Due in large part to Jolene Henderson’s healthy return to the circle, the Bears (36-17) finally resemble the team they were during their 24-game winning streak in pre-conference play. With its Pac-12 struggles now just a remnant of the past, Cal feels like it is finally coming together.

“I think we’re firing on all cylinders right now,” said sophomore shortstop Cheyenne Cordes. “We’re all getting healthy. We’re all on the come-up.”

Starting on Friday in Ann Arbor, Mich., Cal will open postseason play in the NCAA Softball Tournament Regionals against Central Michigan (33-18). The winner of the series will go on to face the victor of the eighth-seeded Michigan (45-10) and Valparaiso (34-25) matchup.

In a double-elimination style tournament, the winner of the Michigan Regional will advance to the Super Regional round, where it will face off against the winner of the LSU Regional.

Just two hours from Ann Arbor, CMU should hold a home-field advantage over Cal, even though the regional location is considered neutral for both squads. CMU currently boasts a team batting average of .286, led by senior outfielder Macy Merchant and her .415 batting average.

The Bears’ hopes will rest on the shoulders and the injured left knee of Henderson. Despite missing six games due to injury, the All-American still led the Pac-12 with 35 starts, 28 wins, 262.2 innings pitched and an ERA of 1.20. However, with the inconsistencies of Cal’s offensive attack, Henderson can’t afford any major slip-ups. The Bears finished the season with a team batting average of .267 — the worst in the conference.

“I think it all has to do with the lineup being relaxed,” Cordes said. “We added some unnecessary pressure on to ourselves.”

Cal’s biggest obstacle on its path to the LSU Super Regional should be Michigan. The Wolverines cruised to a 20-2 finish in the Big 10 behind the .399 batting average of first baseman and catcher Caitlin Blanchard and the 1.81 ERA of Sara Driesenga. Undefeated at home, Michigan holds a sizeable advantage over the Bears and their 8-8 road record.

Last season, Cal hosted the regional and emerged as the winners. But this season, it doesn’t enter as the favorites but instead as the underdogs.

“There’s definitely somewhat of a different feel,” Cordes said. “Last year, it was more of an expectation (to win). We still expect to win, but we’ve gone through the struggle (this season).”

Despite the Bears having to battle several injuries this season, Cordes stressed the importance of ending the season on a positive and healthy note. After injuries to Henderson, utility player Victoria Jones and Cordes herself, the Bears are finally healthy again. And after going winless in a three-week span, the Bears finally defeated Washington last Saturday.

“We had never had a nine-game losing streak,” Cordes said. “For us to end on that winning note was a big deal. We even called it the start of our winning streak.”

Sean Wagner-McGough covers softball. Contact him at swagnermcgough@dailycal.org. Follow him on Twitter @seanjwagner.

The post With Henderson’s return, Cal softball seeks first postseason win against Central Michigan appeared first on The Daily Californian.

Henderson (30-9) made sure the No. 17 Bears (36-17,10-14 Pac-12) left Husky Softball Stadium in Seattle with a win. Striking out the first two batters of the final inning, the senior allowed a two-out base runner before inducing a flyout to center field to secure the 3-2 win. After doing nothing but losing for the past three weeks, the Bears finally got off the schneid.

Although the Bears were outhit in the game 9-6, sophomore first baseman Breana Kostreba launched a two-run homer in the second inning to provide the offensive spark. With Danielle Henderson on first base, Kostreba took a changeup from Washington pitcher Kaitlin Inglesby (21-7) and gave Jolene Henderson some invaluable run support.

“I sat on the second pitch that I got, which was a changeup,” Kostreba said. “The game before, I had struggled with the changeup, so I was looking for it.”

The next inning, freshman outfielder and speedster Khala Taylor reached first base on a bunt single. After advancing to second base on a groundout, Taylor was brought home by a two-out RBI triple by Danielle Henderson. It was Henderson’s first triple of the season and provided the winning tally.

Jolene Henderson also received plenty of defensive support. Despite committing a fielding error, Taylor also threw out two runners at the plate in the first and fifth innings.

“(Khala’s) a game changer,” Henderson said. “She really just shut down that team trying to run on her.”

Despite the win, the Bears still lost the series to Washington, losing games one and two by scores of 7-4 and 9-8, respectively.

