (3.0 innings, no hits, no runs, three walks) and Washington State Mar. 18 (2.3 innings, one hit, no runs, one walk, four strikeouts)...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)...earned the save Mar. 11 vs. Santa Clara (2.0 innings, two hits, no runs, no walks, three strikeouts)...is fifth in the conference in saves...suffered loss Mar. 8 at USC (0.7 inning, two hits, three runs, two walks, one strikeout)...has a 0-1 career record vs. USC with a 7.01 ERA...
