NCAA Baseball Super Regionals 2011: California Downs Dallas Baptist In Game 2, Advances To College World Series

Though they put up a much better fight than they did in Game 1 of their Super Regional, it was still obvious that Dallas Baptist was a bit overmatched by California in Game 2 of the series, and they fell once again, this time by a score of 6-2. With their two wins, California advances to the College World Series.

It’s incredible that either of these teams got this far in the first place, and now even more incredible that a team that wasn’t supposed to exist is into the College World Series. The California baseball program was set to be eliminated last year before boosters saved it, and they’ve incredibly made a run to the final eight of the NCAA Baseball tournament.

The California Golden Bears made an early statement on Saturday with a dominant win over Dallas Baptist in Game 1 of a best-of-three series, 7-0. The Bears took control early, hanging three runs on Dallas Baptist in the second and using strong pitching to take a 1-0 series lead. Justin Jones and Logan Scott combined to throw a three-hitter for the Bears as the Patriots struggled to solve the Cal pitching puzzle.

California scored in bunches, and used the long ball for six of its seven runs. Marcus Siemen led the way for Cal with three RBIs, all of which came on a three-run home run in the top of the eighth. Chad Bunting hit a three-run home run of his own, giving the Bears the lead in the second inning.

California wasn’t supposed to be in the NCAA Baseball Super Regional. They were supposed to be on death row. The athletic department had given their death sentence and this season was really just a matter of killing time until the axe came down. This season has been anything but that though. They’ve won games, they’ve been given another life and now they are looking to return to the College World Series for the first time since 1992.

Prior to the season, the Cal athletic department announced that the baseball program was being cut. Yes, a program that was over 100 years old, won the very first NCAA College World Series, played in one of the most talent-rich states and in one of the nation’s top conferences was getting cut. There’s no doubt that baseball programs cost money, but the Cal athletic department was one of the most wasteful, worst run departments in the country and because of it the baseball program was on the chopping block.