Thursday, April 21
3 p.m. - No. 11/10 Stanford (31-8, 5-4 Pac-10) at No. 12 California (28-8, 5-4 Pac-10)
Levine-Fricke Field - Berkeley
Series Record vs. the Cardinal: 56-23
Last Meeting: W, 6-0 (4/3/10)
Coverage: Gametracker, Twitter
Promotions: Youth free
Friday, April 22
3 p.m. - No. 11/10 Stanford (31-8, 5-4 Pac-10) at No. 12 California (28-8, 5-4 Pac-10)
Levine-Fricke Field - Berkeley
Coverage: Gametracker, Twitter
Promotions: Youth free, softball bingo, SAAC Bear Day
Saturday, April 23
1 p.m. - No. 11/10 Stanford (31-8, 5-4 Pac-10) at No. 12 California (28-8, 5-4 Pac-10)
Levine-Fricke Field - Berkeley
Coverage: Gametracker, Twitter
Promotions: Youth free, kids run the bases, post-game autographs, first 100 kids get stuffed Bears
BERKELEY - In its second to last home series, No. 12 California (28-8 overall, 5-4 in the Pac-10 Conference) welcomes No. 11/10 Stanford (31-8, 5-4 in the Pac-10) for its annual rivalry series. The Big Game - or the first of three Big Games - kicks off a day earlier than usual on Thursday, April 21 at 3 p.m. The match on Friday, April 21 starts at 3 p.m. as well before the Big Game(s) conclude Saturday, April 22 at 1 p.m. Youth in 12th grade or lower are free so come on down!
Parking Advisory
Parking will be extremely limited at Levine-Fricke Field. There are a limited number of spots to park at Levine-Fricke Field, but parking is available at the Underhill Lot. As with all of the previous home games, a shuttle will run to and from Underhill Lot. For complete information, please click here/
Henderson Gets Double the Weekly Accolades
After tallying three wins and one save last week to guide the Bears to a 4-0 record, including three wins over then-No. 17 Oregon, sophomore pitcher
Jolene Henderson of California earned the privilege of being the NFCA National Player of the Week as well as the Pac-10 Pitcher of the Week. Over the four-game stretch, the sophomore allowed no earned runs off of 15 hits, while striking out 23 and walking only five. Henderson ended the week with a 0.00 ERA, an opponent's batting average of .190 and a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage. The native of Elk Grove, Calif., struck out seven batters in each of her three wins on the week and added an additional two in her three-inning appearance during the series finale with Oregon, in which she registered her first save of the season and the fourth of her career. Henderson also recorded two shutouts on the week, which moved her to 10 total on the season. She entered the week tied for fifth in the nation in shutouts.
Briefly on the Bears
- Cal went 4-0 last week, highlighted by a series sweep of then-No. 17 Oregon
- The Bears hosted Saint Mary's on April 13 and cruised to a 9-1 mercy win
- Last week, Britt Vonk paced the Bears by batting .667 with a team-high on-base percentage of .750
- Lindsey Ziegenhirt tallied a team-best six RBI and two homers in four games
- Arianna Erceg earned her second college win over No. 17 Oregon on Sunday
- Henderson tallied a 0.00 ERA in four games last week, limiting opposing batters to .190
- The Bears moved to above .500 for the first time in Pac-10 play thanks to the wins over Oregon
- Thanks to those wins, Cal moved up one spot from 13 to 12 in both national polls
Ziegenhirt Nets Two Weekly Awards
Lindsey Ziegenhirt sprung to life at an important time - hitting .500 in a key week of home games, helping Cal to a series sweep of No. 17 Oregon, making her this week's Pac-10 Player of the Week and CalBears.com's Muscle Milk Student-Athlete of the Week. In four games last week, Ziegenhirt led the team in slugging (1.375), RBI (six), total bases (11) and walks (four) and she was second in hitting (.500) and on-base percentage (.667) in addition to owning a perfect fielding percentage. Her best performance came Sunday, when the Ducks scored their first runs in 14 innings and Ziegenhirt's Bears were down, 2-0, in the bottom of the first in the last game of the series. With the bases loaded, doubled down the right-field line, just inches fair, to clear the bases and give Cal a key 3-2 lead. In the bottom of the sixth in the same game, with the Bears up 4-2, After fouling off four pitches, Ziegenhirt smacked the ball to the stands in center field to put the Bears up by three. In the series opener on Friday, Ziegenhirt tallied an incredible three walks. Also on Friday, with a 2-0 count to start the bottom of the fourth, Ziegenhirt went deep - at least 230 feet to center - for her fourth homer of the year - distancing the Bears, 3-0. The Elk Grove, Calif., also drove in an RBI in the key nonconference win over Saint Mary's on Wednesday.
