Arkansas moved into today's 3 p.m. game with a 3-2 victory over Boston University in last night's opening contest here in Berkeley. The Razorbacks earned a matchup with No. 1 Cal, who defeated Iona 8-0, with the one-run win thanks to two runs in the second a score in the third.

Instead of going with one of its regular starters in Chelsea Cohen (3.44 ERA, 96 strikeouts in 189.1 innings pitched) or Kimmy Beasley (3.32 ERA, 97 strikeouts in 124.1 innings pitched) in the circle on Friday, Arkansas opened the NCAAs with Hope McLemore, who had made just one start previously this season. Nonetheless, McLemore delivered for the Razorbacks with seven innings of two-run ball that included six strikeouts. She did not record a walk to improve to 2-0 on the year.

Arkansas' top two hitters, Devon Wallace and Clarisa Navarro, combined for three hits in Friday's win over Boston University from the top of the lineup. Wallace, Arkansas' left fielder, is hitting a team best .352 with a team-leading 14 home runs from the leadoff spot. Navarro, the Razorbacks' shortstop, is batting .339 with 10 home runs from the No. 2 spot in the lineup.

The Bears and Razorbacks have met once previously, with Cal defeating Arkansas, 7-0, on March 19, 1998.

Cal and Arkansas have two common opponents this season in Tennessee and LSU. The Bears opened the season with a 13-5 victory over Tennessee on Feb. 10 at the Kajikawa Classic in Tempe, Ariz. and defeated LSU, 14-3, on Feb. 19 in the Louisville Slugger Desert Classic in Las Vegas. The Razorbacks dropped two of three games in an SEC series with Tennessee at home in Fayetteville March 16-18, and were swept by LSU in a three-game SEC series on the road in Baton Rouge, March 30 - April 1.

Our final comparison of the two teams looks at the representation of players from each school's home state on its roster. First, we must take into consideration that California is a much larger state with a population of 37,691,912 compared to Arkansas with a population of 2,937,979. The Golden Bears have 18 California residents on its 20-person roster, while the Razorbacks have just four Arkansas residents on its 24-person roster.