Less than 24 hours before Saturday’s win, Henderson had the opportunity to bring home a win in game two. After rallying back from a four-run deficit in the sixth inning, the Bears pulled in front of the Huskies 8-7 in the seventh inning. Henderson retired the first two batters she faced in the seventh, but when third baseman Danielle Henderson committed a throwing error, the Huskies pounced.

After back-to-back two-out singles, the game was headed to extra innings. And just two innings later, Washington catcher Shawna Wright blasted a solo shot to left field for the 9-8 victory, extending Cal’s losing streak to nine games.

“We knew that we could have won that game and that we should have won that game,” said Kostreba.

With the Pac-12 season now expired, Cal finished in fifth place in the conference. Despite not meeting pre-season expectations set by their Pac-12 title in 2012, the Bears will head into the first round of the postseason, the NCAA Regionals, finally healthy again. After losing Henderson, shortstop Cheyenne Cordes and utility player Victoria Jones to injuries within the past three weeks, all three players saw the field this weekend.

“All the pieces are just coming together,” Henderson said. “(We’re going to) start a new streak.”

Sean Wagner-McGough covers softball. Contact him at swagnermcgough@dailycal.org. Follow him on Twitter @seanjwagner.

The post Against Washington, Cal softball snaps nine-game losing streak appeared first on The Daily Californian.

But nobody could have expected Cal to fall apart like it has in the last seven games.

Winless in their last seven attempts, the No. 12 Bears (35-15, 9-12 Pac-12) were dispatched with relative ease by their archrival, No. 16 Stanford (35-17, 12-9 Pac-12). The Cardinal ripped the Bears apart, winning 13-5 on Friday, 17-2 on Saturday and 7-5 on Sunday.

“(Henderson’s injury) shouldn’t change our quality at-bats,” Ninemire said. “It shouldn’t change the way we throw a ball or field it. It’s a little disturbing to try and understand why the team is responding the way that it is.”

Friday’s game saw the Bears utilize their only three healthy reserve pitchers — Nisa Ontiveros, Nikki Owens and Taylor Lee. The Cardinal jumped all over the trio, scoring 13 runs via 15 hits.

“Our pitching was not up to the Division-1 softball level,” Ninemire said.

The going only got worse for the Cal pitching staff. In one of the most lopsided defeats in school history, the Bears were whipped in game two, 17-2.

In her second straight start, Ontiveros was simply overpowered. The freshman was responsible for eight earned runs, eleven hits and three walks in just two innings of work.

“I was just missing my spots,” Ontiveros said.

With the Bears only managing two runs on one hit, the game was called early due to the mercy rule. At this point in the series, Ninemire decided to turn to an unfamiliar arm for the series finale.

Freshman outfielder Vanessa Alvarez was told roughly an hour before the first pitch that she was going to make her first career start in the circle. Although Alvarez grew up pitching, she hadn’t pitched in eight months, with the exception of one practice session.

“(Starting Alvarez) was a result of the first two games and not getting it done,” Ninemire said. “I felt like we were in a situation where we had to see if we had something else that we could offer to help throw their batters off.”

By limiting Stanford to just a few hits in the early goings, Alvarez kept Cal’s hopes very much alive. Still, the Cardinal took advantage of a couple of risers from Alvarez to jump out to a quick lead off of two home-runs.

“I have a natural rise to my ball,” Alvarez said. “I just left it up there to the bigger girls, and they caught on to it.”

Although Ninemire was impressed with Alvarez’s resolve in her first career start, she was upset with the defensive effort behind the freshman — an effort that led to two critical insurance runs for Stanford.

“Unfortunately, we made key errors behind her today,” Ninemire said. “Those two runs, which scored on those throwing errors, ended up somewhat making a difference in us staying in the game, because we were starting to rally in the last inning.”

“But who knows? Should’ve, could’ve, would’ve.”

Sean Wagner-McGough covers softball. Contact him at swagnermcgough@dailycal.org. Follow him on Twitter @seanjwagner.

The post Cal softball swept by Stanford as pitching struggles continue appeared first on The Daily Californian.

The Cal softball team (35-12, 9-9 Pac-12) was swept in humbling fashion by Arizona State (42-7, 13-5 Pac-12) this weekend, losing 10-2, 11-0 and 5-3.