Probable Starters - Quick Notes
P: #52 Jolene Henderson - Is fourth in the country in ERA (0.78)
C: #17 Lindsey Ziegenhirt - Almost doubled her homer count with two last week
1B: #4 Alex Robben - Started all four games last week at first
2B: #10 Victoria Jones - Is tied for third on the team with 10 walks
3B: #7 Jace Williams - Outstanding ball played at third last weekend
SS: #18 Britt Vonk - Second of the starters with a .404 average
LF: #3 Jamia Reid - Scored a team-high three runs vs. Saint Mary's
CF: #1 Frani Echavarria - Knocked in four RBI last week
RF: #5 Elia Reid - Is a perfect 4-for-4 in steals
RF: #23 Ashley Decker - Hit the RBI single that ended the game over Saint Mary's in a win
Probable Reserves - Quick Notes
PH/3B: #22 Amy Bishop - Earned her first collegiate hit vs. Indiana (Feb. 13), pinch hit vs. Sac State
P: #7 Arianna Erceg - Earned the win over Oregon on April 17
C: #6 Taylor Vincent - Pinch hit vs. SMC and got a hit
P/1B: #12 Cassandra Vega - Owns a .667 batting average in six at bats
IF/PR: #33 Diane Leider - Cal's go-to pinch runner with one RBI over Saint Mary's
OF: #24 LaRisa Jones - Got a hit and played right field as a sub against the Gaels
LF: #3 Jamia Reid - Named the California Muscle Milk Student-Athlete of the Week on March 14
1B: #2 Jordan Wallace - Had a walk-off walk to upset the Sun Devils
Last Week on the Diamond
Cal cruised and battled its way - yes, at the same time - to a 4-0 record last week. On April 13, the Bears took on East Bay rival Saint Mary's, and got a 9-1 victory. Cal earned three wins over Oregon to complete the week.
Leading the Way
-Batting: Cassandra Vega at .667 in six at bats while Jamia Reid leads the starters (.447)
-Slugging: Vega is again tops amongst all players at .667 with Reid topping starters at .628
-Runs scored: Britt Vonk continues to prove worthy of the second spot with 33
-Hits: Jamia Reid and Vonk are tied with 42 apiece
-RBI: A new leader, Jace Williams has 25 with Jolene Henderson and Lindsey Ziegenhirt behind her with 21
-ERA: It's no surprise the Henderson tops this category with 0.78
-Versus Left-Handers: The freshmen are paving the way with LaRisa Jones and Vega hitting .500 and Ashley Decker at .400
Number Talk
-Cal is 22-5 when scoring first and 6-3 when the opponent scores first
-The Bears hit .293 on April 15, which was their best in a Pac-10 Conference game
-The third inning is the magic one for the Bears are 23-3 when leading after the third
-The longest winning streak of the season is 12 games (March 4-March 19)
-The Bears' past four games have not been played to the typical seven innings with two five-inning wins, an eight-inning and then six-inning losses
-Cal's three-homer performance against UW was just short of the season high of four but the second time the Bears knocked out three in a game
Road Warriors
The Bears did not play within the friendly confines of Levine-Fricke Field in the serene setting of Strawberry Canyon in Berkeley until April 1, when Cal opened Pac-10 play with a three-game homestand against Arizona State. Until April Fool's Day, the Bears played all of their games on the road and now owns a 22-7 road record.
The Bears Versus Ranked Completion
With a series sweep over the Ducks, Cal moves to 8-4 against ranked opponents.
- Feb. 18 vs. No. 8 Missouri: W, 1-0
- Feb. 25 vs. No. 20 LSU: W, 11-3
- March 18 vs. No. 20/16 Hawaii: W, 3-1
- April 1 vs. No. 4 Arizona State: L, 3-1
- April 2 vs. No. 4 Arizona State: L, 7-2
- April 3 vs. No. 4 Arizona State: W, 3-2
- April 8 vs. No. 6/7 Washington: W, 10-5 (5)
- April 9 vs. No. 6/7 Washington: L, 2-1 (8)
- April 10 vs. No. 6/7 Washington: L, 9-1 (6)
- April 15 vs. No. 17 Oregon: W, 5-0
- April 16 vs. No. 17 Oregon: W, 2-0
- April 17 vs. No. 17 Oregon: W, 5-2
Last Time Versus the Cardinal
The first game of the season went down in quite a dramatic fashion on April 1, when Jenna Rich hit a game-winning single to give Stanford the 1-0 extra-innings win. Though Stanford took the middle game - a 5-1 seven-inning loss on April 2 - California left its mark on the series the final game. The Bear took a 2-0 lead in the top of the first and went up 4-0 in the third. Jamia Reid tripled in the fourth to give Cal its final 6-0 lead.
The Hot Corner With Jace
This season, junior Jace Williams is gracing CalBears.com with an amazingly written blog called the Hot Corner. Published each Monday morning, barring any 10-page papers due for school, Williams will write about anything that suits her - life in Berkeley, recently played games, school, her hilarious teammates and more. Be sure to check out CalBears.com on Mondays to read all about it. You can be the first to know of new entries by following the Bears on Twitter and Facebook.
- After going 4-0 last week, junior third baseman Jace Williams has a lot to talk about in this week's blog entry. She also backs up the name of her blog by describing the antics at third base last weekend, including a "Matrix"-esque, back-bending move.
It's Awards Season
NFCA National Player of the Week
Jolene Henderson (April 11-17)
Pac-10 Conference Pitcher of the Week
Jolene Henderson (Feb. 14-20)
Jolene Henderson (March 7-13)
Jolene Henderson (April 11-17)
Pac-10 Conference Player of the Week
Elia Reid (Feb. 28-March 6)
Lindsey Ziegenhirt (April 11-17)
California Muscle Milk Student-Athlete of the Week
Elia Reid (Feb. 28-March 6)
Jamia Reid (March 7-13)
Lindsey Ziegenhirt (April 11-17)
USA Softball Player of the Year Watch List
Valerie Arioto
Jamia Reid
Next Week on the Diamond
The Bears close out an incredible 11-game homestand with their final four games at Levine-Fricke Field. Cal kicks off the week with a Wednesday, April 27 tilt against Santa Clara at 3 p.m. The last home Pac-10 series starts Friday, April 29 at 3 p.m. versus defending national champion UCLA. The Bears and their baby sister Bruins continue Saturday, April 30 at 1 p.m. and close the series at noon on Sunday, April 31. Sunday will be a great day to bring the kids
