Trevor Hildenberger has become an important piece of Cal's pitching staff this season, and he owes it all to teammate Justin Jones' absent-mindedness.

It was one year ago this week that Hildenberger stood behind Cal's bullpen during practice and watched Jones take his mid-week side session. Jones had misplaced his jersey so was wearing shortstop Mike Reuvekamp's No. 37 instead. That led to a discussion about the significance of jersey numbers.

"I asked (pitching coach) Mike Neu what he thinks of when he thinks of No. 26 (Hildenberger's number), and he said he thinks of a side-arm pitcher from UCLA," Hildenberger said. "I added that there was a side-armer on Washington who was No. 26, too. He said maybe I should throw my bullpen that way. I tried it out and it felt good."

And with that, the right-hander who had thrown 12 2/3 career innings in two seasons began to carve a new path that now has him entrenched as the No. 2 starting pitcher in the Cal rotation.

Hildenberger hasn't thrown overhand since that bullpen session. Shortly after the end of the 2012 season, Hildenberger joined the Bend Elks off the West Coast League. He spent the summer learning his new style of pitching, working with teammate Josh McAllister of Arizona State, who also is a side-armer.

"When I got there, I had thrown sidearm for a week," Hildenberger said. "I had a lot of work to do. Facing batters is weird for the first time. I hit the first batter I ever faced. Not on the first pitch, but on the second or third. Throwing 15 years overhand, you get used to a certain release point. And then you have no idea where to release the ball."

Hildenberger said it took about a month for him to have consistent command of his pitches as a side-armer. But by the time he returned to Berkeley for the fall, he had gone from throwing in the low 80s to mid-upper 80s with his fastball. He began the 2013 season as one of the Bears' biggest weapons out of the bullpen.

Hildenberger excelled as a reliever for most of this season. But after Cal experienced some injuries to its starting staff, head coach David Esquer was in search of help in the rotation. Hildenberger, who had averaged just 1 1/3 innings per outing during his first 23 appearances of the year, was allowed to go four innings of relief in a game against Oregon on April 12. He didn't allow a baserunner and struck out five.

That convinced Esquer to insert Hildenberger into the rotation, and he's held down the spot ever since. Hildenberger will make his fifth and final start of the season Saturday against Stanford at Evans Diamond. The Bears and Cardinal open a three-game series Friday night.

"We had no intention of having him start at all this year," Neu said. "We thought he'd be a great back end of the bullpen guy. He did a great job. But we felt like we didn't have a whole lot of options (in the rotation), and he was one of our best guys. We needed him to start, and he's taken it from there."

Hildenberger made his first start April 20 against Washington State, allowing four earned runs in four innings.

"I was terrified," Hildenberger said. "I hadn't started since high school. I didn't have a wind-up. It was a hot day. I was sweating like a pig. I couldn't feel my arm because my adrenaline was rushing so much. I walked the leadoff batter and had to just step back and take a deep breath and realize that this is no different than the seventh inning when you have to get three outs and go back to the dugout."

Hildenberger then allowed just one earned run in seven innings in his second start at Washington. As a starter, he's 1-1 with a 4.70 ERA. Take away his start against Washington St. and his ERA is 3.79.

Hildenberger hasn't decided if Saturday will be his last career start. He has one year left of athletic eligibility but has just seven units left to earn his degree in American Studies. Hildenberger will go through graduation ceremonies Saturday morning and then start the Bears' game that night.

"This Saturday is going to be weird because I have my final start against our rival school on the day I graduate college," Hildenberger said. "It's like everything is culminating on one day. This is my first year with significant innings. What would make me come back the most is going to a regional. I just have to talk about it with my family."

Since throwing sidearm is relatively new to Hildenberger, there still is probably substantial room for improvement. Neu said major-league scouts are already asking about him.

"Teams are always looking for a different look," Neu said. "He's having success throwing from a different arm slot, so teams may take a look at him. There are sidearm guys who haven't been top prospects in college but have had a lot of success. We'd love to have him back for another year. It'd be fun to see what he can do."

When Cal tennis player Riki McLachlan boarded a plane for the NCAA Tournament at Florida last week, he didn't know if he was going as a spectator or participant.

