LEADING OFF:  For the second straight year, Stanford is headed to the College World Series.  The Cardinal took two of three from Connecticut in the Super Regionals with a 10-5 win on Monday to advance.  Stanford will take on Arkansas in their first game in Omaha on Saturday at 11 a.m. PT on ESPN.  The Cardinal’s second game will be Monday with time and opponent depending on the result of Saturday’s game.

This marks the 18^th time that Stanford has made it to the College World Series and the first time they have done it in back-to-back seasons since they did it five straight from 1999 to 2003.  They are the first Pac-12 school to advance to Omaha in two straight years since Oregon State in 2017 and 2018.

The Beavers came up just short of their first trip back to Omaha since 2018, losing to Auburn 4-3 in Game 3 of the Corvallis Super Regional.  Oregon State finished with 48 wins this season, their most since their national championship season in 2018.

AWARD TOUR:  Oregon State LHP Cooper Hjerpe has been a popular pick in the national awards, so far taking home the National Pitcher of the Year Award from both the College Baseball Foundation and Perfect Game.  The Beavers’ ace is also a finalist for the Dick Howser Trophy and the Golden Spikes Award as the nation’s top player, the only pitcher to be a finalist for either award this season. 

The District 9 Player of the Year set the school record for single-season strikeouts with 161 this year while going 11-2 with a 2.53 ERA.  He currently leads the nation in strikeouts and if that holds, would be the first Beaver to do that.

ALL-AMERICANS:  Hjerpe also leads a long list of All-Americans from the Pac-12 this season, being named first team by the NCBWA, ABCA, Collegiate Baseball and Perfect Game.  Hjerpe and teammate Jacob Melton are both awaiting the Baseball America All-American team announcement to see if they will both be unanimous All-Americans.

NCBWA:  Oregon State one of 2 schools (Tennessee) to have multiple players on 1^st Team.

ABCA/Rawlings All-American Team

Collegiate Baseball All-American Team

Perfect Game All-American Team

NCBWA All-Freshman Team

Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-American Team

Perfect Game All-Freshman Team

Rankings Roundup

• USA Today Coaches:  #2 Oregon State, #4 Stanford, #23 UCLA (May 30^th)
• Baseball America:  #2 Stanford, #5 Oregon State, #19 UCLA (May 30^th)
• D1Baseball:  #2 Stanford, #3 Oregon State, #19 UCLA (May 31^st)
• Collegiate Baseball:  #1 Stanford, #11 Oregon State, #20 UCLA, #24 Arizona (June 13^th)
• NCBWA:  #2 Stanford, #3 Oregon State, #21 UCLA, #29 Arizona (June 7^th)
• Perfect Game:  #2 Stanford, #5 Oregon State, #18 UCLA (May 30^th)

FEELING A DRAFT:  Major League Baseball is holding its Draft Combine this week in San Diego with 13 players representing seven different Pac-12 schools invited to the event.  California leads conference with 4 representatives.  Combine attendees will be given the opportunity to showcase their abilities in front of general managers and scouting directors over four days of practices, games, drills, medical evaluations, interviews and more.  The 2022 MLB Draft will take place July 17-19.

Huff was invited but not attending with Stanford in the College World Series.

CHANGE AT THE TOP:  Two Pac-12 programs will have new head coaches next season.

Washington’s Lindsay Meggs announced his retirement on June 6^th after 13 seasons leading the Huskies.  Meggs won over 900 games in his career including over 300 at Washington and led the Huskies to the NCAA Tournament three times with their first-ever trip to the College World Series in 2018.

Also on June 6^th, USC and Jason Gill agreed to part ways after three seasons leading the Trojans.  USC went 60-59 under Gill with a 25-28 record this season.  Gill was hired in June 2019 after 11 seasons at Loyola Marymount.

RUNNING THE REGION:  The Pac-12 dominated the ABCA/Rawlings Division I West All-Region Team with 18 of the 36 overall players including 9 each on the first and second teams.

