The second weekend of the 2011 NCAA baseball tournament picks up for the California Golden Bears on Saturday with the super regional round commencing. Cal will square off against the Dallas Baptist Patriots in one of the more low profile super regionals. While neither team was dominant in 2011, they provide very compelling storylines. Cal baseball was on the verge of being eliminated from the athletic budget before some last minute donations saved the day. On the other side, Dallas Baptist is the only independent team in the field and has only been playing Division 1 baseball since 2006.
In spite of the limitations for each program, they combined to produce ten draft picks in the recently completed 2011 MLB Draft. The draft wrapped up Wednesday afternoon with 1,530 players selected and the Cal Bears had seven players drafted while Dallas Baptist had three players drafted. While the two college programs don't share mutually drafted teams, it is interesting to note that three different Cal Bears were drafted by the White Sox.
California Golden Bears
RHP Erik Johnson - 80th overall, 2nd round - White Sox
SS Marcus Semien - 201st, 6th round - White Sox
RHP Dixon Anderson - 277th, 9th round - Nationals
C Chadd Krist - 411th, 13th round - White Sox
RHP Kevin Miller - 550th, 18th round - Astros
RHP Matt Flemer - 576th, 19th round - Royals
2B Austin Booker - 1006th, 33rd round - Athletics
Dallas Baptist Patriots
OF Jason Krizan - 257th overall, 8th round - Tigers
RHP Brandon Williamson - 611th, 20th round - Brewers
RHP Chris Haney - 623rd, 20th round - Padres