BERKELEY, Calif. – The California Golden Bears baseball program released its 2016 schedule on Wednesday and as of now they are slated to appear a minimum of 17 times on television. The Bears will be broadcast live on Pac-12 Networks 16 times, and an April 23rd date against the Arizona Wildcats will be carried on ESPNU. Cal aims to build off of its successful 2015 campaign that saw the Bears return to the postseason for the first time since a College World Series run in 2011.
“We are excited about this year’s schedule,” head coach David Esquer said on Wednesday. “There is a good mix of conferences represented with weekend series against teams from the Atlantic Coast Conference, Big 10 and Big 12. We also have midweek games against quality opponents from the West Coast Conference and Big West. This is a schedule that will challenge and test us for our Pac-12 schedule, and help prepare us for the postseason.”
California opens the 2016 season on the road in Durham, North Carolina, as they face off in an exciting three-game set beginning on Friday, Feb. 19 which is a rematch of the 2015 opening series in Berkeley. Duke won two of three last year, and the Bears look to start the new year off on the right foot by returning the favor. The Bears then return to the Bay Area for a midweek matchup against the San Francisco Dons at the newly renovated Benedetti Diamond before opening the home slate with a three-game series against Purdue, beginning on Friday, Feb. 26. Cal then welcomes another Big 10 foe, Michigan on Monday night before heading back out on the road.
The Bears head to Austin to tussle with the Texas Longhorns for four in early March, and then close out the early non-conference schedule with another four-game set, this time at Evans Diamond, when they host the Texas Tech Red Raiders.
California opens the Pac-12 slate in Los Angeles starting on Thursday, March 17 with a three game series at USC, the first two of which will be broadcast on Pac-12 Networks. Oregon State travels to Berkeley the following weekend to open an eight-game homestand, featuring visits from the Beavers (March 24-26), San Francisco (March 29), UCLA (April 1-3) and a non-conference bout with Stanford (April 5). The San Francisco and Stanford games will each be broadcast live on Pac-12 Bay Area.
A seven-game road trip then begins in Eugene, as the Bears head to the Pacific Northwest to battle the Oregon Ducks (April 8-10), then down to central California to take on Cal Poly (April 12) and to Tempe for a three-game tilt with the Arizona State Sun Devils (April 15-17). The first two games of the Arizona State series will be broadcast live on Pac-12 Networks.
California returns home for a second eight-game homestand beginning with another non-conference matchup with Stanford (April 19), which will be televised on Pac-12 Bay Area. Arizona then travels north to Berkeley (April 22-24), as does Cal Poly (April 26) and the Bears welcome the Washington Huskies (April 29-May 1). The Saturday, April 23rd game with the Wildcats will be broadcast on ESPNU.
The Bears travel across the Bay for a conference series against Stanford at Sunken Diamond (May 5-7), all of which will be broadcast live on Pac-12 Bay Area before traveling to Evanston, Illinois, for a four-game non-conference series at Northwestern at the newly renovated Rocky and Bernice Miller Park. Cal returns home for the final home series of the season when they host Utah (May 21-23), all of which are on Pac-12 Networks. The regular season concludes with a trip to Pullman, Washington to take on the Washington State Cougars (May 27-29), also all on Pac-12 Networks.
California returns 17 letter-winners from the team that went 36-21 with a school-record-tying 18 conference victories. Cal pushed host Texas A&M to the brink in the College Station Regional in 2015, falling 3-1 in the decisive seventh game of the regional in the Golden Bears’ return to the postseason. The Bears return their entire weekend rotation, seven position players who were starters in 2015 and are buoyed with a talented group of freshmen. Fans are encouraged to follow the Bears on social media @Cal_Baseball on Twitter, @CalBaseball on Instagram and on Facebook for the latest news and updates on the program.