D1Baseball National Player of the Week

• April 5- LHP Cooper Hjerpe (OSU)

Collegiate Baseball National Players of the Week

• May 16- RHP Max Rajcic (UCLA)
• May 9- C/UTL Nate Baez (ASU)
• April 25- INF/OF Wade Meckler (OSU)
• April 18- C Tyler Lozano (USC)
• April 11- C Vincent Martinez (Stanford)
• April 4- LHP Cooper Hjerpe (OSU), LHP Quinn Mathews (Stanford)
• March 21- LHP Cooper Hjerpe (OSU)
• March 14- OF Jacob Melton (OSU), C Daniel Susac (Arizona), LHP Adam Tulloch (ASU)
• March 7- 1B/LHP TJ Clarkson (Utah), RHP Thatcher Hurd (UCLA)
• February 28- RHP Matthew Sox (Utah)
• February 21- RHP Josh White (California)

Golden Spikes Performance of the Week

• May 17- RHP Max Rajcic (UCLA)
• April 4- LHP Cooper Hjerpe (OSU)
• February 28- LHP Quinn Mathews (Stanford), RHP Matthew Sox (Utah)

Dick Howser Trophy Player of the Week

• March 15- C Daniel Susac (Arizona)

Dick Howser Trophy Pitcher of the Week

• May 17 - RHP Max Rajcic (UCLA)
• April 5 - LHP Cooper Hjerpe (OSU) – Co-winner
• March 8 - RHP Thatcher Hurd (UCLA) – Co-winner

Perfect Game/Rawlings Pitcher of the Week

• May 17 - RHP Max Rajcic (UCLA)
• April 5 - LHP Cooper Hjerpe (OSU)
• March 8 – RHP Thatcher Hurd (UCLA)

College Baseball Foundation Pitcher of the Week

• May 17 – Max Rajcic (UCLA)
• March 1 - Quinn Mathews (Stanford)

College Baseball Foundation Shortstop of the Week

• March 1 – Nik McClaughry (Arizona)

John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Week

• May 18 – Braden Montgomery (Stanford)

HEAD OF THE CLASS:  Ten baseball student-athletes were named finalists for the 2022 Senior CLASS Award (for players that excel on and off the field) with four of them coming from the Pac-12, the most by any conference.  Oregon State pitcher Mitchell Verburg and Stanford pitcher Alex Williams were selected as first team Senior CLASS Award All-Americans while pair of Ducks made the second team in outfielder Tanner Smith and pitcher Kolby Somers.

HITTING THE BOOKS:  CoSIDA selected the 2021-22 Academic All-American Team with the Pac-12 placing 5 players on the three teams

POWER PLAYERS: D1Baseball recently updated their Position Power Rankings with the Top 30 at each infield position, Top 75 relievers and their Top 100 in the outfield and among starting pitchers.  The following Pac-12 players made the lists:

• Catcher:  #2 Daniel Susac (Arizona), #27 Nate Baez (Arizona State), #30 Kody Huff (Stanford)
• First Base:  #9 Carter Graham (Stanford), #20 Nathan Martorella (California)
• Second Base:  #16 Brett Barrera (Stanford), #21 Tyresse Turner (USC), #30 Travis  Bazzana (Oregon State)
• Shortstop:  #19 Josh Kasevich (Oregon)
• Third Base:  #28 Ethan Long (Arizona State)
• Outfield:  #1 Jacob Melton (Oregon State), #20 Dylan Beavers (California), #22 Justin Boyd (Oregon State), #30 Brock Jones (Stanford), #33 Tanner O’Tremba (Arizona), #37 Joe Lampe (Arizona State), #59 Anthony Hall (Oregon), #64 Tanner Smith (Oregon), #66 TJ Clarkson (Utah), #92 Chase Davis (Arizona), #100 Wade Meckler (Oregon State)
• Starting Pitchers: #1 Cooper Hjerpe (Oregon State), #18 Alex Williams (Stanford), #41 Quinn Mathews (Stanford), #53 Max Rajcic (UCLA), #92 Charlie Hurley (USC), #94 Jacob Kmatz (Oregon State)
• Relievers:  #9 Ben Ferrer (Oregon State), #16 Stefan Raeth (Washington), #41 Kolby Somers (Oregon), #47 Quinn Flanagan (Arizona)

COACHES CHOOSE CARDINAL:  The Pac-12 coaches took Stanford atop their preseason poll with the Cardinal receiving eight first-place votes for a total of 98 out of a possible 100 points.

Oregon State was second with 84 points and one first-place vote, Arizona was third with 77 points and UCLA with two first-place votes had the fourth-most points with 75.