Another weekend afternoon of baseball and rugby for you!
Cal (21-11, 7-4 in the Pac-10) vs. Washington baseball (19-14, 4-4 in conference) at Evans Diamond
Game 3 of a three game homestand (series tied 1-1)
Time: 1 PM PDT
Radio: KALX 90.7 FM (click here to find out how to listen online)
Gametracker: Click here
Cal avoided a 2-0 hole in this week's series with a comeback victory. Twist will have photos from the event later in the week, but as Katie Dowd of the Daily Cal reported yesterday, it's safe to say Justin Jones slept well last night.
Freshman Justin Jones' green eyes were clouded with fatigue after the Cal baseball team's game against Washington.
"Sorry about my voice," he said with a cough. "I'm kind of sick right now."
Any pitcher would be weary after throwing 124 pitches in 8 1/3 innings, but Jones had started his day that way.
"I had the mentality today to get out there and throw as much as I could because I knew I probably wasn't going to feel as good as I could," Jones said. "Once it got later in the game, past the fifth inning, I felt a lot better. The adrenaline kicked in and from there I tried to grind through."
Jones earned his 8th victory, most in the Pac-10, but despite only giving up 2 runs, it was far from a perfect performance (Washington left many, many men on base, including a dramatic throwout at the plate that would've tied the game in the top of the ninth). Two crucial fielding plays by left fielder Danny Oh (the throw to home which was saved big-time by catcher Chadd Krist, and chasing down the final out) preserved the victory. Oh also helped drive in the tying run, and a groundout by DH Tony Renda drove in the go-ahead and eventual winning run.
The Bears will probably send Dixon Anderson (3-1, 3.26 ERA) to the mound to try and win the rubber match.
Cal vs. Penn State Rugby quarterfinals matchup
Time: noon PDT
Online Stream: US Rugby on UStream (click here to watch!)
Gametracker: Follow the action with Twitter updates from Cal Rugby Scoring
After the jump, some quick notes on the Cal-Penn St. rugby matchup in Marietta and the reason for its historical significance.
I was a little shocked when I saw UCLA put up 32 points, although that was before I knew that the Bears were playing mostly their second unit and resting the majority of their starters for a possible Sunday matchup with the Nittany Lions.
The California Golden Bears scored 11 tries Saturday at the Life University Rugby Complex to win their Round of 16 matchup against the UCLA Bruins. The win sends Cal to the quarterfinals Sunday against Penn State (webcast live Sun. 12 p.m. PT), which came from behind to defeat LSU on Saturday, 31-25.
Sophomore Danny Barrett scored three first-half tries and notched a fourth before David Witter replaced him in the second half. Barrett was one of the eight underclassmen to start the match, with six freshmen among the 11 underclassmen on the field by the end of the contest.
The Bears succeeded in advancing but did yield five tries, including two from prop Pierre Mays, to UCLA on the day.
As many as 12 lineup changes could be in store for the Bears tomorrow for their matchup against the Penn State. Although it will be their first meeting in nine years, Cal is familiar with the Nittany Lions, having defeated them in four different national championship games - 1996, '97, '99 and '01 - as well as the 1994 semis. Penn State has reached the final-four weekend nine additional times since 1980.
Note: Tonight's Golden Nuggets will have the first taste of Spring Practice reports, with our own writeups coming sometime this week!