BearTalk

Top-seeded Cal (52-5) bounced back from a second-round loss to Arkansas and now will face the Razorbacks (29-26) in Sunday’s Berkeley regional final of the NCAA tournament.

The Bears beat Boston University 8-0 in six innings and now must defeat the Razorbacks twice to win the regional title and advance to next week’s Super Regionals. Sunday’s first game is at 5 p.m. at Levine-Fricke Field.

Arkansas beat Cal 3-2 in Sunday’s winners-bracket semifinal.

Jolene Henderson struck out 11 in six innings and allowed just three hits while improving to 32-2.

Cal scored in every inning after the first to methodically pull away from the Terriers (41-16) in the elimination game.

Victoria Jones homered in the second inning while Jamie Reid, Britt Vonk and Val Arioto each had two hits.

Top-seeded Cal (51-4) routed Iona 8-0 in a five-inning NCAA tournament opener in front of 1,059 fans at Levine-Fricke Field.

The Bears will play Saturday at 3 p.m. against Arkansas (28-26), which beat Boston U 3-2 in the first game.

Cal scored three runs in the first and five in the fifth before the game was stopped. Freshman Breana Kostreba singled and homered and drove in three runs. Frani Echavarria added a pair of hits.

Two-time Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year Jolene Henderson (31-2)  allowed two hits in five innings, striking out seven and walking no one.

– BASEBALL: No. 11 UCLA (37-13, 16-9 Pac-12) posted a 7-2 win over the Bears (26-23, 9-16) at Evans Diamond. The loss was Cal’s fourth in its past five games.

Cal senior Valerie Arioto (Pleasanton) was named Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week after throwing a complete-game shutout in the top-ranked Bears’ 5-0 title-clinching win over Arizona State last Saturday.

Arioto, 20-2 on the season, struck out 11 and walked just one in the victory that locked up Cal’s first outright conference title since 1987.

Cal opens play in the Berkeley regional of the NCAA tournament on Friday against Iona. First pitch is 7 p.m. at Levine-Fricke Field.

UPDATED

The Cal softball team (50-4) has earned the No. 1 overall seed for the NCAA tournament and will host a regional, beginning Friday at Levine-Fricke Field.

The Pac-12 champion Golden Bears will face Iona (25-24) in the first NCAA tournament game played at Berkeley. Game time is 7 p.m.

Arkansas (27-26) and Boston U (40-14) also are headed to the Bay Area.

The double-elimination regional runs Friday through Sunday.

The winner of the Berkeley Regional will play the champion of the Seattle Regional, which features No. 16 seed Washington (36-17), Harvard (33-13), Maryland (34-20) and Texas Tech (40-15).

If the Bears win the regional, they also will host the Super Regional a week later. 

 All-session passes will go on sale Monday at 9 a.m. All-sessions passes cost $55, $40 and $25 (for senior/youth tickets). Tickets will be available through www.calbears.com.

Here’s the Cal official news release.

Valerie Arioto’s school-record 21st home run in the first inning started the top-ranked Golden Bears (47-3, 18-2 Pac-12) on their way to a 4-2 win over Oregon State on Saturday afternoon at Corvallis, Ore.

Freshman Breana Kostreba added her 12th homer of the season, Jace Williams doubled in a run and Victoria Jones knocked home Williams with a single.

Jolene Henderson pitched five innings to improve to 28-1 on the season. She allowed two runs, neither of them earned.

– BASEBALL: Chad Bunting’s three-run homer in the seventh inning helped the Bears (24-19, 8-12 Pac-12) beat host Washington State 9-4 and snap a four-game losing streak. Right-hander Matt Flemer earned his seventh pitching victory and Tony Renda went 3 for 4 at the plate.

For the fifth time this season and the 10th time in her career, Cal junior Jolene Henderson was named Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week after picking up two victories and a save in the top-ranked Bears’ sweep of UCLA.

Henderson is 26-1 with a 1.12 earned run average.

Valerie Arioto broke her own single-season record with her 20th home run and No. 1 Cal (42-3, 13-2 Pac-12) rebounded from a loss the day before with a 10-0 romp at No. 14/18 Oregon (21-11, 9-7).

Ashley Decker hit a 2-run homer and RBI single and Breana Kostreba also homered.

Arioto (Foothill HS-Pleasanton), who homered 19 times last season, now has 51 for her career. She is four home runs shy of the Cal career record of 55, set by Veronica Nelson (2000-03).

Jolene Henderson pitched a 3-hitter with six strikeouts, improving to 24-1 on the season.

– BASEBALL: The Bears (23-15, 7-8) posted a 5-2 win over Utah (10-28, 5-13) to complete a weekend sweep at Evans Diamond and win their fourth game overall.  Cal has won six of seven and has climbed from last place to eighth in the 11-team Pac-12 standings.

Junior left-hander pitched his 22nd career victory and Chad Bunting homered, his third in the series.

The top-ranked Cal women’s softball team (41-2, 12-1 Pac-12) scored five runs in the fourth inning and easily topped Oregon 8-1 at Eugene, Ore.

Jolene Henderson pitched a four-hitter and eight strikeouts while improving to 23-1. Jace Williams included a home run among three hits and drove in four runs and Frani Echavarria doubled home three runs to power the offense.

   – Baseball: Chad Bunting hit two home runs and drove in five runs as the Bears (21-15, 5-8) climbed out of last place in the Pac-12 with a 9-4 home victory over Utah (10-26, 5-11). Andrew Knapp also homered among Cal’s 17 hits.

The Bears, who lead the Pac-12 in errors, played flawlessly in the field for the second straight game.

The top-ranked Cal women’s softball team stepped outside the Pac-12 and toppled Santa Clara 10-2 in five innings to win its 40th game of the season.

Senior Valerie Arioto struck out 13 in five innings and improved to 18-1, while going 2 for 3 with two RBI. Danielle Henderson hit her 13th home run, a three-run shot in the first inning, and Lindsey Ziegenhirt clubbed her first homer of the season.

The top-ranked Bears (33-1, 6-0 Pac-12) pulled off their second straight Pac-12 weekend sweep, beating No. 3 Washington (33-4, 3-3) by scores of 5-3 and 6-4 at Levine-Fricke Field.

Valerie Arioto pitched no-hit ball through five innings, struck out nine batters and improved to  15-0 in the opener. The Bears staked her to a 5-0 lead, sparked by a third-inning home run from Frani Echavarria.

In the second game, Valerie Arioto put the Bears in front 2-0 in the first inning with her 15th home run of the season. Jamia Reid added a two-run single in the second before Victoria Jones and Elia Reid each had RBI doubles in the fifth.

Jolene Henderson struck out 10 batters while improving her record to 18-1.

Meanwhile . . .

   – Baseball: Mitch Delfino homered and had an RBI single and the Bears (16-10) took two of three games from No. 18 Texas (15-11) in Round Rock, Texas. Cal returns to Pac-12 action Thursday for the start of a three-game series at USC.

   – Rugby: The powerhouse Bears started 11 freshmen and four sophomores and scored 20 tries to rout host UC Santa Cruz 128-0. Cal (15-1) has outscored its opponents by a combined margin of 1,045 to 109.