Head coach Diane Ninemire declined to comment following Sunday’s series finale, stating through a spokesperson that she would rather have her players speak for their performance.

Missing staff ace Jolene Henderson because of a knee injury, Cal was forced to rely on Nisa Ontiveros and Nikki Owens. Before Friday, the two pitchers had combined for seven career starts.

All it took was one inning for the Bears to learn that life without Henderson isn’t a pretty one. With the All-American watching from the dugout, Ontiveros surrendered six runs in the first inning of the first game on Friday.

“(My pitches) were up in the zone…just a lot of plate,” Ontiveros said. “They took advantage of it.”

Owens stepped into the circle to replace Ontiveros, giving up four earned runs in just 4.1 innings of work.

Because Cal only managed to score two runs and was trailing by eight runs, the game was called after five innings.

“We have much more potential than we’re showing,” Cheyenne Cordes said.

The last time the Cal softball team gave up at least 10 runs in a single game was two years ago against Pacific. The last time the Bears were run-ruled was against Kentucky that same season.

Owens got the start in the second game, but it wasn’t an improvement from Ontiveros’ start. Lasting just two innings, Owens gave up eight earned runs.

After the first two games of the series, the explosive Arizona State lineup was hitting .444 in the series.

“I have a lot of faith things are only going to get better from here,” Cordes said when asked about the pitching performances of Ontiveros and Owens.

Hoping the third time was the charm, Cal sent Ontiveros back out to start game three. After surrendering one run in the first inning, the Bears took their first lead in the series off home runs by Breana Kostreba and Vanessa Alvarez in the second inning.

The wheels fell off in the third inning though, as Arizona State regained the lead with a four-run rally. Cordes botched two tough ground balls in the inning, that, if fielded cleanly, would have gotten Ontiveros out of the inning.

“Sometimes you get bad hops,” Cordes said. “If I could go back and do it differently, I wouldn’t.”

Still, Cal had its chances to get back into the game. The Bears loaded the bases in the fifth with two outs, but Lindsey Ziegenhirt just missed a grand slam when she flew out to deep center.

In the bottom of the seventh, Cal cut the lead to two, but with two outs and the tying runner at the plate, Ziegenhirt once again just missed going yard. This time, the senior pulled the ball just to the left of the foul ball pole in left field, before eventually grounding into a fielder’s choice, rendering the sweep complete.

Sean Wagner-McGough covers softball. Contact him at swagnermcgough@dailycal.org. Follow him on Twitter @seanjwagner.

The post Without Henderson, Cal softball embarrassed by ASU appeared first on The Daily Californian.

The inning wasn’t over, but Henderson’s day was.

Moments after throwing the ball to first base, Henderson grimaced and collapsed to the ground holding her left leg. In seconds, the crowd at Levine-Fricke field turned from raucous to dead silent.

As the All-American sat down, clutching her leg, the Cal infielders surrounded their star pitcher, along with the Cal training staff. After a few minutes, Henderson was carried off the field by two trainers.

Immediately following the game, Henderson was carted away from Levine-Fricke field.

“She’s down with the medical staff right now,” said Cal coach Diane Ninemire. “I have nothing to report because I don’t know.”

Although the specifics of the injury are unknown at this point, losing Henderson for an extended amount of time seriously dampens the Bears’ hopes of an NCAA championship. She has started 33 of the 44 games the Bears have played this season, appearing in all but four games for a total of 249.2 innings pitched.

“(It’s devastating) anytime you lose a player of her caliber on any team,” Ninemire said.

Adding insult to injury, the Bears also lost the game in a heartbreaking manner when they stranded the bases loaded in the bottom of the seventh. In the previous inning, Cal also left runners on first and second with no outs, when Lindsey Ziegenhirt, Danielle Henderson and Jolene Henderson all went down on consecutive strikeouts.

“This is a day where you kind of just beat yourself,” Ninemire said.

Although it fell 1-0 on Sunday, Cal (35-9, 9-6 Pac-12) beat Oregon State (27-17, 4-11 Pac-12) in the first two games of the series, 8-0 and 3-1, on Friday and Saturday, respectively.

The first game was never close. The Bears jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning and led 6-0 after four innings.

In the bottom of the fifth, Cal put an end to the game via the mercy rule when Cheyenne Cordes jacked a two-run bomb to stretch the final margin to 8-0.

