PAC-12 PLAYER OF THE YEAR & BATTING CHAMPION: TRAVIS BAZZANA, OREGON STATE PAC-12 PITCHER OF THE YEAR: BRYSON VAN SICKLE, UTAH PAC-12 FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: BRANDON COMPTON, ARIZONA STATE PAC-12 DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: CAM CLAYTON, WASHINGTON PAC-12 COACH OF THE YEAR: CHIP HALE, ARIZONA
The Pac-12 Conference announced today the baseball postseason honors, All-Conference and All-Defensive teams for the 2024 season, as determined by a polling of the league’s coaches. Oregon State’s Travis Bazzana was voted Pac-12 Player of the Year while also being crowned Batting Champion for having the best batting average at the end of the regular season. Utah’s ace Bryson Van Sickle was voted Pitcher of the Year while Washington shortstop Cam Clayton grabbed Pac-12 Defensive Player of the Year. After clinching the Pac-12 regular season championship, Arizona’s Chip Hale was named Coach of the Year while Arizona State’s Brandon Compton claimed Freshman of the Year.
PAC-12 PLAYER OF THE YEAR & BATTING CHAMPION: Travis Bazzana, Jr., INF, Oregon State (Sydney, Australia) One of the top prospects in all of baseball, Bazzana built on his 2023 All-American season to place himself as one of the best players in the country as seen by being named a semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy. Bazzana’s .429 average to end the regular season earns him the batting title and if it held through the postseason, would be the 12th highest in league history. His 26 home runs lead the Pac-12 while also setting the school’s single-season record and currently tied for 10th most in conference history. And a Triple Crown is still in play for the junior, who’s 62 RBI only trail his teammate Gavin Turley’s 69. This is the 8th time a Beaver has won this award and the first since Jacob Melton in 2022. Bazzana is now the Oregon State career leader in hits (241), runs (213), doubles (49, T-1st), home runs (43), walks (172), stolen bases (64) and total bases (439).
PAC-12 PITCHER OF THE YEAR: Bryson Van Sickle, RS Sr., LHP, Utah (Eagle Mountain, Utah) The Utes ace moved into his Friday night role in early April and has not looked back, finishing the regular season 4-1 including a pair of complete games. The lefty is the first Utah pitcher since 2008 to throw multiple complete gams in a season. Van Sickle’s top outing came on April 12 against Arizona State when he threw the first “Maddux” in the Pac-12 since 2018, which is a complete game shutout on less than 100 pitches. The Utah native needed just 82 pitches as he scattered three hits with no walks without allowing the leadoff batter to reach base in any inning. The first Utah pitcher to ever claim Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year, Van Sickle was twice named Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week and finished the regular season with a 2.78 ERA (third best in the Pac-12) and a 1.09 WHIP (also third).
PAC-12 FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR: Brandon Compton, RS Fr., DH/LHP, Arizona State (Buckeye, Ariz.) After missing all of last year as a true freshman after Tommy John surgery, the pitching recruit out of high school has turned into one of the more dangerous bats in a stacked Sun Devil lineup. Compton leads all Pac-12 freshmen in home runs with 14 and RBI with 50 while hitting .363 for the season. Compton has been exceptionally good down the stretch, with a .478 average (22-46), 5 home runs, 14 RBI and 14 runs scored in 10 May games. This is the fourth time a Sun Devil has won this award and the first since Spencer Torkelson in 2018.
PAC-12 DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE YEAR: Cam Clayton, Jr., SS, Washington (Lake Oswego, Wash.) The slick fielding shortstop in Seattle is this year’s Defensive Player of the Year, just the second Husky to win this award since it was created for the 2013 season, joining Erik Forgione in 2014. Clayton has 136 assists this season, tied for sixth most in the league, including a league-high 11 in a game against Seattle on April 9. WIth just 4 errors in 199 chances, Clayton boasts a .980 fielding percentage, tops among Pac-12 shortstops. No slouch with the bat as well, Clayton is hitting .273 with 7 home runs and 29 RBI while swiping 7 bases.
PAC-12 COACH OF THE YEAR: Chip Hale, Arizona The skipper of the regular season champs, Chip Hale becomes the first person in Pac-12 baseball history to win both Coach of the Year and Player of the Year, having brought home those honors back in 1987 when he and UCLA’s Torey Lovullo split the Pac-10 South Player of the Year award. In 2023, Arizona made it to the Pac-12 title game as an #8 seed and this year they enter the tournament as the #1 seed, their first regular season Pac-12 title since 2021, the year before the tournament started. Arizona won 20 conference games for just the third time since 1990 (2012, 2021). After being selected ninth in the Pac-12 Preseason Coaches Poll, the Wildcats overcame a slow start to the season, before ripping off 23 wins in their final 30 regular season games including 17 of their final 22 conference games. Chip Hale’s squad had both an 11-game overall winning streak and an 11-game conference win streak during the campaign. Arizona has had seven walk-off victories this season.
2024 PAC-12 BASEBALL ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
Honorable Mention: Emilio Corona, Arizona; Casey Hintz, Arizona; Ben Jacobs, Arizona State; Connor Markl, Arizona State; Steven Ondina, Arizona State; Tyler Stasiowski, California; Christian Becerra, California; Seth Gwynn, California; Rodney Green Jr., California; Jacob Walsh, Oregon; Grayson Grinsell, Oregon; Bryce Boettcher, Oregon; RJ Gordon, Oregon; Mason Neville, Oregon; Bradley Mullan, Oregon; Logan Mercado, Oregon; Chase Meggers, Oregon; Dallas Macias, Oregon State; Elijah Hainline, Oregon State; Joey Mundt, Oregon State; Eric Segura, Oregon State; Mason Guerra, Oregon State; Jimmy Nati, Stanford; Malcolm Moore, Stanford; Duce Gourson, UCLA; Rashad Ruff, UCLA; Roch Cholowsky, UCLA; Austin Overn, USC; Ryan Jackson, USC; Jacob Galloway, USC; TJ Clarkson, Utah; AJ Guerrero, Washington; Grant Cunningham, Washington; Nate Swarts, Washington State
2023 PAC-12 BASEBALL ALL-DEFENSIVE TEAM
– Pac-12.com –
