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SAN FRANCISCO - Six of the Pac-12's nine squads will be in Cathedral City, Calif. for the 18th Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic at the Big League Dreams Complex from Thursday, Feb. 23 through Sunday, Feb. 26. The stacked field, which includes five Women's College World Series participants from a season ago, features No. 1 UCLA, No. 8 Washington, No. 22 Oregon, California, Oregon State and Utah from the Pac-12.

The newly-minted No. 1 Bruins will square off with three teams from last year's Women's College World Series in No. 3 Florida, No. 19 Northwestern and No. 2 Oklahoma as part of its six-game slate at the event. The Huskies will play five games in Cathedral City, highlighted by a matchup with No. 18 Kentucky on Thursday at noon PT. The Ducks have three NFCA-ranked opponents on their schedule in No. 19 Northwestern, No. 3 Florida and No. 24 Missouri, while the Beavers face the Tigers on Friday and the Utes the Sooners on Saturday. California has a pair of major conference opponents to close the event on Saturday and Sunday in Iowa and Texas Tech.

Every game of the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic will be available on FloSoftball.

While three of the league's five ranked teams will be in Cathedral City, No. 13 Arizona is in Fayetteville, Ark. for the Razorback Invitational, including three true road contests against No. 7 Arkansas, and No. 16 Stanford hosts a home invite against Nevada, Michigan and Boise State. Arizona State will host Iowa State for three with a doubleheader on Saturday.

The Conference is coming off of a season in which each of its nine programs finished with a record of .500 or better, seven earned NCAA Tournament berths, and three advanced to the Women's College World Series.

A NEW NO. 1: Five of the league's nine teams are nationally ranked and appear in the latest USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll, while Arizona State is receiving votes.

• UCLA is the nation's new No. 1. The Bruins' ascension ends Oklahoma's 31-week stranglehold on the top spot. It's UCLA's first appearance at No. 1 since the third week of the 2021 season and its 83rd week overall at No. 1.
• The Bruins are followed by No. 8 Washington, No. 13 Arizona, No. 16 Stanford and No. 22 Oregon.
• The Pac-12's five nationally-ranked teams are the second most in the country, trailing only the 13-team SEC, which has nine.
• Seven Conference teams were in the USA TODAY/NFCA preseason poll, the first time since 2013 and 12th time overall that the Pac-12 has had seven ranked teams to open the season, which tied the league's second-most all-time. All eight Pac-10 softball programs were in the preseason Top 25 in 2001.

NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS: Through the season's first two weeks, Pac-12 programs have combined to go 73-22 (.768), the third-best winning percentage in the country (SEC - .813; Big 12 - .787).

• Last season, Pac-12 teams went 228-68-1 (.769) in non-league games, the second-best mark in the country behind the SEC (342-97; .779).
• The Pac-12 went 6-3 against NFCA-ranked opponents last week with wins by UCLA (3x), Stanford (2x) and Arizona, including a trio victories over top-10 teams (UCLA def. then-No. 6 Florida State and then-No. 8 Virginia Tech; Arizona def. then-No. 8 Virginia Tech).

OFFENSIVE RANKINGS: Twenty-two teams in the country are averaging 7.00 runs per game and three are from the Pac-12 in Arizona (8.70; 3rd), UCLA (7.75; 12th) and California (7.18; 18th).

• Arizona is third nationally in batting average (.392) and joined in the top 20 but UCLA (.364; 12th) and Arizona State (.349; 18th).
• Led by Pac-12 Player of the Week Jordyn VanHook, who is tied for the NCAA lead in home runs (6) with Mya'Liah Bethea of Hawai'i and Valerie Cagle of Clemson, the Sun Devils are fourth as a team in home runs per game, averaging 1.80.
• Stanford freshman River Mahler is one of seven players nationally hitting over .600. She's 19-for-31 (.613) in her first 10 career games.
• Three from the Pac-12 are in the top 10 in the NCAA in hits - UCLA's Maya Brady (21; 2nd), Mahler (19, 4th) and Arizona State's Yannira Acuña (17; 9th).
• Arizona's Carlie Scupin has knocked in 17 of the Wildcats' 87 runs this season and is fifth in the country in RBI.

