Cal Bears (28-27, 5-18 in Pac-12) took a pivotal game against Arizona State last Saturday to secure a winning record for the regular season. Outside of one losing season in 2014 (right after Cal ace Jolene Henderson had graduated and Bears could not find a suitable pitching replacement), Diane Ninemire’s squad has made the NCAA postseason every other season.
While the requisite for postseason is a winning record, apparently the Pac-12 (traditional softball powerhouse that has had to share that title with the SEC in the past decade) has finally let the Bears down. Cal has a RPI of 64 after the results of this past Monday after their regular season has been completed, but most other teams have a conference championships to play.