Cal baseball was supposed to go away after this season. However somehow alumni raised over $9 million to keep the program around. That moved paid off as the players play like they have something to prove. Cal won the first game at Santa Clara on Saturday night and went to work against Dallas Baptist starter Jared Stafford in the bottom of the first. They scored two runs on a Chadd Krist two-run homerun. From that inning on, Cal seemed to have runners on base in every inning (they had the bases loaded twice and didn’t score). Stafford allowed five runs (four earned) on six hits over just 3.2 innings.

Via Cal's Athletic Dept.

Erik Johnson of Cal struggled with his command but escaped jams. He walked four, but only allowed three hits and two runs over six innings. The Cal bullpen combination of Kevin Miller, Kyle Porter, and Matt Flemer pitched three scoreless innings of relief, as DBU collected just four hits. Derek Campbell went 3-for-4, while Austin Booker and Krist each collected two hits in the Cal victory. Campbell was starting at second base in place of the injured Renda, who DHed. Tony Renda, the Pac 10 Player of the Year, went 3-for-5 before being replaced for a pinch-runner in the top of the 9^th.

Cal heads to Omaha and will play either Virginia or UC Irvine in their first game of the College World Series.

Via Virginia's Athletic Dept.

The other bracket of the Super Regionals got underway on Saturday, beginning with Virginia hosting UC Irvine. The number two pick in this year’s MLB draft, Danny Hultzen, was on the mound for the Cavaliers, but he struggled with his command. He was matched up against Matt Summers of the Anteaters. There were plays at the plate in both the top of the first and bottom of the first, as both teams threatened but couldn’t get the run across.

John Hicks of Virginia broke the scoreless tie in the bottom of the 3^rd with an infield single down the third base line. With two outs, Hultzen delivered with the bat, an RBI single to give Virginia a 2-0 lead. In the top of the 4^th, the game went into a lightning delay at 2:22pm ET. They got back underway at 3:45pm ET.

With two men on base and one out in the 6^th, Hultzen’s day on the mound was done after giving up three hits and three walks. He was replaced by Cody Winiarski. Winiarski induced the team’s third double play of the day to end the inning. In the bottom of the 6^th, Jared King crushed a three-run homerun to give the Cavaliers a 5-0 lead (he had three hits in the game).

Summers’ day was done after six innings. He allowed nine hits and five runs. In the 7^th, UCI used three different pitchers to get out of the inning after a dropped fly ball in centerfield. Kenny Swab delivered an RBI single with two outs to increase the Cavaliers’ lead to 6-0. Winiarski pitched 3.2 shutout innings (he only allowed one hit) as Virginia took Game 1. Game 2 will start at 1pm ET on ESPNU on Sunday.

Florida State and Texas A&M opened their regional in Tallahassee. Sean Gilmartin took the mound for FSU against Ross Stripling for the Aggies. Gilmartin struck out two in the top of the first, but allowed a two-out solo homerun to Matt Juengel to give the Aggies an early 1-0 lead. FSU quickly tied it at 1-1 in the bottom of the inning on Mike McGee’s sac fly. Jayce Boyd hit a solo homerun in the bottom of the 6^th to give the Seminoles a 2-1 lead.

Things fell apart for Gilmartin and FSU in the top of the 7^th. The Aggies scored four runs on four hits and a walk. Gilmartin allowed five runs on six hits over seven innings (though he struck out eight). The Aggies tacked on an insurance run in the top of the 8^th. Stripling battled for the Aggies and allowed two runs on seven hits over seven innings (he also struck out eight). Texas A&M took Game 1 in Tallahassee 6-2. Game 2 will begin at 4pm ET on ESPNU on Sunday.

It was expected to be a great pitcher’s duel between UConn’s Matt Barnes and South Carolina’s Mike Roth. It looked that way early on as Barnes looked like the first-round draft pick that he is. Roth struggled a bit in the first inning as he allowed an unearned run. UConn had runners on base in every inning but the 5^th and 8^th, however Roth induced double-digit ground outs. Roth lasted 8.1 innings and allowed six hits and the unearned run, though he struck out just two.

Things completely unraveled for Barnes in the 5^th. He threw two wild pitches, UConn made an error, and the catcher had a passed ball. Barnes and catcher Doug Elliot didn’t look comfortable together. Barnes allowed five runs on eight hits and two walks over just 4.1 innings. Dan Feehan allowed just one hit over 2.2 innings of relief for UConn.

Roth exited to a standing ovation with one out in the 9^th. John Taylor recorded the final two outs for the victory. Scott Wingo went 2-for-5 with two RBIs and made some nice plays at second base for the Gamecocks. South Carolina took Game 1, 5-1 and lead the best-of-three series 1-0. Game 2 can be seen on ESPNU at 7pm ET on Sunday.

The Cinderella super regional between California and Dallas Baptist got underway at Santa Clara on Saturday night. Cal, whose baseball program was being eliminated before alumni raised over $9 million, jumped on the board in the top of the 2^nd on Chad Bunting’s three-run homerun. Outside of that inning, Dallas Baptist starter Brandon Williamson was good. He helped himself out by picking off two runners at first base. Then they let him continue to pitch into the late innings. He was finally relieved in the 8^th inning with two outs (he allowed ten hits and seven runs). Cal starter Justin Jones was better. He allowed just one hit and a walk through six innings. He left with an arm injury (which isn’t good news if Cal advances to Omaha).

Logan Scott entered for Cal in the 7^th and gave up just two hits over three innings of relief (Dallas Baptist only had three hits in the game). Marcus Semien, who tripled earlier in the game, hit a three-run homerun in the top of the 8^th to give Cal a 7-0 lead. Cal took Game 1, 7-0 and will play Sunday at 10pm ET on ESPNU.