Cal heads to the Rainbow Wahine Classic as it aims to build on its win Sunday after a three-game losing streak. Will Cal’s bats stay cold, or will fans see a volcanic eruption by the offense in Honolulu?
The Bears’ next set of games starts Wednesday at the beautiful Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium, where the temperatures will range from 70 to 80 degrees with some clouds. These are beautiful conditions to play softball and will perfectly illuminate the jam-packed competition, shining bright on those that finish on top. On these partly cloudy and sunny days, Cal will be playing against Baylor for two games, Hawaii for two games and Oklahoma for one.
The last time Cal played in Hawaii was back in 2019, where the team swept its competitors in the five games played. The Bears will have a chance to repeat history in Honolulu, but they will face some new teams who have the opportunity to make a statement against the blue and gold.
In the first and third games of the week, Cal takes on Baylor, who had a phenomenal start to its season by going 5-0. However, the team proceeded to lose four straight afterward and currently has a record of 11-6. Cal last competed against Baylor back in 2016 in Honolulu, where the latter took the 5-3 victory, so it should be intriguing to see how these teams perform and which Bear pack comes out victorious in their return to Hawaii.
Cal will also play against the University of Hawaii, a team the Bears beat in a blowout 14-0 victory in Honolulu three years ago. In 2022, Hawaii has a 5-5 record and is on a three-game winning streak, getting to a .500 win percentage after starting the season 0-4. Will the team be able to capitalize on home-field advantage, or will it suffer its sixth straight loss to Cal in the last eight years?
The third and most dangerous team to face Cal is Oklahoma. The Sooners are red-hot, mowing down opponents by large margins. They have yet to be beaten this season, sitting at 15-0 and scoring double-digit runs in seven of their games played.
In the only four matchups between the schools, Cal is 1-3, but these two teams have not competed against each other in 10 years. The Bears’ offensive numbers have been down this past weekend, going 30 innings total without scoring in 35 innings played across five games while Oklahoma has scored 42 runs in its last five games.
If the Bears want a chance to beat the dominant Sooners in their matchup Friday, they’ll need to not take their foot off of the gas pedal and come out swinging like they did a week ago at the DeMarini Invitational. However, if they bring the same energy that was present down in San Diego, Oklahoma will take advantage and may come out on top by double digits.
This week’s set of games will be a perfect assessment for Cal to regain its footing and compete at the level it was at just more than a week ago. The stretch of matchups will also serve as a heat check for Oklahoma to see if it can keep a perfect record as both a chance for Baylor to find some consistency and a test for Hawaii to get above the .500 winning percentage for the first time this season.