Feb. 17, 2011

BERKELEY -

Cal baseball fans will get an opportunity to share in the San Francisco Giants' celebration of their 2010 World Championship as Evans Diamond and the University of California has been selected as one of the sites of the Giants' World Series Trophy Tour. On Sunday, Feb. 20, beginning at approximately 12:30 p.m., fans will be able to view, and have their photo taken, of the championship trophy.

The trophy will be displayed along the picnic area down the Evans Diamond left field line.

"It is an honor to have the World Series trophy come to Evans Diamond," said Cal coach David Esquer. "It is exciting to be able to share in the Giants' celebration with our fans. I would like to thank Larry Baer and the Giants for including us as one of their stops on their World Series Trophy Tour. It will be wonderful for the kids in the area and for all Golden Bear baseball fans coming out to our game Sunday."

The 2011 Cal program, ranked 17th in Baseball America's preseason poll, returns three All-Pac-10 players (junior catcher Chadd Krist, sophomore left-hander Justin Jones, sophomore second baseman Tony Renda) and has an incoming class ranked 11th nationally by Baseball America. Under the direction of Esquer, the Bears have qualified for the NCAA Tournament two of the last three years.

Last season Cal (29-25) received an at-large berth into the NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament and entered the Norman, Oklahoma Regional as the No. 2-seeded team. Also, during the 2010 season, the Bears recorded three sweeps against Pac-10 opponents (Arizona, USC, Oregon State) and had victories over Top-25 opponents Rice, Arkansas and Stanford; reaching a top ranking of 15th in the nation by both Baseball America and Collegiate Baseball.

Besides 2010 first-team All-Pac-10 players Krist, Jones and Renda, Cal showcases juniors Marcus Semien (shortstop), Erik Johnson (right-hander) and Danny Oh (outfielder) who were selected honorable mention all-league as sophomores in 2010. Additionally, Jones and Renda were tabbed as Freshman All-Americans, the first time in school history Cal had two players in the same season earn freshman All-America honors.

The Bears open their 2011 season Feb. 18-20 with a three-game series versus Utah at Evans Diamond. Game times are 1:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 18, and 1 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 19 and Sunday, Feb. 20.