After initially missing out on two pitches right down the middle from Oregon State starter Tina Andreana, Cordes was all over the next fastball she saw.

“I watched two fatties, and I was thinking, ‘Well, I better do something now since I watched two fatties,’” Cordes said. “The pitch was a little high, but I just got my hands up and tomahawked it over the fence.”

The Bears utilized seven dominant innings from Henderson on Saturday to take the second game by a score of 3-1. Breana Kostreba and Victoria Jones each went yard for Cal, while Cordes added an RBI single.

Despite winning two of three, Ninemire was not pleased by the weekend’s results.

“In my mind, this was a weekend that we needed to win three,” Ninemire said. “Now we’ve really put our backs against the wall.”

Sean Wagner-McGough covers softball. Contact him at swagnermcgough@dailycal.org. Follow him on Twitter @seanjwagner.

The post Jolene Henderson injured as Cal softball falls to Oregon State appeared first on The Daily Californian.

Fast forward almost one year, and the No. 10 Bears (33-8, 7-5 Pac-12) are sitting in fourth place. Three games back of first-place Oregon, Cal doesn’t control its own destiny in the Pac-12, but a sweep of last-place Oregon State (26-15, 3-9 Pac-12) would ensure that they remain a factor in the Pac-12 race.

The Bears take on the Beavers from Friday to Sunday in a three-game set. According to starting third baseman Danielle Henderson, the key for Cal will be to worry about its own business — not Oregon’s.

“We’re not at all thinking of catching Oregon right now,” Henderson said. “We’re just focused on the games ahead of us.”

The key to defeating Oregon State will come down to how effective Henderson’s sister, Jolene, is in the circle. Henderson, who is 27-7 on the season with a 1.27 ERA, will have her hands full with a Beavers lineup that has five players batting at least .300.

Ya Garcia and Natalie Hampton lead the way for Oregon State’s lineup. Garcia is batting .379 while Hampton has jacked 13 long balls this season to go along with her sizzling .362 batting average.

Even if Henderson manages to shut down both down, she will need offensive help. The Cal offense struggled as of late — the primary reason for the last two series losses to UCLA and Oregon.

Against UCLA last weekend, Cal only managed to score 12 runs in 28 innings of play. With eight of those runs coming in two innings, the Bears demonstrated their fast-strike ability. But by only scoring four runs in the remaining 26 innings, Cal’s lack of hitting success with runners in scoring position was highlighted as the main culprit.

Moving forward, Henderson asserted the importance of being in the right frame of mind.

“We focused on relaxing,” Danielle Henderson said. “We put more pressure on ourselves than was necessary.”

After only winning one game against UCLA last weekend, Cal took care of business in a non conference clash against Santa Clara (6-35) on Wednesday. In a 5-0 victory against the Broncos, Cal was able give Jolene Henderson some much-needed rest, as all 17 healthy players received playing time.

Despite the bumpy conference season to this point, Danielle Henderson thinks the adversity of the regular season will pay dividends in the postseason. The majority of the roster was on the team that won the Pac-12 title last season and still remember that dominating run.

But they also remember faltering in the later rounds of the NCAA Women’s College World Series later that same season.

“There are going to be all kinds of struggles, both offensive and defensive,” Danielle Henderson said. “We’re learning how to bounce back from them.

“Last year in the postseason, where we did great the entire season and then faced with adversity in the end, it wasn’t so great.”

Sean Wagner-McGough covers softball. Contact him at swagnermcgough@dailycal.org. Follow him on Twitter @seanjwagner.

The post Cal softball looks to rebound against Oregon State, keep Pac-12 title hopes alive appeared first on The Daily Californian.

After dropping two of three to first-place Oregon last weekend, Cal’s chances of repeating as Pac-12 champions shrank considerably against rival UCLA (28-14, 5-10 Pac-12). The Bears won one game of three in Los Angeles, dropping Cal’s Pac-12 record to 7-5.

The Bears currently sit in fourth place, three games behind the Ducks.
Despite dropping two extra-inning thrillers, the Bears think that the losses will help them grow as the season progresses.

“I mean, (the losses) weren’t heartbreakers,” said outfielder Khala Taylor. “Every loss we take with a grain of salt. It’s just helping us grow as a team.”

