Bears Start Longest Homestand of Season Wednesday
Rob Edwards/klcfotos

Bears Start Longest Homestand of Season Wednesday

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BERKELEY – California is used to taking its show on the road, especially after opening the 2019 season with six consecutive road trips.
 
And, 35 games into the season, the Golden Bears have only played a handful of games at Levine-Fricke Field.
 
Cal (20-15, 1-7 Pac-12) will get to break in its home turf a bit more starting Wednesday at 4 p.m. (PT) against Pacific, the first of an eight-outing slate in Strawberry Canyon. The weekend continues at home with a Friday-Sunday series against No. 6/6 Washington.
 
Friday's contest starts at 3 p.m., Saturday at 1 p.m. and Sunday at noon. All four games will be live streamed on Pac-12.com.
 
The Bears return home after a hard-fought series with No. 1 UCLA where the Bears were unable to pick up a win, but put the Bruins on their heels throughout the weekend with the first two games determined by one-run differentials.
 
BEAR BUSINESS  
  • Lindsay Rood's 55 hits leads the Pac-12 and is tied for second in the nation
  • Rood and teammate Destiny Blueford rank second in the Pac-12, along with Alyssa Barrera with four triples
  • Rood, who was named Pac-12 Player of the Week on March 12 after going 11-for-17 (.647) in Honolulu, currently ranks second in the Pac-12 with a .447 batting average, which ties for 22nd nationally. She continues to top the league with 22 steals in as many attempts
  • Mikayla Coelho leads the Bears with seven home runs, and her .480 on-base percentage ranks ninth in the Pac-12 list. Her 23 walks rank second in the league
  • Coelho and fellow sophomore Karlee Sparacino top the Cal ledger with 25 RBI each
  • Cal's defense has held opponents to a .229 batting average, but have collectively batted .302
  • Cal's wins over No. 22 James Madison (7-2) and No. 24 Notre Dame (7-6) mark the first time the Bears have downed two non-conference top-25 opponents since 2016 when they outlasted No. 18 Kentucky (5-1) and another 24th-ranked Fighting Irish squad (8-7)
  • Cal made a historic run from March 1-9 winning seven consecutive five-inning games, believed to be a program record
  • Senior ace Kamalani Dung (8-6) leads Cal's staff with a 2.08 ERA which ranks eighth in the Pac-12 and has struck out 95 batters, seventh most in the league
  • Freshman Alexandra Perez's 2.10 ERA ranks ninth in the league behind a 5-0 record in 12 appearances and 43.1 innings of work
  • Zoe Conley pitched her first no-hitter in a Bear's uniform on March 8 against St. Bonaventure in Honolulu; a 12-0 shutout for the Bears
  • Cal's last two victories came on game-winning yard balls from junior Destiny Blueford (8-7 vs Utah in eight) and sophomore Karlee Sparacino (3-1 vs Sac State in nine)
  • Cal is currently on a six-game losing streak, with its last win coming against Sac State on March 20
  • Despite being swept by the No. 1 Bruins, Cal allowed just four runs in the first two games of the series, while UCLA went into the matchup averaging 7.15 runs per outing through the season
  • Cal kept the top-ranked Bruins scoreless through 13 innings this series and hold them 44 points (.304) under their season average (.348) heading into the weekend
  • The Bears have done some of their best offensive work under pressure, recording 58 two-out RBIs so far this season
 
vs Pacific
  • The Tigers are currently 14-18 and start West Coast Conference play Saturday
  • UOP dropped two games at the Bulldog Invitational in Fresno, Calif. last weekend. The Tigers fell in extras, 6-5, to Cal State Bakersfield and took a 6-2 loss to hosts Fresno State
  • Junior pitcher Hailey Reed has been the Tigers' go-to ace throughout the stretch of the season. The Topeka, Kansas native continues to lead the Orange and Black's pitching rotation this year ranking in the top 100 in the nation in total strikeouts (91) and strikeouts per seven innings (7.86)
  • Throughout the past five games, four Tigers hold batting averages of over .300: Reed, Bradi Kooyman, Caity Sung, and Madison Hopper
  • Cal leads the overall series 54-39-1 and won the last outing on April 3, 2018 in a 5-0 decision
 
vs Washington
  • Currently 29-6 overall and 6-3 in the Pac-12 with losses to UCLA
  • finished off their second straight Pac-12 series sweep with a run-rule victory over Oregon State
  • Sis Bates recorded her 181st career hit, tying Heather Tarr. Bates now has a four-game hitting streak and has hit .600 over her last six games
  • Sophomore pitcher Gabbie Plain has allowed only 47 hits. Rachel Garcia is the only other pitcher in the Pac-12 to throw 70+ innings and allow less than 50 hits.
  • Cal trails 46-44 in the all-time series, with the Bears last win over the Huskies on April 17, 2016 (5-3)
 
 
For more information on Cal softball, follow the team on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter @CalSB.
 
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