Did Saturday's Loss Ruin Cal's Bid to Reach Baseball Postseason?

Was Cal’s 6-5 loss to 10th-ranked Oregon on Saturday the Bears’ final game of the season?

Will the Bears be invited to the 64-team NCAA baseball postseason tournament when the berths are announced on Monday?

Did Saturday’s loss ruin Cal’s bid for a postseason berth?

D1 Baseball’s projection of the 64-team field posted on Thursday had Cal in the postseason tournament. Barely. Cal was listed as the fifth team among the final five teams in, giving the Bears the final at-large berth in the postseason event.

However, Baseball America’s projections of the 64 berths posted Friday did not have Cal in the field, nor did it have Cal among the eight teams that were barely left out.

That was before Cal's series with the Ducks, who are 16th in the current RPI rankings.

The Bears finished the regular season 29-26 overall and 15-15 in the Pac-12. Cal is just 87th in the RPI rankings. Cal finished seventh in the Pac-12 standings, and the six teams ahead of the Bears – Arizona, Oregon, Stanford, Oregon State, UCLA and Arizona State – are all expected to receive bids to the NCAA playoffs.

There was a belief that two Cal wins in the three-game series in Berkeley against the nationally ranked Ducks might be enough to get the Bears into the postseason.

Oregon won Thursday’s game, Cal won on Friday, and Oregon won a tight game on Saturday, with the turning point being Cal’s inability to score in a bases-loaded, one-out situation with its best hitter coming to the plate in the eighth inning.

Cal trailed 5-4 at the time, and it was Dylan Beavers at the plate with the bases jammed and one out. Beavers had hit three home runs over the first two games of the series, giving him the Pac-12 lead with 18 homers.

But facing Oregon’s top reliever, Andrew Mosiello, Beavers hit a ground ball to first that was turned into a forceout at the plate. Nathan Martorella then struck out looking for the final out.

Oregon added a run in the top of the ninth, and Cal’s Quentin Selma countered that with his 16th homer of the season in the bottom of the ninth to cut the margin to 6-5. After Keshawn Ogans kept the game alive with a two-out single, Cole Elvis flied out to center to end the game, and perhaps Cal’s season.

The odds are against the Bears making the postseason field now, but they will be eager viewers of the selection show, which will be televised by ESPN2 on Monday starting at 9 a.m. Pacific time.

NCAA Regional play begins Friday.

Cover photo of Quentin Selma by Andrew Madsen, KLC Fotos

Follow Jake Curtis of Cal Sports Report on Twitter: @jakecurtis53

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