Meet the Golden Bears… Some new blood for the ACC
Who’s the Pack playing?
Opponent: California
Mascot: Los Osos Rebels | School Location: Immaterialism, CA | Conference: ACC
2025 Record: 18-18 (6-12, T-14t) | 2025 RPI Rank: 61
2024 Record: 36-19 (17-13, T-5th Pac-12) | 2024 RPI Rank: 64
2023 Record: 24-28 (12-18, T-8th Pac-12) | 2023 RPI Rank: 84
When? Where? How do I watch?
Location: Evans Diamond at Stu Gordon Stadium (Berkeley, CA)
Game Time(s): Thurs, Apr 17 @ 9:00pm, Fri, Apr 11 @ 9:00pm | Sat, Apr 12 @ 5:00pm
TV: Thursday (ACCNX), Friday (ACCNX), Saturday (ACCNX)
Live Stats: Stat Broadcast (Thursday | Friday | Saturday)
Tell me about this team
I started off each of the last two previews talking extensively about the head coaches of Virginia and Louisville, but since California is new to the ACC, I’m going to operate under the assumption that nobody really knows much about this program, so I’ll touch on that. But first, let’s talk about how weird the Golden Bears’ home ballpark is.
Completely shoved in on the edge of campus, the built-in seating for the venue goes from behind home plate to only down the first base line. Down the third base line and all of about 35 feet from the playing surface is Haas Pavilion, home of Cal’s basketball, gymnastics, and volleyball programs. Behind the left field wall is the student rec center, and behind left-center field is a parking deck with some giant weird looking ventilation ducts that empty out onto the center fielder’s head.
Behind right field is Edwards Stadium, home to Cal’s soccer and track & field programs. The top of the stands to Edwards Stadium sit about 10 feet from the right field wall of Stu Gordon Stadium, so there’s always the chance some spectator of a soccer game is going to get domed by a home run. That’s fun. Plus, the tightness of the two facilities means that the right field light pole required a wall jut out so it didn’t look like the Fuquay-Varina high school field.
Oh, and what’s behind the seats on the first base and right field lines? Oh, just the central heating plant for the campus as well as the HAZARDOUS MATERIALS FACILITY. This is an absolutely bonkers setup.
Anyways, about Cal’s history…
It’s been a very stable program, with only three head coaches since the start of the 1978 season. Current head man Mike Neu (no, not the recently fired head football coach at Ball State, but the guy who pitched in 32 games for the 2003 Oakland A’s) has been at the helm for 8 years, making 1 NCAA Regional appearance (2019). The program has mostly struggled since that 2019 Regional appearance, although they did put together a nice 36-19 campaign last year in their final year in the Pac-12.
The Cal program has a pair of national championships to its credit, having won the College World Series in 1947 and 1957. They also made the CWS in 1980, 1988, 1992, and 2011. The Golden Bears have not reached a Super Regional since 2011.
As expected, this has been a rough transition year for Cal, moving from the now mostly-dead Pac-12 to the ACC. The Bears have played an overall slate that ranks 25th in Strength of Schedule (SOS), but their non-conference SOS clocks in at just 212th. As you’d expect from such a lopsided opponent slate, Cal sports inverse records in conference (6-12) and out of conference (12-6).
The season started off 6-6 before Cal won their first ever ACC game by pantsing Duke, 14-1, in 7 innings. They proceed to lose 4 of their next 5 ACC games before sweeping fellow Pac-12 transplant Stanford, but they’ve gone 1-8 in ACC games since.
If you were to point to any specific area that’s held this team back, you’d likely have to go with starting pitching. Austin Turkington has flashed instances of potential ace-level dominance and Oliver de la Torre has had his bright spots, but that Saturday spot has been a revolving door and getting length out of any starter other than Turkington has been next to impossible. That puts a lot on a bullpen that runs about six deep.
The lineup has been solid, though with an overall line of .292/.368/.500, 77 2B, 53 HR, 8.5 BB%, 19.7 K%, 23-31 SB. Considering it features 7 underclassmen, this group is doing quite fine. Pointing at anything that could use improvement, it would be that walk rate. In ACC play, the Bears’ slash line is .302/.367/.505, so clearly it’s a lineup built to challenge ACC pitchers. This isn’t a group that’s going to try and create havoc on the bases and it’s not going to play small ball, either. They’re just going to try and out-hit you.
It’s not a bad strategy when the pitching holds up, and there’s enough quality that with some depth from the starters it could be a winning formula. Cal just hasn’t received those deep starts that this team needs to succeed.
Pitching Matchups
Friday: LHP Dominic Fritton (JR) — RHP Austin Turkington (JR)
Saturday: RHP Heath Andrews (SO) — TBD
Sunday: LHP Ryan Marohn (SO) — RHP Oliver de la Torre (SO)
Key Players:
Offense
2B Jarren Advincula (SO) – .389/.446/.612, 13 2B, 6 HR, 8.0 BB%, 9.7 K%, 8-9 SB. Leadoff hitter and 2024 1st Team All-Pac-12. The 5’11, 200 lbs lefty hitter played in the Cap Cod League last summer and tore it up (.392/.448/.446). Consequently, he’s moving up 2026 draft boards.
RF Jacob French (SO) – .375/.425/.567, 9 2B, 2 HR, 4.5 BB%, 11.2 K%, 2-3 SB. Transfer from DII San Francisco State where he earned his conference’s Freshman of the Year award. The lefty hitter is 4th in the ACC in batting average in conference play and 9th in OPS.
