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California Golden Bears (16-13, 5-5) at Arizona Wildcats (18-11, 3-6)
When: 6 PM PT
Video: Pac-12 Digital (Free, no subscription required)
Audio: KALX
Live stats: Gametracker
Pitching matchup: Cal's RHP Ryan Mason (4-0, 2.37) vs. Arizona's RHP Konner Wade (2-2, 3.99)
After a disappointing week, result wise, see my Week in Review article, the Bears are back on the road to try to get back some momentum. To be fair, the Bears have been in most of the games that they have lost, but the lack of that timely hit or to get that big out have plagued the Bears.
Cal will try to right the ship by sending out their ace, freshman righty Ryan Mason. Pegged as a possible end of the game type of guy, Mason has emerged as the friday ace for the Bears. The Bears will count on him to be the stopper, after dropping the non-conference game to Furd on Monday. In his last outing, Mason struggled with allowing a bunch of baserunners to USC in that historical first night game at Evans Diamond. He was able to limit the damage, however, by allowing just 3 runs in 7 innings.
In Arizona, the Bears face a team that is equally inconsistent. After opening Pac-12 play with 6 straight losses to the Oregon schools, the Wildcats have bounced back with 3 straight win over Utah (at home). By the way, a road sweep of Utah was actually a big part of the Bears' own 8 game win streak from earlier in the year. A quick glance below shows that Jr 3B Brandon Dixon is the offensive leader for the Cats, although their entire offense is among the leader of the Pac-12, particularly their 63 conference leading stolen bases. Cal catcher Andrew Knapp would be tasked to stop their running game this weekend (although not allowing them to get on base is the surefire way to keep that in check). Zona starter Wade is coming off a 6 inning outing where he strikeout 8 while giving up 3 runs (only 2 earned).
Stats comparison (and Arizona stat leaders) courtesy of Arizona's game note.
| California vs. Arizona Statistical Comparison | Arizona Statistical Leaders | |||
| California | Stat | Arizona | Stat | Player |
| 16-13 (5-4 Pac-12) | Record | 18-11 (3-6 Pac-12) | Avg. | Brandon Dixon (.413) |
| .267 | Avg. | .308 | Hits | Brandon Dixon (45) |
| 140 | Runs | 199 | Runs | Brandon Dixon (38) |
| 260 | Hits | 288 | RBI | Trent Gilbert (35) |
| 42 | 2B | 33 | 2B | Johnny Field (7) |
| 4 | 3B | 22 | HR | Brandon Dixon (4) |
| 17 | HR | 7 | OB% | Brandon Dixon (.492) |
| 11-20 | SB-ATT | 63-81 | SLG% | Brandon Dixon (.651) |
| .348 | OB% | .408 | SB | Brandon Dixon (22) |
| .370 | SLG% | .413 | ERA | Mathew Troupe (0.90) |
| 4.20 | ERA | 3.57 | IP | Konner Wade (47.1) |
| 205 | K's | 204 | K's | James Farris (37) |
Videos for all 3 games of the series will be available, with the Sunday game (noon PT) on ESPNU.
GO BEARS!