Cal Looks to Get Back to Winning Ways vs. St. Mary’s Wednesday

BERKELEY – After dropping a game to the Gaels for the first time in program history in February, California softball looks to get back to its winning ways against St. Mary’s Wednesday at 3 p.m. in Moraga, Calif. Live stats will be available at SMCGaels.com, and scoring updates will be provided on the @CalSoftball Twitter.

WHO TO WATCH WEDNESDAY
Despite a tough weekend series against Arizona State, Cal’s team batting average still stands above .300, at .307, thanks in large part to Cheyenne Cordes’ .439 work on the season. Cordes leads the team with 30 RBI, followed by 29 RBI from Danielle Henderson, who also has a team-leading 10 homers to cap off her .390 batting average. Kylie Reed has 49 hits in 123 at bats for a .398 average. Cal’s pitching staff is at a 4.17 team ERA, with Stephanie Trzcinski holding the team-low 3.36 with a 5-5 record. Trzcinski has struck out 46 and walked 17 while allowing 27 earned runs in 56.1 innings. Nisa Ontiveros is at a 3.61 ERA with a 9-6 record and 44 strikeouts, 43 earned runs and 25 walks in just over 83 innings. Cal’s pitching staff is holding batters to a .292 average.

LAST TIME OUT
Cal’s 10-game winning streak came to an end against Arizona State after the Sun Devils swept the Bears for the second consecutive year. The then-No. 7/6 Sun Devils handed the Bears a 7-2 loss on Friday and a pair of run-rule losses Saturday and Sunday, 10-2 in six innings and 10-0 in five innings.

SCOUTING THE GAELS
Since their bout with the Bears early on in 2014, the Gaels have added 11 more wins to their record for a 15-17 mark this season. Andrea Hazel has done much of the work for St. Mary's, batting .333 in 31 starts while also leading the team in hits (30), homers (3) and RBI (16). In the team's Feb. 16th win at the Campbell/Cartier Classic in San Diego, Hazel had two RBI and Cassidy Szeredy (.284, six runs, five doubles, eight RBI) and Christine Torrise (.271, 10 RBI, five doubles, seven runs) each drove in a run. Sarah Lira pitched the full game and currently leads the Gael pitching staff with a 2.27 ERA and 5-5 record. Lira has fanned only 19 batters in 80.1 innings pitched. Lujane Mussadi is 9-8 with a 2.56 ERA, striking out 43 in more than 100 innings in the circle.
 
DUE UP
The Wildcats of Arizona come to town this weekend for a series beginning Friday at 3 p.m. Cal and Arizona also meet Saturday at 1 p.m. and Sunday at 11 a.m. Friday’s game and Sunday’s game will be televised live on the Pac-12 Networks with Krista Blunk and Tammy Blackburn on the call.