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Weekend In The Desert

by calbears.com
Apr 8, 2021
Grant Holman will get the start on the mound Friday as Cal opens its three-game series at Arizona.

BERKELEY – California's stretch of eight consecutive road contests continues this weekend with a Pac-12 series against No. 22 (D1Baseball) Arizona at Hi Corbett Field in Tucson, Arizona. The key conference series gets started at 6 p.m. (PDT) Friday and all three games will be streamed.
 
Winners of six consecutive series dating back to late February, the Golden Bears (16-11, 4-2 Pac-12) are tasked with taming a Wildcat offense that leads the country in runs scored, on-base percentage and hits while ranking among the best in numerous other statistical categories. Arizona is ranked in all five major national polls.
 
Both Cal and Arizona (19-8, 5-4 Pac-12) played midweek non-conference games against rivals Stanford and Arizona State. The Bears fell, 4-3, at Stanford while Arizona blasted the Sun Devils, 14-2, at home.
 
WEEKEND LINEUP

 
QUICK HITS

  • The Bears opened Pac-12 play with two series wins for the first time since 2015, taking two of three games at Utah (March 26-28) and against USC (April 1-3). Cal is tied for second in the conference based on winning percentage (.667).
  • Cal has won five of six games against Arizona under head coach Mike Neu since 2018, including a home sweep in 2018 and two of three games at Arizona on April 12-14, 2019.
  • Cal is tied with Arizona for second in the Pac-12 with 28 home runs. Seven of the eight Bears who have homered have hit at least two, led by Dylan Beavers (8).
  • The Bears are 14-0 when scoring first and 9-2 when scoring in the first inning. They've scored 62 of their 152 runs in the first three innings.
  • Darren Baker is doing it all for Cal. The senior leadoff man and second baseman has a 32-game reached-base streak, ranks 10th nationally with 14 stolen bases, leads the Pac-12 and ranks second among major-conference players with 93 defensive assists and owns an on-base percentage of .406.
  • Nathan Manning (.478, 11 hits, 8 runs) and Quentin Selma (.417, 3 home runs, 11 RBI) have excelled in Pac-12 play so far.
  • The Bears' pitching staff is third in the Pac-12 and 26th nationally with 3.25 walks allowed per nine innings. Cal has issued three walks or less in 18 of 27 games this season.
  • Staff ace Grant Holman's return has proven to be worth the wait. After missing the first five weeks of the season due to injury (bicep tendonitis), Holman has dominated with 10 strikeouts and one run allowed on two hits across 7.2 innings in two limited starts. Opposing batters are hitting just .083 against Holman so far. He'll get the start Friday night in Tucson.

 
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