The No. 13 Cal softball team might have the most difficult six-game run to end the season of any team in the nation.

The Bears will host No. 6 Arizona State and No. 7 Arizona this weekend at home, followed by a trip down to No. 2 UCLA for one game and then up to No. 4 Washington a day later for two games to close out the regular season.

The final game before that stretch, however, should not be as difficult.

Cal (32-15, 8-7 in the Pac-10) has the opportunity to make a statement to the NCAA committee before its six-game gauntlet today against slumping UC Davis at La Rue Field in Davis, Calif., at 3 p.m.

But with this season's Bears, the result can never be a forgone conclusion no matter the opponent, as Cal has struggled with lesser foes like Colorado State and Saint Mary's.

Coach Diane Ninemire believes one of her team's biggest issues is pitch selection, regardless of its opponent. With 251 strikeouts to only 135 walks, it's hard to disagree.

"I have made it a good point about pitch selection, hoping that it would stick, but it hasn't," Ninemire said. "We continue to make poor choices (at the plate). We get Val (Arioto) and (Jamia) Reid on, but we are having trouble getting our three, four and five hitters to bring them in."

In the Bears' last game, their eight strikeouts and seven stranded runners allowed Oregon -- the conference's last place team -- to stay in it until the very last out, including a near-home run by the Ducks, which came within feet of tying the game.

In the end, Cal held on for the win, but against any other team in the Pac-10 very few leads are safe, as No. 3 Stanford showed by scoring five runs in a late-inning comeback effort in a loss to the Bears a few weeks ago.

Cal will likely have a little more breathing room against the Aggies (21-26, 5-10 in the Big West), who have lost 10 of their last 11 games, including their last seven in a row. Two of those losses came at the hands of Oregon State, which the Bears blew out in two of three meetings this season.

Although UC Davis does not play high-caliber opponents on a regular basis like the Bears do, the Aggies still have a fairly impressive 1.83 staff ERA.

"We just have to take it pitch by pitch," second baseman Shannon Thomas said. "Some days you get owned, some days you own them, but that's how it goes."

Cal has already faced two of the best pitchers in the nation in Cardinal senior Missy Penna and Huskies junior Danielle Lawrie, so the Bears should be able to find their way around the bases against UC Davis.

And Thomas thinks their best softball has yet to be played -- a good sign for Cal, which has already fared well against the nation's best.

"We have been building all season," Thomas said. "I don't feel that we are at our peak yet, because you can't get any better if you're already at the top. We are getting better and better."

Tags: CAL SOFTBALL, DIANE NINEMIRE