May 30, 2011

BERKELEY -

The California baseball team (31-20, 13-13 in the Pac-10) has received an at-large berth into the NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament for the third time in the last four years under head coach David Esquer and will compete in the Houston, Texas Regional, hosted June 3-5 at Rice's Reckling Park.

The Golden Bears enter the Houston Regional as the No. 3-seeded team and will face No. 2-seeded Baylor (29-26) on Friday, June 3 at 2 p.m. CT (noon PT). It is Cal's fourth NCAA regional berth since 2001 (2001, 2008, 2010, 2011) and the first time in school history Cal baseball has made an NCAA regional in three of four years. It is the program's 12th NCAA regional berth all-time.

The other two teams in the Houston Regional include No. 1-seeded Rice (41-19) and No. 4-seeded Alcorn State (27-28), who will play at 6 p.m. CT (4 p.m. PT). Earlier this season Cal defeated the Rice Owls, 7-6 in 15 innings, March 12 during the Cal Baseball Classic held at AT&T Park.

"I can't begin to describe how proud I am of our guys," said Esquer, who is in his 12th season directing the Bears, and whose program was in jeopardy of being discontinued after the 2011 season before an impressive fundraising effort enabled the team to be reinstated. "To be able to qualify for a regional under the circumstances the team was under speaks highly of the character of these players. To be able to qualify for a regional three of the last four years for the first time in school history is also something I am very proud of."

More info to come...