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Pac-12 Softball still on top leading into Conference play

Mar 14, 2018

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Pac-12 teams posted an impressive 44-1 (.978) record in the final week of nonconference play. No. 1/1 Washington (27-0) and No. 3/2 UCLA (24-0) remain unbeaten through nonconference play and are the only two teams in the nation still without a loss.

The Pac-12 has four teams in the top 10 of the USA Today/NFCA poll, tied for the most of any conference with the SEC. Five teams are ranked in the top-10 of the USA Softball/ESPN poll, the most of any conference. Joining No. 1/1 Washington and No. 3/2 UCLA is No. 6/6 Oregon, No. 9/9 Arizona and No. 13/10 Arizona State. Washington, UCLA, and Oregon have been ranked in the top 10 of the polls for all five weeks of the season, including the preseason.

Two ranked matchups kick off the conference season Friday on the Pac-12 Network. No. 16/16 California travels to No. NR/25 Oregon, while No. 3/2 UCLA travels to No. 6/6 Oregon for the top-10 three-game series of the week.

Oregon’s Shannon Rhodes was selected this week’s Pac-12 Player of the Week, breaking a streak where a Washington student-athlete received the honor four-consecutive weeks. Arizona State’s G Juarez is this week’s Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week, picking up ASU’s first weekly honor of the season. UCLA’s Aaliyah Jordan was selected the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week for the third time this season.

The Pac-12 tops the NCAA statistics in 10 categories, including five team and five individual categories. UCLA leads the nation in batting average (.399), on base percentage (.477), scoring (8.17) and is tied with Washington in W-L percentage (1.000).

IN THE RANKINGS: Six teams are ranked in the USA Today/NFCA poll, including four in the top 10 with No. 1 Washington, No. 3 UCLA, No. 6 Oregon and No. 9 Arizona for the third-straight week. Also featured in the poll is Arizona State (No. 13) and California (No. 16).

The same six teams earned rankings in the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll: Washington is No. 1, UCLA is No. 2, Oregon is No. 6, Arizona is No. 9 and Arizona State is No. 10, the five teams in the top-10 is the most of any conference. Also in the poll is California at No. 16 and Oregon State at No. 25. Utah received votes.


UPCOMING SCHEDULE

Wednesday, Mar. 14    
Iowa at #13/10 ARIZONA STATE Live Stream 4 p.m. PT
Minnesota at #9/9 ARIZONA Live Stream 6 p.m. PT
Iowa at #13/10 ARIZONA STATE Live Stream 6 p.m. PT
Bryant at #1/1 WASHINGTON   7 p.m. PT
Friday, Mar. 16    
#16/16 California at #NR/25 Oregon State P12N 3 p.m. PT
#3/2 UCLA at #6/6 Oregon P12N 5 p.m. PT
Utah at #9/9 Arizona P12N 7 p.m. PT
Saturday, Mar. 17    
#16/16 California at #NR/25 Oregon State P12N 12 p.m. PT
#1/1 Washingoton at #13/10 Arizona State P12N 5 p.m. PT
#3/2 UCLA at #6/6 Oregon P12N 7 p.m. PT
Utah at #9/9 Arizona P12N 7 p.m. PT
Sunday, Mar. 18    
#16/16 California at  #NR/25 Oregon State P12N 12 p.m. PT
Utah at #9/9 Arizona P12N 12 p.m. PT
#3/2 UCLA at #6/6 Oregon P12N 2 p.m. PT
#1/1 Washington at #13/10 Arizona State P12N 2 p.m. PT
Monday, Mar. 19    
#1/1 Washington at #13/10 Arizona State P12N 2 p.m. PT
Tuesday, Mar. 20    
Utah at Grand Canyon   12 p.m. PT
Utah at Grand Canyon   1:30 p.m. PT

CONFERENCE STANDINGS (Expanded Standings)

Teams Pac-12 Record Overall Record
Washington 0-0 27-0
UCLA 0-0 24-0
Arizona State 0-0 21-2
Arizona 0-0 21-2
California 0-0 23-3
Oregon 0-0 23-4
Stanford 0-0 19-8
Utah 0-0 14-7
Oregon State 0-0 17-9

PAC-12 SOFTBALL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

  Player of the Week Pitcher of the Week Freshman of the Week
Mar. 13 Shannon Rhodes, ORE G Juarez, ASU Aaliyah Jordan, UCLA
Mar. 6 Julia DePonte, WASH Miranda Elish, ORE Gabbie Plain, WASH
Feb. 27 Kirstyn Thomas, WASH Taylor McQuillin, ARIZ Aaliyah Jordan, UCLA
Feb. 20 Taylor Van Zee, WASH Megan Kleist, ORE Aaliyah Jordan, UCLA
Feb. 13 Kirstyn Thomas, WASH Taran Alvelo, WASH Briana Perez, UCLA