In fact, it was less than 24 hours before the Bears' first-round match against Florida State that it was determined that he would indeed make his first appearance on a tennis court in three months.

Dispelling the conventional wisdom that his season was over when he dislocated his left kneecap during a match against USC on Feb. 8, McLachlan played in Cal's first-round win over the Seminoles, winning the first set at No. 6 singles against Florida State's Michael Rinaldi before the match was stopped in the second set when the Bears clinched the team victory.

McLachlan, who formed the nation's No. 7 doubles team along with his brother, Ben, before the injury, will be back on the court Thursday when the No. 18 Bears (16-9) play No. 2 Virginia (26-0) in the Round of 16 in Urbana, Ill.

"He wasn't ready to play when we left," Cal coach Peter Wright said. "He literally got better each day. It wasn't until the day before that I said, 'Riki, you're in there tomorrow.' It really shows the strength of one young man and his desire to help the team."

Wright felt the Bears were a top-10 team this season, and McLachlan was a big reason for that. A senior and team captain, McLachlan figured to be a key contributor in both singles and doubles. But his season went down the wrong road while jumping for an overhead against the Trojans.

"It was just one of those freak things that happens in sports," McLachlan said. "It's a shot I've done a thousand times. On that one occasion, I jumped a little higher and something strange happened."

McLachlan began the arduous rehab process with no guarantees he would be able to return this season. He wasn't redshirting, meaning this was his last chance to play college tennis. Working closely with Cal athletic trainer Elaine Garcia, McLachlan overcame some sluggish days early in the rehab to make enormous progress. Garcia accompanied the team to Florida and continued to work with him until the last minute.

"Our guys were so excited to see him back," Wright said. "To feel him back out on the court, to hear guys yelling his name when he won points - it was extraordinary from an emotional standpoint. The team was boosted tremendously by it. I can't say enough about how much effort Riki put into getting back. It was day to day, hour to hour."

McLachlan was back on the court for the Bears' second-round win against Denver, but his singles match never made it past the first set after Cal clinched the victory over the Pioneers. Still, McLachlan's ability to get through last weekend and prove he is healthy again should work wonders for his confidence Thursday.

"It was three months but it felt like six or nine months," McLachlan said. "I was more excited than anything. It makes you appreciate being out there and being healthy. It's a lot of fun to compete again."

BERKELEY - Olympic swimmer Caitlin Leverenz and former goalie Lauren Hein were multiple honorees at the annual Student-Athlete Academic Honors Luncheon on Tuesday at Haas Pavilion.

Leverenz, who won a bronze medal in the 200-meter individual medley during last year's Summer Olympics in London, led Cal to consecutive NCAA championships in 2011 and 2012 and is a Pac-12 champion in multiple events. Tuesday, Leverenz was honored with a Pac-12 post-graduate scholarship as well as being named the recipient of the Anna Espenshade Award, given annually to a female student-athlete for "successful integration of academic and athletic pursuits."

Hein, who graduated early in December, won the Neufeld Scholar Athlete Award for having the highest GPA of any graduating female student-athlete on campus (3.982). She also was the recipient of an Oscar Geballe Postgraduate Scholarship, which recognizes devotion to Cal and the combination of scholarship and athletic competition. Furthermore, Hein received the Golden Bear Individual Award for having the highest GPA on the women's soccer team.

The luncheon, held on the gym floor, honored the best student-athletes on campus with several awards and scholarships. Athletic director Sandy Barbour handed out the Tom Hansen Pac-12 Conference Medals to swimmer Tom Shields and women's basketball player Layshia Clarendon. The conference medal is awarded to a male and female student-athlete at each Pac-12 institution who best exhibits the combination of performance and achievement in scholarship, athletics and leadership.

Four student-athletes received Pac-12 post-graduate scholarships. Along with Leverenz, conference scholarships also were awarded to women's volleyball's Robin Rostratter, men's swimming's Isaac Howell and men's soccer's Kyle Marsh.

There were two other recipients of the Oscar Geballe scholarship - women's swimming's Sara Isakovic and softball's Lindsey Ziegenhirt.

