Stanford, Cal seek reversal of ACC fortunes in conference tournament

San Francisco Chronicle​

19-05-2025

David Esquer's Stanford team owned a 15-3 record (5-1 ACC) and was ranked 14th in the country before Cal came to Sunken Diamond in late March and swept a three-game series.
That triggered an 11-game conference losing streak for the Cardinal. The Bears' tailspin began a week later. They would endure a 14-game ACC skid.
Stanford (27-24, 11-19) and Cal (22-30, 9-21) each won a series last week ahead of the ACC tournament, which begins Tuesday in Durham, N.C. Before looking at how the Bay Area teams are preparing for the single-elimination event, let's review what went wrong for two distinguished programs in their first season in the East Coast-based conference.
'You have to continue to have confidence in the face of adversity,' Cal head coach Mike Neu said in an interview in his Haas Pavilion office Saturday morning before the Bears' 4-3, 10-inning win over Boston College. 'We didn't manage that probably the best that we could as a team.'
That one-run victory over the Eagles still left Cal with a 4-12 record in games decided by one or two runs.
'We just ran into a funk at some point during the season that we just could not get out of,' Esquer said in a phone interview Sunday morning, a day after the Cardinal knocked off No. 21 NC State 6-3.
ACC tournament, first round
Tuesday at Durham, N.C. Times PDT; seeds in parentheses.
6 a.m. (16) Cal vs. (9) Miami
10 a.m. (13) Stanford vs. (12) Virginia Tech
2 p.m. (15) Pittsburgh vs. (10) Louisville
6 p.m. (14) Boston College vs. (11) Notre Dame
Games broadcast on the ACC Network.
Even after ending its ACC skid with an 11-6 victory at Clemson on April 13, Stanford proceeded to lose five of its next six conference games, all of which were at Sunken.
Cal and Stanford have dealt with injuries to their rotations. Neither the Bears' Austin Turkington (4-5, 5.27 ERA, 62 strikeouts in 54 ⅔ innings) nor the Cardinal's Matt Scott (5-2, 6.02, 56 K's in 52 ⅓ innings) has pitched this month and neither is available this week. Stanford lefty Christian Lim (2-3, 6.75) has been out for more than a month and he also is unavailable this week.
The Bears and Cardinal have had to deal with the extensive travel inherent in the expanded conference. Cal made four long trips in the regular season and left Sunday for North Carolina. Stanford made five such trips and has remained in the Tobacco Road area after its series against the Wolfpack.
So, the question becomes: How much has the travel affected the Bears and Cardinal?
'I do know that teams on the east that come out once, they bemoan the one trip that they have to make west,' Esquer said. 'As much as I've heard them not love coming out west once, I've got to believe that there's some effect to it.
'What it actually is I don't know.'
'You feel it cumulative,' Esquer said, meaning the lengthy travel can be detrimental to a team once it returns home.
The Bears had to spend a night in the Louisville airport after a series against the Cardinals in late March. Nevertheless, Neu said, 'If we transfer blame onto (the travel), then I think we're kind of selling ourselves short.
'I definitely think it's more difficult, but I think winning with the travel is definitely attainable.'
Though neither Stanford nor Cal has the record it would like, players on each team have thrived. For the Cardinal, senior third baseman Trevor Haskins (.329, 13 HRs, 41 RBIs), junior second baseman Jimmy Nati (.300, 15 HRs, 48 RBIs) and freshman outfielder Tatum Marsh (team-leading .374) have put together seasons to remember.
For the Bears, outfielder Jacob French (team-leading .368), second baseman Jarren Advincula (.347) and first baseman Dominic Smaldino (11 HRs, 43 RBIs) – all sophomores – have been the headliners.
Cal finished last in the 16-team conference. It opens the tournament against nine-seed Miami (31-23, 15-14). That's the first of four games Tuesday, and it begins at 9 a.m. EDT/6 a.m. PDT. Neu planned to have the Bears practice at that time Monday.
'We'll just try to get dialed into that time as quick as we possibly can and then be ready to go on Tuesday morning,' Neu said. 'And then from there, it's just, 'Hey, let's regroup and figure out what we need to do.''
Neu held right-hander Oliver de la Torre out of the Boston College series; he will start against the Hurricanes. De la Torre threw four shutout innings with six strikeouts in his most recent outing, Cal's 5-0 win over Florida State on May 10 that halted the Bears' ACC skid.
Stanford's outlook for a regional isn't quite as stark as Cal's. As of Monday morning, the Cardinal's RPI was 49, in the borderline area of qualifying for the 64-team field. Stanford, the 13th seed in the conference tournament, faces 12-seed Virginia Tech (30-24, 12-18; RPI: 51) at 10 a.m. PDT Tuesday.
If Stanford wins, it will face 5-seed Clemson (41-15, 18-12; RPI: 10) on Wednesday. If Stanford knocks off the Tigers, it will advance to face 4-seed NC State (33-18, 17-11; RPI: 34) on Thursday. An educated guess is that Stanford needs to win at least twice and probably three times to get in the conversation for an at-large regional bid.
Esquer limited right-hander Joey Volchko, who will start against the Hokies, to two innings in the Cardinal's 7-2 loss at NC State on Thursday. Stanford then beat the Wolfpack 4-3 in 10 innings Friday and 6-3 Saturday.
'This past weekend, I got a chance to see that team that I hadn't seen in a while,' Esquer said, saying it was the best Stanford had played since its 15-3 start. 'I hadn't seen that team that played with that freedom and competitiveness.'
Briefly: Stanford's win Saturday was the 800th of Esquer's career. The first 525 came in his 18 seasons (2000-2017) leading the Cal program. … If the Bears prevail Tuesday, they'll face 8-seed Wake Forest (36-19, 16-14) at 6 a.m. PDT Wednesday.