Cal Softball Has Won 13 in a Row. Bears Up in Two Top-25 Polls, Down in Two Others
Cal softball has won 13 games in a row and was 5-0 in games played last week, yet the Bears fell in two of the four major polls released this week.
Cal (15-1) is ranked No. 22 this week by the Softball America site after being No. 21 last week, and the Bears are 24th in the D1 Softball top-25 after being 22nd a week ago..
However, the Bears rose in two other major polls. They are No. 24 in the ESPN/USA Softball top-25 after being unranked a week ago, and Cal moved up one spot to No. 20 in the USA TODAY/NFCA rankings.
Cal won all five games in the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic in Cathedral City, California, over the weekend. The Beats beat Illinois, Hawaii, Seattle, Long Beach State and Cal Poly in a three-day span.
The Bears will find out just how good they are this weekend in the DeMarini Invitational at Stanford. Cal is scheduled to play four games in that event, including games on Friday and Saturday against Southeastern Conference powerhouse Georgia. Georgia is ranked No. 3 in this week’s College Softball rankings and is the top-ranked team from the SEC, generally considered the top softball conference in the country.
Cal is also scheduled to face Boise State (11-5) twice in this weekend’s event.
Before facing Georgia, the Bears host UC Davis on Wednesday.
Pac-12 play begins March 8 with a game against Oregon.
Four other Pac-12 teams are ranked in this week’s polls. In the Softball America top 25 Stanford is seventh, Washington is eighth, Arizona is 15th and UCLA is No. 23.
Cal’s top hitter at the moment is Elon Butler, who has a .474 batting average with six home runs.
Pitcher Anna Reimers is 3-0 with a 1.27 ERA, and Randi Roellinbg is 6-1 with a 2.00 ERA.
Cover photo of Lagi Quiroga by Peter Fukumae
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