LEADING OFF: Following CALIFORNIA’s win over STANFORD in a non-conference tilt on Tuesday, conference play officially gets underway this weekend.
The conference series with the best combined record features UTAH (9-3) visiting WASHINGTON STATE (7-4). This will mark the first Pac-12 series for new Cougars skipper Nathan Choatewho’s seen a solid offensive output so far this season, led by catcher Jacob Morrow‘s league-leading .520 batting average. The Utes, who have not lost a series to Washington State since 2014, lead the conference in ERA at 2.88, good for 10th in the country. 8 different Utah pitches have a win this season, with Colter McAnelly the only Ute with multiple wins.
OREGON takes a 3-game winning streak into the desert to take on ARIZONA STATE. The Ducks offense has gotten a nice boost so far this season from a pair of transfers in Jeffrey Heard and Justin Cassella who have combined for 5 home runs and 26 RBI. Thomas Burns, the Sun Devils Friday night starter, has struck out at least 6 batters in all 3 of his starts despite yet going longer than 5.0 innings in any of those outings.
UCLA heads up the coast to take on a CALIFORNIA squad that has hit 20 home runs in just 10 games so far this season. Golden Bear sluggers Caleb Lomavita (5) and Rodney Green Jr. (4) are the only pair of Pac-12 teammates with 4 or more home runs so far this season. The Bruins have won 6 of their last 8 weekend series against Cal but Mike Neu‘s squad swept a road series at UCLA last May despite Jack Holman homering in all 3 games.
2-time defending regular season champion STANFORD officially opens up conference play on the road at WASHINGTON. The Cardinal have won 5 of 6 since a 1-5 start as the pitching has settled down including a Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week award for Christian Lim after striking out 10 over 6 shutout innings at Rice. The Huskies are the only team in the country this season to have played multiple games that have gone 15 innings or longer.
After facing 3 ranked opponents in Texas last weekend, ARIZONA heads to Los Angeles for a 3-game set with USC. Wildcat standouts so far include Cam Walty who is one of two Pac-12 pitchers with 3 wins so far this season while Mason White who leads the conference with 19 RBI and has homered in 5 of his last 8 games. Trojan pitchers meanwhile have racked up a Pac-12 leading 135 strikeouts in just 107.1 innings with Mason Edwards (18 K in 11.2 IP) leading 7 USC hurlers with 10+ K so far.
#5 OREGON STATE is the lone Pac-12 squad in non-conference play this weekend as they host CSUN for a 4-game series, their first meeting since 2005. The Beavers have won 6 straight and have scored double digit runs in 7 of 12 games this season. Travis Bazzana has won Pac-12 Player of the Week twice already this season and is leading the conference in home runs, runs, triples, total bases, slugging percentage and walks. Oregon State is looking to start 12-1 for the first time since 2019.
Rankings
RPI: Through games of Wednesday, March 6, Oregon State is the highest rated Pac-12 team at #20 thanks to their 11-1 record. Arizona is the 2nd highest rated team in the Pac-12 at #28. The Wildcats currently have the 13th toughest strength of schedule, including 10 of their 11 games so far this season being Quad 1 and the only Pac-12 team with multiple Quad 1 wins (4-6). Overall, 8 of the Pac-12’s schools are in the Top 100 of RPI. 4 of the Pac-12 schools are in the Top 15 of toughest strength of schedule so far (Washington, Arizona State, Arizona, USC).
NATIONAL AWARDS:
BEAVERS EARLY FAVORITES: Oregon State, who has finished 2nd in the regular season standings each of the last 2 seasons, was picked by the Pac-12 coaches as the favorite to win the conference. The Beavers received 8 of the 11 first place votes and are looking for its first Pac-12 title since 2017. Stanford, who’s won the last 2 regular season titles, was 2nd and had 2 first place votes while UCLA was picked 3rd and received the other first place vote.
PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM: For the 2nd straight year, the conference released a Preseason All-Conference team as voted on by the league’s 11 coaches. Oregon State, Arizona State and California all led the league with 5 selections each. The 33-person team featured 18 players that earned Pac-12 honors last spring including 8 all-conference selections highlighted by preseason All-Americans Travis Bazzana (Oregon State), Malcolm Moore (Stanford), Austin Overn (USC), Duce Gourson (UCLA) and Micah Ashman (Utah).
PRESEASON ALL-AMERICANS
D1 Baseball
Baseball America
NCBWA
Perfect Game
PRESEASON AWARD WATCH LISTS
Golden Spikes Award
Bobby Bragan National Collegiate Slugger
NCBWA Stopper of the Year
D1BASEBALL PRESEASON POSITIONAL PLAYER RANKINGS
Catchers (Top 50)
First Basemen (Top 50)
Second Basemen (Top 50)
Shortstops (Top 50)
Third Baseman (Top 50)
Outfielders (Top 100)
Starting Pitchers (Top 150)
Relief Pitchers (Top 50)
Impact Transfers (Top 130)
BASEBALL AMERICA PRESEASON LISTS
FIELD OF 64 PRESEASON PROJECTIONS:
Baseball America: Oregon State (1 seed), Stanford (2 seed), UCLA (2 seed), Oregon (3 seed), USC (3 seed), Arizona State (First Four Out)
D1Baseball: Oregon State (1 seed), Stanford (2 seed), Arizona State (3 seed), Oregon (3 seed), UCLA(3 seed), USC (3 seed)
MADE IN AMERICA: 3 current Pac-12 players made the 2023 Collegiate National Team Roster that went 7-3 this summer, sweeping 5 games with Taiwan and going 3-2 against Japan. The Pac-12 was represented by INF Duce Gourson (UCLA), OF Rodney Green Jr. (Cal), and C Malcolm Moore (Stanford). Former Stanford OF/P Braden Montgomery was also on the team prior to his transfer in August.
2024 PAC-12 BASEBALL TOURNAMENT: Once again, the Pac-12 Baseball Tournament returns to Scottsdale Stadium May 21-25, 2024 for year 3 at the Spring Training home of the San Francisco Giants. The tournament will once again feature pool play, with the top 9 teams in the Conference standings will earn berths to the tournament. The teams will be split into three pools based on their regular season finish with the top team from each pool advancing to the semifinals. The fourth semifinal spot will be determined by the top record of the non-advancing teams, with any tiebreakers going to the higher seed.
The champion will receive the Conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
ON DECK (Full Schedule)
2024 CONFERENCE STANDINGS (Expanded Standings)
2024 PAC-12 WEEKLY AWARDS
– Pac-12.com –
