The 2011 NCAA baseball tournament starts its annual College World Series this Saturday and features a double elimination bracket. The opening games take place Saturday June 18 and Sunday June 19. The winners advance to face each other in the winners' bracket, while the losers move into an alternate losers' bracket. For Cal, that means they will face either Texas A&M or South Carolina in their second game of the tournament.
The tournament gets a little tricky at that point as I believe the loser of each winner's bracket matchup will move on to the other side of the bracket. I suggest this because that is what happened in the Women's College World Series for softball. Cal softball lost its first game and after winning its second game, it played the loser of the winner's bracket from the other side. If that doesn't make sense, check out the WCWS bracket at ncaa.com to see how that went down.
No matter what, Cal is guaranteed a game on Sunday and a game on Tuesday. However, they'll need to win at least one of those two games to continue their Cinderella run. Ideally they would win both games as a loss would require an extra win to continue on in the tournament. It didn't stop Cal in the regionals, but hopefully they can avoid this in the CWS.
Here is a rundown of all the matchups starting Saturday, courtesy of ncaa.com. If Cal beats Virginia they'll play the winner of South Carolina-Texas A&M on Game 8. If Cal loses to Virginia, they'll play the loser of South Carolina-Texas A&M in Game 7:
| Date | Time (ET) | Game | Broadcast |
|---|---|---|---|
| * -- If only one game is needed, it will be played at 7 p.m. Note: No games played on June 26 unless rescheduled due to rainouts. |
|||
| June 18 | 2 p.m. | Vanderbilt vs. North Carolina | ESPN / ESPN3.com |
| 7 p.m. | Texas vs. Florida | ESPN / ESPN3.com | |
| June 19 | 2 p.m. | California vs. Virginia | ESPN / ESPN3.com |
| 7 p.m. | Texas A&M vs. South Carolina | ESPN2 / ESPN3.com | |
| June 20 | 2 p.m. | Game 5 | ESPN / ESPN3.com |
| 7 p.m. | Game 6 | ESPN2 / ESPN3.com | |
| June 21 | 2 p.m. | Game 7 | ESPN / ESPN3.com |
| 7 p.m. | Game 8 | ESPN / ESPN3.com | |
| June 22 | 7 p.m. | Game 9 | ESPN2 / ESPN3.com |
| June 23 | 7 p.m. | Game 10 | ESPN2 / ESPN3.com |
| June 24 | 2 p.m. | Game 11 | ESPN / ESPN3.com |
| 7 p.m. | Game 12 | ESPN / ESPN3.com | |
| June 25 * | 2 p.m. | Game 13 (if necessary) | ESPN / ESPN3.com |
| 7 p.m. | Game 14 (if necessary) | ESPN2 / ESPN3.com | |
| June 26 | |||
| June 27 | 8 p.m. | Finals Game 1 | ESPN / ESPN3.com |
| June 28 | 8 p.m. | Finals Game 2 | ESPN / ESPN3.com |
| June 29 | 8 p.m. | Finals Game 3 (if necessary) | ESPN / ESPN3.com |