All three games against the Bruins went into extra innings. Cal got its only win on Saturday, winning 5-1 in a 10-inning marathon while losing the first two nine-inning games by scores of 6-5 and 3-2 on Thursday and Friday, respectively.

The series started off promising enough for the Bears on Thursday, as they jumped out to a quick 4-0 lead in the first.

However, the Bears were shut down for the rest of the game, only managing one more run against UCLA starter Paige McDufee before getting shut out by reliever Ally Carda. Carda pitched 3 2/3 innings and didn’t allow a single hit while only walking two batters.

The Bruins fought back against Cal staff ace Jolene Henderson (27-7), tallying 12 hits and six runs against the All-American. Henderson had a chance to close out the game in the bottom of the seventh, but she surrendered an RBI single to Stephany Larosa.

In extra innings, the Bruins provided the winning run in the bottom of the ninth, capitalizing on an error by Cal shortstop Cheyenne Cordes that allowed Allexis Bennett to score.

“It was just a battle and a brawl,” Taylor said.

The Bears’ fortune didn’t change in Friday’s game, scoring just two runs.

Nisa Ontiveros and Henderson were stellar on the mound, but Henderson picked up the loss when she gave up a run in the bottom of the ninth.

Saturday’s game was another pitching duel between Henderson and Carda. After each team tacked one early run on the board in the first inning, both were shut out until the 10th.

The Bears’ bats finally woke up in the top of the 10th, when Ziegenhirt hit a sacrifice fly for the winning RBI and Henderson blasted a three-run homer to secure the win.

Up next for Cal is Oregon State. A third consecutive series loss would end any hope Cal has of repeating as Pac-12 champions.

Still, the Bears feel as if they still have a shot of winning the conference title.

“We as a team can definitely win a Pac-12 title,” Taylor said. “We’re mentally strong and unified. “All we have to do is keep it going and keep it positive. We’ll just get it done.”

Sean Wagner-McGough covers softball. Contact him at swagnermcgough@dailycal.org. Follow him on Twitter @seanjwagner.

The post Road to Pac-12 title muddied as Cal softball drops series to UCLA appeared first on The Daily Californian.

The words hung in the air, slicing through the silence. Tracy Cordes took a moment to absorb what the coach had said to her. Before she had a chance to respond, he continued.

“I think we need to move her somewhere else.”

Just seconds ago, Tracy was on the sidelines watching her daughter, Cheyenne, take part in softball nationals in Tennessee. She watched as Cheyenne smoothly fielded grounders from the shortstop position, just like how Tracy had taught her years ago.

Now, one of the coaches was telling her that her daughter’s dream of starting as a shortstop for a Pac-12 school was nothing more than a dream.

“Are you serious?” Tracy asked the coach. “Did you really just say that about my 13-year-old daughter?”

When Tracy broke the news to Cheyenne, Tracy watched as she took it in. Just like her mother, Cheyenne was in a state of disbelief.

To this day, his words are seared into Cheyenne’s memory.

“She basically said, ‘I’ll show him,’” Tracy says. “Because she thought that she could do that. She just knew what she wanted and went after it.”

Growing up in Fairfield, Calif., Cheyenne was surrounded by softball. With a mom who worked as both a high school P.E. teacher and a softball coach, she was never far from the game.

Tracy embraced the role of Cheyenne’s personal softball and life coach, all while compensating for the absence of Cheyenne’s father.

It was high school, and Cheyenne was playing in a tournament in Colorado. With her mom on the sidelines, Cheyenne was hit in the face by a softball so hard that her eye was practically swollen shut.

Tracy calmly walked up to her daughter, asked if she was okay and if she needed a Tylenol.

“She just toughened me up to the max, so when things like that happen, they don’t really affect me,” Cheyenne says. “Not just on the field, but in school. She would just always push me.”

But her family’s financial circumstances meant that she couldn’t afford to go to college, leaving a full athletic scholarship as the only route to her Pac-12 dreams.

Meanwhile, Cheyenne took care of what she was in control of — performing on the field and forming connections with college coaches.

Beginning in middle school, Cheyenne joined the Lady Magic travel ball team. Lady Magic was one of the best travel ball teams in California, putting Cheyenne on the map of college softball coaches.

Seeking a way to connect with her potential coaches, Cheyenne began emailing them on a weekly basis detailing her successes and failures on the diamond. She emailed them so much that even she thought she was annoying.

