Cal Sweeps Utah, Earns No. 6 Seed in Pac-12 Baseball Tournament

Dom Souto, who started the day because the Pac-12’s main hitter, knocked within the game-winning run within the backside of the ninth inning to provide Cal its sixth straight win, a 9-8 victory over Utah on Saturday.

It additionally gave Cal the No. 6 seed within the Pac-12 event.  The Bears will open event play in opposition to No. 3 seed UCLA on Wednesday in a recreation that may begin at about 8:30 p.m. in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Cal and Arizona State started the day tied for seventh place within the Pac-12, a half recreation behind Washington. However Arizona State misplaced to Washington State on Saturday whereas Cal gained, lifting the Bears (28-25, 14-16 Pac-12) right into a tie with Washington for sixth place. (The Huskies performed a nonconference recreation in opposition to Northern Colorado Saturday.) Cal earned the tiebreaker with the Huskies as a result of the Bears gained two of three video games in opposition to Washington throughout the common season.

The Pac-12 event is break up into two divisions, very like the School World Sequence. Cal, UCLA, Oregon State and Washington are in Division Two, whereas No. 1 seed Stanford, Arizona State, Oregon and Arizona are in Division One. The winner of every division in double-elimination play will meet within the Pac-12 championship recreation on Sunday at 7 p.m. on ESPN2.

Cal should win the event to earn a berth within the NCAA event, whereas Stanford, Oregon State and UCLA appear to be assured at-large berths to the NCAA event, and Arizona and Oregon are good bets to obtain at-large bids as nicely.

Cal might be within the more durable division, with UCLA and Oregon State. The Beavers are presently ranked No. 2 within the nation, though they’re prone to drop just a few spots on this week’s rankings.

Nonetheless, the Bears are feeling fairly good about their possibilities.  Cal got here into this remaining sequence in opposition to Utah needing to win two of the three video games to get into the Pac-12 event.  The Bears ended up profitable all three and are driving a six-game profitable streak through which they outscored their opponents 82-16.

Souto, the Bears’ No. 9 hitter, began the day hitting .376, one level higher than Stanford’s Brett Barrera. Each went 1-for-4 Saturday, however Souto’s one hit was extra essential, as a result of it got here with two outs within the backside of the ninth with a runner at third. Souto is now batting .372.

Additionally, Cal’s Nathan Martorella went 3-for-5 to carry his common to .344, and Rodney Inexperienced Jr. went 3-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored.

Listed below are the opening-day matchups within the Pac-12 event on Wednesday:

DIVISION ONE

9 a.m. — No. 4 Oregon vs. No. 5 Arizona

Roughly 1:45 p.m. — No. 1 Stanford vs. No. 8 Arizona State

DIVISION TWO

4:45 p.m. — No. 2 Oregon State vs. No. 7 Washington

Roughly 8:30 p.m. — No. 3 UCLA vs. No. 6 Cal

Click on right here for your complete Pac-12 baseball event bracket and schedule 

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Cowl picture of Nathan Manning

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Observe Jake Curtis of Cal Sports activities Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

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