March 28, 2011COLLEGE PAGE
CSNBayArea.com staff
Cal baseball, scheduled to be eliminated at the conclusion of 2011 season, may not be down to its final out.
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Comcast SportsNet Bay Area learned from a source that a meeting between Chancellor Robert Birgeneau and representatives of the Save Cal Baseball group took place Monday. The meeting was later confirmed by the university's athletic department.
The San Francisco Chronicle reported Saturday that the Save Cal Baseball group has secured 9 million in donations and pledges in an effort to save the varsity sport.
The university has said that 10 million is the figure needed to ensure the program's viability for the next seven to 10 years.
The conference has an Aug. 1 deadline for schools to submit the sports in which they will participate.
News
Baseball was officially eliminated from on Feb. 11, along with men's gymnastics. Three sports that had been on the chopping block -- women's gymnastics, women's lacrosse and rugby -- were saved.
Cal has fielded a baseball team since 1892, and it won national championships in 1947 and 1957.
The current edition is ranked No. 13 in the latest Baseball America College Top 25. The Pac-10 has six teams in the top-25, with Arizona State (5), Stanford (11), Arizona (18), Oregon State (23) and UCLA (24) also ranked.