Leilani Alferos of the women's gymnastics team won the Walter A. Haas Jr. Community Service Award, given annually to the student-athlete with the best contribution to community service. Alferos, a transfer from Oregon State, has been heavily involved in the community both in Berkeley and Corvallis, Ore. She has been involved with the Relay For Life, Wheel-A-Thon, Special Olympics and recycling before football games. As part of the Community Outreach Committee, she helped with Coastal Clean-Up, College Day, Hot Meals and the Blood Donation Drive. She also served as a captain for the "Jog For Jill" annual fundraiser.

Tierra Rogers of the women's basketball team won the Joseph M. Kavanagh Award for the most academically improved student-athlete.

Marin Balarin of the men's water polo team won the Jake Gimbel Award for the combination of athletic and academic pursuits. Michael Perretta of the men's crew team was the male recipient of the Neufeld Scholar Athlete Award.

Ziegenhirt also served as the guest speaker for the event. She spoke of the hardships of losing her starting job as the softball team's catcher and then putting in the work needed to reclaim her spot. Ziegenhirt also discussed her work with the SAGE mentorship program, helping a local fourth-grade student in and out of the classroom and how the experience confirmed her aspirations to go into teaching.

"It's always an honor to be recognized for working hard in the classroom," Ziegenhirt said. "Being a student-athlete is difficult, so it's really great that the university puts this on for us so we can be recognized for all the hard work we put in."

The event was emceed by Cal academic advisor Cassidy Raher.

"As we read off the awards and hand out scholarships every year, it's always amazing to listen to the accolades that they have, the biographies that encompass their careers here at Cal and obviously their pursuits after college," Raher said. "Berkeley is the No. 1 public institution in the country for a reason. For these student-athletes to accept the challenge of competing in the classroom day in and day out and obviously on the field, on the court and in the pool, it's certainly a tremendous opportunity and a tremendous honor."

There are a lot of obvious good things about doing well in school at Cal. But for Cal catcher Lindsey Ziegenhirt, the last couple of years it also helped maintain her sanity.

Thursday, Ziegenhirt was named a Capital One All-Academic District 8 First Team selection for the second time in her career. The senior has a 3.77 cumulative GPA during her time in Berkeley.

Those classroom successes were magnified during her sophomore and junior years when she struggled on the diamond for the Bears. A high school All-American from Elk Grove, Calif., Ziegenhirt opened eyes during her freshman season when she had 15 home runs and 58 RBI and was named to the Pac-10 All-Freshman Team.

Always solid defensively, Ziegenhirt struggled at the plate each of the next two seasons. She batted just .219 as a sophomore and dropped to .156 last season. Her power numbers suffered as well.

"If I was losing confidence in softball, I knew I was going to kill it in the classroom," Ziegenhirt said. "It helped me keep my sanity."

Now a senior, Ziegenhirt is killing it both with her studies and on the field. Ziegenhirt is tied for fourth in the Pac-12 with 15 homers and ranks fifth with 49 RBI heading into this weekend's series against Stanford, the final three home games of her career. Her .311 batting average ranks third on the team.

"Lindsey has just gone back to her old form," Cal coach Diane Ninemire said. "She's worked extremely hard this year to get back where she knows she can be. She's feeling more relaxed and more comfortable at the plate. Everything has fallen into place for her. I'm just happy for her that she's back to her old form."

Ironically, it may have been one of the personality traits that helps her do so well in the classroom that contributed to her struggles at the plate. Ziegenhirt is a self-proclaimed perfectionist, which allows her to do bang-up work in school. But she said that proved to be a detriment athletically, as she let her frustrations and self-criticism snowball during her tough sophomore and junior years.

"I've always known that being positive and staying in a good mental state was something I needed to do," Ziegenhirt said. "But I'm also kid of a perfectionist, so once I start struggling a little bit, frustration takes over and it gets harder for me to get back into a positive mindset."

Faced with her last chance as a senior to get back on track, Ziegenhirt made the conscious decision to focus on the fun nature of playing college softball. She also said having an offseason to change things up is easier to do during the rigors of the jam-packed schedule of the regular season.

"It's hard to figure stuff out in the middle of a season that moves so quickly," she said. "I knew I could play better. It really was just a process of maturing and figuring more stuff out about myself as a player. Unfortunately, it took two years instead of two months. But I'm glad it happened when it did and I wouldn't change anything."

