Cal Eliminated from Pac-12 Softball Tournament

Cal was eliminated from the Pac-12 softball tournament on Thursday by losing its quarterfinal matchup with 21st-ranked Utah 6-2 in Tucson, Ariz., but the Bears' season probably is not over.

This was the first year the Pac-12 held a postseason conference tournament in softball, and Cal (33-19-1) made an early departure in this single-elimination event.

However, Cal entered the tournament with an RPI ranking of No. 29, so the Bears are expected to get a berth in the 64-team NCAA tournament. The selection show for the NCAA event is Sunday at 4 p.m. Pacific time on ESPN2. Cal is likely to be seeded second or third in one of the 16 four-team regionals to begin the NCAA playoffs.

Cal was hoping to perform better in the conference tournament, since it had beaten Utah (33-13) in two of the three games they played during the regular season. But the Utes took control of the game when they scored five runs in the bottom of the first inning.

Cal starting pitcher Haylei Archer did not record an out as she gave up two hits and two walks to the first four batters. She left after giving up a two-run double to Sophie Jacquez, and was replaced by Sona Halajian, who gave up two more runs, both of which were charged to Archer (9-9).

Acacia Anders had two of Cal’s seven hits, and Makena Smith had the Bears’ only RBI with a run-scoring single in the seventh inning. But the Bears could not overcome the early deficit.

Smith leads the team in home runs (14), RBIs (44) and slugging percentage (.691), and she is second in batting average at .352.

Sydney Sandez pitched a complete game for Utah to get the victory and improve her record to 13-5.

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