LEADING OFF: #7 OREGON STATE has looked the part so far of a team picked to win the Pac-12 and ranked in the Top 8 of all 5 major polls with a 5-0 start to the season. The Beavers have used a combination of pitching and power hitting to outscore their opponents 52-17, slugging 14 home runs while compiling a 1.75 ERA to sweep a 4-game set in Surprise, AZ, followed by a win over #22 Texas Tech in Arlington, TX. All-American Travis Bazzana racked up Pac-12 Player of the Week and Co-National Player of the Week by Perfect Game while hitting 9-20 (.450 AVG) with 3 homers, 7 RBI and 7 runs scored. Mitch Canham’s squad remains in Arlington this weekend for the Kubota College Baseball Series, highlighted by a matchup with #4 Arkansas on Friday night.
#24 UCLA also went unscathed in the opening week with a 3-game sweep of Gonzaga, led by shortstop Cody Schrier (7-12, 4 runs) and second baseman Duce Gourson (2 HR, 4 RBI, 4 runs). Sophomore starting pitchers Michael Barnett and Finn McIlroy combined for just 1 earned run allowed over 10 innings. The Bruins head to Fort Worth, TX this weekend for a 3-game set with #4 TCU.
ARIZONA and ARIZONA STATE have both come out swinging early, leading them both to 3-1 starts. The Wildcats took 2 of 3 from #25 Northeastern in Tucson before putting up 24 runs on Utah Tech on Tuesday. Outfielder Brendan Summerhill had a school-record tying 6 hits in that game, the most in D-1 so far this season, and is 11-19 (.579 AVG) with 11 RBI, 7 runs and 5 doubles in 4 games. After a trip to San Diego this weekend, Arizona visits #5 TCU on Wednesday. The Sun Devils have swatted 11 home runs in 4 games so far with sophomore Isaiah Jackson leading the way with 3 homers and a Pac-12 high 13 RBI. Willie Bloomquist‘s squad has scored at least 9 runs in every game including a 9-6 win over a Kansas State squad that was ranked #24 by D1Baseball.
CALIFORNIA also is off to a 3-1 start, including a 6-3 win over that same Kansas State squad on Opening Day. The Bears had 3 pitches combine for their first shutout of the season on Wednesday, an 8-0 win over BYU. UTAH begins the 2024 campaign 3-1 on a road trip to Southern California. After dropping the opener 1-0, the Utes outscored their opponents 25-9 in the last 3 games and stay in California this weekend for the Tony Gwynn Legacy. The Nathan Choate Era is off to a successful start as Washington State took 3 of 4 on the road from Utah Tech. 6 different Cougars have already homered this season with Alan Shibley, Nate Swarts and Casen Taggert slamming 2 each. WSU will be part of the Round Rock Classic this weekend before heading to #5 TCU on Tuesday.
Rankings
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 –