There's no question Ziegenhirt is having fun now. She's one of the Bears captains and their leader both offensively and defensively. And she is helping the Bears put together another fine season. Cal heads into the weekend ranked No. 12 in the country with a 35-12 overall record.

"She's a good example that I've used with other players," Ninemire said. "When they get into that part of their career when they are not playing well, they can look at Lindsey for strength. If you put in the time and try to stay positive, you can work through it and eventually good things will happen. You just have to make the commitment and have the dedication to work through it."

Cal's Rugby team has won 26 national championships. If the Bears make it 27 on Saturday against Brigham Young, it will likely go down as one of the most impressive and satisfying in program history.

Not only do the Bears have to face the only opponent that has consistently been in the same conversation as them over the years, they will do so on the Cougars home field. When the teams played in the national title match two years ago in Salt Lake City - which is 44 miles from BYU's campus - there were over 11,000 fans in the stands.

"That sounds like it was a neutral venue when you hear them talk," Cal coach Jack Clark said. "They are a good team and they will be especially good at home. It will be a partisan crowd. How that crowd affects the referee, how that crowd affects noise and my ability to communicate - there are some things to acknowledge there."

The Bears won the 2011 title match in Salt Lake, 21-14. But BYU has yet to lose a game to a college opponent since it started playing its home games on South Field in 2009.

"It will be a tough challenge," Cal senior center Seamus Kelly said. "In Salt Lake, that was a really challenging environment to play in. That's something we have to prepare for and be expecting going in."

The Bears (21-0) and Cougars (11-2) have met for the national championship in seven of the past eight years, with Cal winning every time except once. BYU defeated the Bears 25-22 when they met in 2009 at Stanford. The Cougars also beat Arkansas State in the national title match last year.

"It's proven to be kind of an all-or-nothing relationship," Clark said. "The vast majority of the time we've seen them has been in single-elimination rugby. The stakes have always been really high, and I think that's added to how meaningful the game is."

The good news for the Bears is even if Saturday's game is filled to the maximum - which it should be - South Field holds less than 4,000 fans. Cal's players that participated in the game two years ago in Salt Lake City feel that experience will help them Saturday.

"We just kind of went in there with no questions asked (in 2011)," Cal senior Danny Barrett said. "We knew what we had to do. It was just another game. You know it's going to have an effect playing at the other team's home stadium, but when you go in with the mindset that you can win, it doesn't really matter where you are. It's still another rugby game."

While winning national championships has become commonplace with Cal's rugby program, each team and each season is unique. Some key departures from last year made the Bears more inexperienced coming into this season, but the youth of the 2013 team has matured quickly.

"I think we've gelled stronger than the past couple national championships we played in," Barrett said. "We're a lot younger. I think the way we came together is probably better than any team I've been part of in my five years at Cal."

Maybe had she been recruited, she wouldn't have worked so hard. Maybe had she not lived in a remote village in Paraguay, she wouldn't have learned the joys of perseverance. Maybe had she never discovered she enjoyed pushing the boundaries, she wouldn't be Cal's third-leading scorer right now.

Junior Amelia Burke, a walk-on from Marin County, is thriving as a member of Cal's lacrosse team. The Bears enter tomorrow's Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Tournament in Eugene, Ore. one win shy of their best win total since 2005, and Burke is a big reason why.

And Burke says she likely never would have been in this position if it weren't for the off-the-field experiences that have shaped her - most specifically, experiences that have made her realize she likes being out of her comfort zone, likes weathering many storms before tasting success, likes attaining what is seemingly unattainable.

Those realizations started in earnest after her junior year at Redwood High School in Larkspur, when, at the urging of her parents Katie and Jim, Burke spent the summer in a small village in Paraguay called Ciraty as part of the AMIGOS program, which sends youth abroad to promote development through community service. Burke found herself living with a family in what amounts to a shack with no running water or electricity.

"That kind of started to make me realize I'm a person that really likes to be pushed and out of their comfort zone," Burke said. "The trip definitely made me realize the rush I got from those sorts of experiences - having a very hard experience but persevering through them. I like being in an uncomfortable position and keep pushing until you can get where you want to be."

