College baseball's new metal bats have been praised by Major League Baseball scouts, according to an ESPN.com report on Thursday. For these talent evaluators, the college variation of the game resembles "true" baseball for the first time in years, making their job a little easier as MLB's draft approaches in June. "It takes some of the guesswork out of recruiting in college baseball," said Art Gardner, a regional scout who is based in Mississippi.

Nearly two months after the University of California reinstated three other teams that were slated for elimination, the school said Friday that baseball would survive after a massive fundraising effort by alumni, former players, parents of current players and other team supporters. Cal said financial commitments totaling $9M were presented to chancellor Robert Birgeneau on Thursday by former Golden Bears pitcher and fundraising leader Stu Gordon. The total was short of the initial $10M goal so additional money is still needed in this effort, but the Cal administration was confident enough to announce the program would be saved.