NCAA Baseball Super Regionals 2011: California Vs. Dallas Baptist Preview

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.

It was really a shame considering what head coach Dave Esquer was putting together in Berkeley. He had one of the nation’s best freshmen classes in 2010 and had been to the postseason in two of the past three years. He brought in another great recruiting class and was finally getting the program into the upper part of the Pac-10.

Despite being on death row, the Bears came out playing tremendously to start the year, sweeping a tournament at Coastal Carolina and winning a 15-inning marathon against Rice. They were in the top half of the Pac-10 and looking like a good bet to advance to the postseason again, garnering support from neutrals around the count who wanted to see the program succeed in its final season.

Then all of a sudden, it wasn’t the program’s final season anymore. Boosters raised over $10 million to save the program and keep it going. The Golden Bears kept on cruising and found themselves in the Houston Regional. There, the Cinderella run continued as they lost their first game before coming back to win four straight. That included erasing a six-run deficit in the Regional final against Baylor before winning it on a two-RBI single while down to their final strike.

Even so, the Bears don’t quite get the support from the athletic department that one would expect for a Pac-10 program. After all, this weekend’s Super Regional will take place at Santa Clara because the Golden Bears’ own stadium lacks lights and is not fit to host a Super Regional.

So the Bears will head down to the Santa Clara Super Regional to play a team who is as much of a surprise as Cal. Dallas Baptist was playing in NAIA until 2006 when they made the transition to Division I. Don’t feel bad for them though. They’ve gone 205-129 since making the jump, even making it to a Regional in 2009 and all of this despite having to play as an independent.

Last week they went down to play in a Regional with a pair of teams who made the College World Series a year ago, not that the Patriots cared. Oklahoma? No big deal. TCU? Swept aside. In fact, it was Oral Roberts who finally defeated the Patriots, but Dallas Baptist came back to defeat Oral Roberts the second time to advance to their first Super Regional in program history.

No one would have guessed it a few months ago, but when the city of Omaha gears up for the College World Series they will be welcoming either California or Dallas Baptist to the show. Naturally, with two unusual teams in competition, the Super Regional will take place in neither team’s home stadium. There just isn’t much to be expected from these two teams, but that just makes for the best baseball.

Saturday, 8 pm ET (ESPNU): Justin Jones (8-6, 3.09 ERA) vs. Jared Stafford (8-4, 3.03 ERA)- As far as talent goes, Jones can match up with anyone and has been asked to carry quite the load since getting to Cal. He didn’t shy away as a freshman despite getting knocked around some and is now one of the more reliable southpaws in the Pac-10. He’ll be tested by Stafford, who doesn’t strike many out, but is tough for batters to square up.

Monday, 4 or 7 pm ET (ESPN2/ESPNU): Dixon Anderson (4-3, 3.90 ERA) vs. TBA- Anderson has a great, live fastball with plenty of movement on it. His problem is that he hasn’t really developed much in the way of offspeed pitches, but going up against whoever the Patriots throw, he may not need to be exceptional. None of Dallas Baptists’ options in game three will inspire much confidence.

It’s no secret that the Patriots do not have exceptional pitching, but the Golden Bears have had slumps at the plate before. They can’t afford to have that this weekend because Dallas Baptist does have a great offense that will get their fair share of runs and Cal will have to answer that with some runs of their own. Cal has won some low scoring games this year, but low scoring won’t get it this weekend.