Cal Pits Its Home Run Prowess Against No. 2 Seed Stanford in Pac-12 Tourney Opener

The Bears have slugged 77 home runs - most in the conference and second-most in program history.

Cal slugger Lagi Quiroga / Photo by Kelley L. Cox, KLC foto

Cal’s softball team, whose 77 home runs this season are the most in the Pac-12, won two of three games vs. Oregon State to close out the Pac-12 regular season as the No. 7 seed into the conference tournament.

The 19th-ranked Bears (36-16, 9-13) will face second-seeded Stanford (42-12, 17-7) on Thursday at 12:30 p.m. at the Cardinal’s Boyd and Jill Smith Family Stadium in the single-elimination event.

Cal’s home run total is also second-most in program history, trailing only the 84 the Bears hit in 2012. 

Adding to their total against Stanford will be challenging, assuming the 

Bears face sophomore ace NiJarre Canady, who is 17-4 with an 0.61 earned run average and 243 strikeouts in 158.2 innings. She allowed just five homers all season, and didn’t surrender a run against Cal in nine innings.

The Bears won the first two games of the weekend series vs. Oregon State, including by a 9-0 run-rule margin on Friday. Cal hit four home runs in the decisive fifth inning, including three in a row by Lagi Quiraga, Tatum Anzaldo and Tianna Bell and a three-run shot by Mika Lee.

Cal won 3-1 on Saturday, with Quiroga clubbing a 2-run homer in the bottom of the fifth to break 1-1 tie. Elon Butler hit her 16th home run earlier.

Quiroga hit her 16th homer on Sunday to tie Butler for the Pac-12 lead, but the Bears lost 6-5.