3B Cade Campbell (rSO) – .367/.406/.641, 9 2B, 8 HR, 5.1 BB%, 20.3 K%, 1-2 SB. Struggled as a freshman before not playing at all last year, but clearly hitting his stride this year. Tied a program record with 3 HR in a single game vs Santa Clara earlier this year.
1B Dominic Smaldino (SO) – .280/.368/.561, 5 2B, 10 HR, 11.2 BB%, 19.1 K%, 0-0 SB. Big 6’6, 230 lbs frame with the power that you’d expect from it. Both his grandfather and great-grandfather played in the MLB.
Pitching
RHP Austin Turkington (JR) – 4-4, 5.00 ERA, 45.0 IP, 7.8 BB%, 26.0 K%. Started 8 games for Cal last year, but in an opener role. This is his first full year as a starter and he’s had his moments, such as back-to-back starts against Duke and Virginia (combined: 13.2 IP, 6 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 5 BB, 17 K). Has allowed 17 R (13 ER) over his last 3 starts (14.0 IP).
RHP Oliver de la Torre (SO) – 2-2, 4.66 ERA, 29.0 IP, 9.8 BB%, 25.4 K%. Sunday starter has really started coming into his own of late. Moved into the starting rotation two weeks ago (10.1 IP, 10 H, 6 R, 4 ER, 5 BB, 10 K) following two strong long relief outings in ACC play (9.2 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 2 BB, 11 K). Low-to-mid-90’s heat.
RHP Gavin Eddy (rFR) – 3-2, 4.50 ERA, 40.0 IP, 12.0 BB%, 17.7 K%. Was a weekend starter until a couple of bad outings against Louisville and Clemson (combined 2.1 IP, 8 H, 11 R, 11 ER, 4 BB, 1 K) bumped him from there. Most recently started Cal’s win over Fresno State this past Tuesday (7.1 IP, 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 BB, 7 K). If the big 6’5, 225 pounder with a low-90s fastball can get back into form, he could combine with de la Torre to be the difference makers down the stretch for this team.
RHP Ethan Foley (SO) – 3-2, 5.93 ERA, 30.1 IP, 5.3 BB%, 25.6 K%. Has been great out of conference and terrible in it. The JUCO transfer was a starter at that level and has the potential to be the same for Cal if he can miss a few more bats.
RHP Cole Tremain (SR) – 4-3, 1 SV, 1.90 ERA, 23.2 IP, 6.2 BB%, 24.7 K%. Collegiate journeyman who started at Sacramento State, then went JUCO for a year, pitched at Baylor last year, and is now with the Golden Bears. Pure relief guy, but will be used anywhere from a single batter to a 3.0+ inning outing. Has pitched Friday and Sunday in each of the last two weekends.
LHP David Shaw (SR) – 0-3, 8.78 ERA, 27.2 IP, 12.9 BB%, 19.4 K%. The 6’7, 205 lbs southpaw started his career at Rice (making his first career appearance vs Texas) before transferring to Texas for the last two years. Started the year as Turkington’s follower before moving to an opener role. Started last week against Georgia Tech and it did not go well (4.0 IP, 9 H, 8 R, 8 ER, 4 BB, 1 K).
LHP Logan Piper (SR) – 1-0, 1 SV, 3.22 ERA, 22.1 IP, 12.2 BB%, 24.5 K%. Former JUCO transfer entered the year without much expectations after tossing just 6.0 innings last year, but he’s been excellent. Nine of his 13 outings have been scoreless efforts. On a staff lacking a ton of lefties, he should get more innings.
Quick! Fun Facts!
Cal has never won a conference tournament in baseball.
Against common opponents Duke, Virginia, and Louisville, NC State has a 5-4 record while Cal has a 3-6 record.
NC State ranks 13th in all of D1 in strikeout rate (15.2%) and 11th in walk rate (15.0 BB%). The Pack are the only Power Four team to rank in the Top 20 of both. Central Connecticut, Murray State, and Southern are the only other schools to rank in the Top 20 of both.
The Golden Bears are 1-0 against NC State all-time, with that lone matchup being a 4-0 Cal win in 2011 in Myrtle Beach. That 2011 Cal team featured future MLB players SS Marcus Semien, 2B Tony Renda, DH/C Andrew Knapp, and RHP Erik Johnson. Johnson tossed 6.0 shutout innings in the game against State while Knapp hit a 3-run HR and Semien had an RBI single against NC State’s own future MLB pitcher, RHP Cory Mazzoni.
The Key To A Series Win For State
Possibly the biggest factor for success this weekend for State will be getting over the time change. With late games Thursday and Friday, it will be a challenge physically for the Pack9.
Outside of the travel difficulties, getting Cal’s starters out of the game early will be key. A patient approach has paid off massively for State’s lineup over the last few weeks, especially against Louisville last weekend. While it seems illogical to go against the approach, against a staff that doesn’t feature the strikeout numbers of the past few Pack opponents, a more aggressive approach may suit the team well.
Oh, and of course the pitchers pounding the zone. Gotta throw strikes.
Prediction
This is your classic trap series with State coming off a huge series win and making the cross-country trip to play a late-night series against a team that’s not having a good year. I’m going to place my trust in the Pack to overcome that and secure a series win.
Outcome: State takes two of three.