The California Golden Bears will be one arm short in their 2011 College World Series Opener as starting pitcher Justin Jones has been ruled out of Cal-Virginia with a sore bicep (Merc via CGB). Jones threw six shutout innings in game one of the Super Regionals against Dallas Baptist but had to leave after straining his bicep during warmups for the seventh inning.
Jones was a freshman All-American last season and followed that up with a solid sophomore campaign, going 9-6 with a 2.93 ERA in 14 starts and 20 total appearances. Jones hopes to pitch later in the CWS but will definitely be sitting out Sunday's opener. It's hard to tell if he would have pitched game one as the Bears have mixed and matched their starting pitching throughout the postseason. Jones started game one of the Super Regionals, while Erik Johnson opened the regional round.
As it currently stands, Erik Johnson would seem to be the likely starter against Virginia. Dixon Anderson hasn't pitched since June 5 but it seems that between Johnson and Anderson, Johnson would qualify as the "ace" of the two. The College World Series schedules teams to start out playing every other day and then mixes in back-to-back games depending on how a team performs. Cal is likely going to need three starters and possibly four if they can make it to the championship series. After Jones, Johnson, and Anderson, Cal's fourth starter is Kevin Miller, who last started in a regional win over Alcorn State and followed that up with relief appearances.
We'll keep a close eye on this developing story in our 2011 College World Series Story Stream. For more discussion on the Cal-Virginia matchup, check out California Golden Blogs and Streaking The Lawn.