“It’s typical of most softball players to email coaches, but not to do it at the level I did,” says Cheyenne. “I just wanted them to know that I wanted it more than they wanted me.”

Her persistence paid off. When Cheyenne arrived at softball camps run by college coaches, they told her that her personality matched her emails. They felt as if they already knew her.

“At the time, I was using AOL, and they had those little faces — the emojis of today,” Cheyenne says, smiling. “I’d put all those cool things in there.”

While most of her teammates’ families could pay their daughters’ team dues without any difficulties, the Cordes family didn’t have that luxury.

Tracy shouldered the bulk of the load, along with support from Cheyenne’s grandparents and brother.

“Family sacrifice is the word I would use to describe that time period,” says Cheyenne. “If there’s anything I wanted to do, (my brother) would give his right arm for me to be able to do it.”

When the time came for schools to make their scholarship offers, Cheyenne’s name was on more than one Pac-12 school’s list.

But Cheyenne still had one final hurdle to clear.

It was a Thursday afternoon during Cheyenne’s freshman year at Rodriguez High School. Cheyenne and Tracy made the 40-minute drive from Fairfield to Berkeley. The next day, they were scheduled to fly down to tour UCLA.

Both teams wanted Cheyenne to be their shortstop of the future. Cheyenne couldn’t make up her mind.

UCLA had a tradition unmatched by any other softball program in the country, but Cal was the team she grew up watching. She could still remember the Bears winning their first national championship in 2002.

In the days leading up to her decision, Cheyenne was brought to tears over her dilemma.

“(I wasn’t) crying out of being upset,” Cheyenne says. “But crying because it was such a huge decision, and I didn’t want to mess it up.”

Her tour of Berkeley led Tracy and Cheyenne to an office overlooking Evans Diamond. Cheyenne had kept her feelings bottled up to this point, but she couldn’t hold them in any longer.

Stepping outside into the hall with her mother, Cheyenne told her mother everything she had kept inside since they had arrived in Berkeley. She told her how she just knew that she was meant to be here at Cal.

She couldn’t explain the feeling, just that it just felt right to be here.

Cheyenne committed to be a Bear the moment she stepped back into that office.

“I was just standing there and was like, man, I feel like I’m just supposed to be here.” Cheyenne says. “Whatever my plan is, this is my plan.

“It just feels right. I’ve heard people talk about it, but this must be it.”

Sean Wagner-McGough covers softball. Contact him at swagnermcgough@dailycal.org. Follow him on Twitter @seanjwagner.

The post Swinging for the fences: The gumption of shortstop Cheyenne Cordes appeared first on The Daily Californian.

It’s a good thing, then, that the Bears’ next opponent is Saint Mary’s on Wednesday in Berkeley. The Gaels have a 12-15 overall record, including an abysmal 2-8 record on the road. The nonconference clash should provide Cal with an excellent opportunity to rebound before its schedule takes a turn for the worse again.

The No. 1 goal for Cal has to be to get star pitcher Jolene Henderson back on track. The Bears have to be concerned that three of Henderson’s past four outings have resulted in losses. However, it’s the manner in which Henderson has lost those three games that is most alarming.

After only giving up one home run through the first 30 games of the season, Henderson’s allowed home run total has skyrocketed to nine. During Sunday’s game against the Ducks, Henderson was responsible for giving up four longballs. In her past three losses, Henderson has surrendered 14 earned runs in 16.1 innings pitched, bad enough for an ERA of 7.83. Her ERA for the season is 1.31.

However, the losses can’t be pinned on Henderson alone. In the past three defeats, the Cal offense has only managed to put seven runs on the board. On the season, the Bears average just above five runs per game. In those three losses, the Bears runs per game average shrank to slightly more than two.

If the Bears don’t improve these numbers next weekend, when they take on No. 15 UCLA in Los Angeles, they shouldn’t expect to come away with any wins.

That’s why Wednesday’s game against Saint Mary’s is so important. It gives Cal the perfect opportunity to get its confidence and game back on track. A dominating win would do just that.

The Gaels’ highest-hitting player is currently Megan Smith, with a .298 batting average. That number would be fifth on Cal’s roster. Saint Mary’s next-best hitter is Monika Reichhardt, who has a .250 batting average. That number would be eighth on Cal’s roster.