While in Ciraty, Burke was enlisted to help build fogones, a type of wood-burning stove that helps contain more smoke and thus lessens the amount of potentially harmful emissions being inhaled by the community's women. Burke also taught youth classes on topics like dental hygiene and helpful nutrients that can be found in plants.

Burke said while she was in Ciraty, she made an effort to fully invest in the people's culture. They spoke Spanish as well as Guarani, an indigenous language of South America. They also spent their afternoons outside drinking Terere, a Yerba Mate tea served cold.

"It's a very communal drink that people sit in the afternoon in a circle and pass it around," Burke said. "They have a very chill atmosphere. A lot of them said they want to live in America. I wanted to tell them, 'No, you have a pretty nice setup here.'"

Burke says the Paraguay experience definitely helped her when it came time to try out for Cal's lacrosse team as a walk-on during the summer after she graduated from Redwood.

"I was a walk-on here," Burke said. "That's something that I'm really proud of - taking situations that may seem out of my reach and trying to be successful with them."

When it came time to make plans for the summer after her freshman year at Cal, Burke had the itch once again to try something different. Her older sister, Gwen, received a grant to do some volunteer work in Peru, so Burke decided she would tag along. With assistance from her older brother, Jim, who had worked extensively in South America with microfinance institutions, Burke landed a position with Arariwa, a lender in the Cusco region of Peru.

Working with Kiva Fellows, a prestigious group of volunteers that work at alleviating poverty worldwide by granting loans to the underprivileged, Arariwa sought out borrowers in Cusco that had interest in furthering their education or starting a business. Burke's job was to interview the potential borrowers and then post their stories on Kiva's website for people to read, and then hopefully, pledge money.

"It was really difficult," Burke said. "I honestly don't think I was qualified enough to do it. I was conducting the interviews in Spanish. I'm pretty fluent but it can get pretty specific. I would write down words in my notebook and try to sound them out and try to get Google to translate them after."

Most of Burke's interviews were done on-site, meaning she would bus to someone's town or home and sometimes be faced with groups of borrowers numbering 20-30 people.

"I would walk in and try to interview each person and explain why I am there," Burke said. "They're wondering what this young-looking white girl is doing there. I feel like I can speak to any human on this earth after that experience."

The summer in Ciraty was the introduction to the world outside Burke's comfort zone. Her experience in Cusco simply confirmed her passion for spending time outside the normal box.

"In sports, I like the underdog position and having a purpose," Burke said. "The most rewarding part of my experience in Peru and Paraguay, and in sports here too, is having a larger goal. That's something that is really enticing to me - doing something that matters and having really hard experiences every day and not really thinking you can do it, those experiences where you questioned yourself. There were so many times in Peru where I just didn't want to walk into that room full of 20 people and explain what I was doing there. But then you would complete those tasks and it was awesome. I get so much satisfaction from that."

Thirty years ago, Cal men's golf coach Steve Desimone took the Bears to their first-ever Pac-10 Tournament and they finished dead last by over 170 strokes.

Monday morning on the Los Angeles Country Club North Course - the same links that hosted that 1983 event - the No. 1 Bears will begin attempting to defend their first-ever Pac-12 title and tie an unofficial NCAA record with their 10^th tournament victory of the 2012-13 season.

"To have the opportunity to defend our championship there and win a 10^th tournament at L.A. North - I just kind of close my eyes and pinch myself and see if we can pull this off," Desimone said.

Watching the Bears these days, it doesn't seem possible they were once the doormats of the conference. The 2012-13 Cal men's golf team is one of the best ever in the history of college golf. Not only are the Bears on the cusp of tying the mark for most tournament wins in a season, they feature five golfers ranked in the top-26 in the country. That includes the nation's No. 1 golfer in sophomore Michael Kim, who has won four tournaments this season and is a candidate for the Haskins Award and national semifinalist for the Ben Hogan Award.

Junior Michael Weaver missed two tournaments earlier this month because he was competing in the Masters after finishing as the runner-up in last year's U.S. Amateur. Weaver, who will also compete at the U.S. Open in June, is the third-best Cal golfer in terms of ranking.