No other qualified hitter on the Saint Mary’s roster has a batting average in the .200’s. Meanwhile, Cal doesn’t even have one everyday player batting below .200.

In terms of a mismatch, the equivalent would be matching up the New York Yankees’ payroll against the Houston Astros’ payroll.

The question isn’t, “Can Cal can walk away with a win?” The question is, “How much will Cal win by?”

This scenario actually puts Cal in a pressure-packed situation. If the Bears find themselves in a close game with the Gaels, or if Henderson fails to shut down their subpar offense, it could be destructive to their championship mentality.

Cal head coach Diane Ninemire probably had no idea how important Wednesday’s date with Saint Mary’s would be back when the schedule was first released. Just one week ago, this game looked like an easy win for the Bears.

And it most likely will be. The Bears should expect to dominate on Wednesday. They should expect Henderson to regain her All-American form. They should expect to get back to their winning ways.

But if they don’t take care of business, the Bears will enter the most crucial stretch of their season on the lowest possible note.

Sure, it’s unlikely. But, then again, wasn’t it just a week ago when the idea of Henderson giving up eight home runs in a week seemed completely ludicrous?

Sean Wagner-McGough covers softball. Contact him at swagnermcgough@dailycal.org. Follow him on Twitter @seanjwagner.

The post Coming off a series loss to Oregon, Cal softball looks to get back on track against Saint Mary’s appeared first on The Daily Californian.

After winning the first two games of a three-game series against the No. 19 Arizona Wildcats, the No. 5 Bears were dominated throughout all seven innings in the final game at Hillenbrand Stadium in Tucson, Ariz. The Bears swept the doubleheader on Tuesday, winning 6-2 and 5-1, but fell 7-3 on Wednesday.

The series’ results moves Cal’s overall record to 29-4 overall and 5-1 in Pac-12 play.

“While in the short term losing a game sucks, in the long term, it’s not about how many games you won or lost,” senior catcher Lindsey Ziegenhirt said. “It’s about where you end up at the end of the season.”

On Tuesday, Cal relied heavily on the longball, as it went yard six times over the course of their two victories. Jolene Henderson provided two of those home runs and pitched two complete games. Fellow senior Lindsey Ziegenhirt also accounted for two home runs as she pushed her home run total to 14.

As the team leader in home runs, Ziegenhirt’s bombs didn’t come as a surprise.

“I was just working to hit my pitch, and she threw it there,” Ziegenhirt said. “There wasn’t anything special about those at-bats, just that I put a good bat on the ball.”

The first two games featured vintage performances from Henderson, as she gave up only three runs over the span of both games.

The final game of the series didn’t start off as planned for Henderson as she allowed the first three batters to reach base. Henderson looked visibly frustrated at the calls from the home-plate umpire and continuously fell behind in the counts. Faced with a bases-loaded situation, she surrendered three runs by the time she could shut the door on the first inning.

“I did pretty terrible,” Henderson said. “I definitely didn’t give our team good odds to win the game.”

The Bears squandered their own bases-loaded opportunity in the top of the second inning when Khala Taylor went down swinging and Cheyenne Cordes flew out to shallow right field to end the inning.

The Bears missed out on plenty of opportunities to get back into the game while Henderson uncharacteristically gave up six runs in six innings. Henderson’s performance was her worst since the third game of the season back on Feb. 9 against No. 3 Florida, when Henderson was charged with seven runs in a losing effort.

“We’re getting people on base and we got hits, but we’re just not getting those timely hits,” Ziegenhirt said. “Leaving people on base is never a good statistic to have, but it’s one that we can fix with a little bit of luck and little bit of better timing.”

The going won’t get any easier for Cal. The Bears return home to take on No. 10 Oregon on Saturday. While fatigue is undoubtedly a factor, Ziegenhirt refused to blame the loss to Arizona or any future losses on the Bears’ busy schedule.

“I can’t say that I wasn’t tired, but I can’t say that our energy should have been low just because we played two games the day before,” Ziegenhirt said. “I mean, this is what we train for all season. Fatigue really shouldn’t be an issue at this point.”

Sean Wagner-McGough covers softball. Contact him at swagnermcgough@dailycal.org. Follow him on Twitter @seanjwagner.

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