"I told the guys in September that I think we are the best team in the country," Desimone said. "But not in my wildest dreams did I think we'd be one away from tying the all-time record."

Despite the Bears' regular season accomplishments, Desimone acknowledges now is the time to really perform. Cal is favored to repeat as Pac-12 champions, then must finish in the top-five of the NCAA Regionals to return to the NCAA Championships. Last season, the Bears advanced to the NCAA semifinals before falling to Alabama.

"We have some unfinished business," Desimone said. "We have to take this as a step-by-step process. I think everybody understands that this is when legends are made, legacies are made. This is when it happens."

While the Bears are the prohibitive favorite to win the Pac-12 Tournament, the conference features a strong field. There are four other teams ranked in the top-10.

Like most corners of the globe, it's all about soccer in Denmark.

Except for the Konigsfeldt family.

Christoffer Konigsfeldt had a tennis racket in his hand before he could walk. His parents, Pernille and Thomas, were both tennis players. Both of Konigsfeldt's older brothers also played.

Tennis was a way of life in the Konigsfeldt home in Rungsted Kyst, a coastal suburb outside Copenhagen. Christoffer also played soccer for awhile as a young child, but it was a lost cause.

"I used to play in a (soccer) club, but I gave it up when I was 13 or 14," said Konigsfeldt, now a senior on Cal's men's tennis team. "I didn't have time for both tennis and soccer. At that time, I was already one of the top players in the country in tennis. I wasn't as good at soccer."

It appears as though Konigsfeldt chose the right sport. He became a member of Denmark's Davis Cup team last year and is the Bears' No. 2 singles player. He also teams up with junior Campbell Johnson to form Cal's No. 1 doubles team.

The Bears are in Ojai this weekend for the Pac-12 Championships after finishing in a tie for second place in the regular season standings. Third-seeded Cal will meet Utah in a second-round showdown on Thursday.

"Chris has a level of experience where he's used to playing in front of a hostile crowd or a really vocal crowd," Cal coach Peter Wright said. "He's not afraid of the spotlight. He's one of the guys, when we play a big match, he really gets up for it. When it comes to crunch time, he is a guy that we want to have out there in singles and doubles."

Konigsfeldt says in a small country like Denmark, the competition thins out pretty quickly at the highest level of tennis. When he got to Cal, he began facing better players more consistently.

"The competition is way higher here," he said. "In Denmark, at my age, we probably have three or four players that can compete. Here, it's hundreds, maybe a thousand that can compete at a high level. At home, you see the same three guys every weekend in the finals. Here, you see new guys all the time that can play. It's more exciting."

That being said, Konigsfeldt said playing Davis Cup is the ultimate accomplishment for a tennis player. And even though tennis itself may not be part of Denmark's daily mindset, it's a source of pride for him.

"It's not a huge deal. It's all about soccer in Denmark," Konigsfeldt said. "But you're representing your country. I was a ballkid for Davis Cup when I was growing up. I was always chasing the players for autographs. Suddenly, I'm the one the little kids are chasing. It's quite different."

Konigsfeldt has been to five Davis Cup matches with Denmark and played singles in two of them. He won a relegation playoff match in Finland last October and then was forced to skip Cal's match against Pacific in February to play in Romania, where he lost in a first-round contest.

Konigsfeldt said tennis has started to gain more popularity in Denmark since native Caroline Wozniacki ascended to No. 1 in the world in the women's game a couple years ago.

"For any tennis player, the Davis Cup is the biggest accomplishment," Konigsfeldt said.

The Bears enter the weekend ranked No. 18 in the country despite losing one of their top players, Riki McLachlan, to a knee injury early in the spring season. With contributions from players like McLachlan's brother, Ben, Konigsfeldt, Johnson and Gregory Bayane, Cal has been able to remain competitive with some of the best programs in the country. The Bears have knocked off No. 4 Duke and No. 11 Florida this season.

"The part that I'm really excited about is our guys really accepted the challenge and we've had some tremendous performances," Wright said. "We finished tied for second in the Pac-12, which is overachieving with this group of guys. We have a really good team, but for what we've been doing, I think the guys are just playing incredibly well as a unit."