NO HITS, NO RUNS: At the other end of the spectrum, the Pac-12 has had a number of sterling pitching performances in the circle.

• Four Pac-12 hurlers have tossed no-hitters this season - Taylor Tinsley (UCLA) against CSU Bakersfield on Feb. 11, NiJaree Canady (STAN) against Liberty on Feb. 12, Megan Faraimo (UCLA) against San Diego on Feb. 12 and Stevie Hansen (ORE) against Utah Valley on Feb. 17.
• Canady, the league's Pitcher and Freshman of the Week, is one of 22 players in the country yet to surrender an earned run this season. She's giving up a measly 1.27 hits per seven innings this season, good for third in the NCAA.
• Megan Faraimo, the reigning Pac-12 Pitcher of the Year, is tied for the national lead with seven wins (7-0) and her 69 strikeouts top all players through the season's first two weeks. Faraimo has already racked up three 13-strikeout performances in her eight appearances and is up to 35 double-digit strikeout outings in her career.
• The Pac-12 has a national-best four pitchers this year who have already thrown multiple shutouts in Canady (3), Faraimo (2), Washington's Ruby Meylan (2) and UCLA's Brooke Yanez (2). The Big Ten and SEC are both second with three in their leagues who have two or more shutouts to start the season.

WEEKLY AWARDS: NiJaree Canady was voted both Pac-12 Pitcher and Freshman of the Week after tossing a pair of complete games and tacking on a save without surrendering a run across 14.1 innings at the Red & Black Showcase in Athens, Ga.

• She struck out 16, the most for a Cardinal since 2009 and tied for the third-most in program history, in a 4-0 win over Charlotte last Friday.
• On Saturday against host and then-No. 13 Georgia, Canady struck out nine, allowed just three hits and walked one in a 3-0 Stanford victory.
• She is the first Pac-12 freshman to win multiple awards in the same week since teammate Alana Vawter on May 3, 2021 (pitcher and freshman).
• Canady was also selected the DI Softball National Freshman of the Week, the second consecutive winner from the Pac-12 (Meylan).
• Jordyn VanHook collected her first career Pac-12 Player of the Week honor after leading Arizona State to a 4-1 record at the Littlewood Classic, batting .643 (9-for-14) with four home runs and 10 RBI.

powHER OF THE PAC: All nine Pac-12 softball programs are led by female head coaches.

• The Pac-12 is one of just two leagues in the country that features exclusively female head coaches (Ivy League).
• Six of the nine are leading their alma maters - Jessica Allister (STAN), Amy Hogue (UTAH), Kelly Inouye-Perez (UCLA), Caitlin Lowe (ARIZ), Chelsea Spencer (CAL) and Heather Tarr (WASH).

PRESEASON PAC-12 COACHES POLL: For the third consecutive season, UCLA was voted by the Conference’s softball head coaches as the league’s preseason favorite for the upcoming campaign.

• The Bruins, which have made seven straight trips to the Women's College World Series, collected all eight available first-place votes and totaled 64 points to top the annual poll. It's the first time since 2016 (Oregon) that a Pac-12 team has garnered every available first-place vote. Coaches may not vote for their own teams.
• Stanford was second with 54 points, and followed closely by Washington (53 points), which picked up the remaining first-place vote. Coming off its first Super Regional appearance since 2011, the Cardinal boasts its highest-ever position in the preseason poll. Stanford had been picked third twice previously, in 2002 and 2006. 
• Oregon collected 39 points and Arizona 30 to round out the top portion of the rankings. Oregon State was sixth (25 points), California seventh (21 points), Utah eighth (20 points) and Arizona State ninth (18 points).

RETURNING ALL-AMERICANS: The Pac-12 returns six NFCA All-Americans from a season ago, including the league's reigning Player (Baylee Klingler, WASH) and Pitcher (Megan Faraimo, UCLA) of the Year. In addition to Klingler (first-team All-American) and Faraimo (second-team AA), also back are Arizona State's Yannira Acuña (second-team AA), Arizona's Allie Skaggs (second-team AA), California's Makena Smith (third-team AA) and Utah's Ellessa Bonstrom (third-team AA).

PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE: The Conference's six returning All-Americans are also featured on the first-ever Preseason All-Pac-12 Team, which was voted on by the league's head coaches. UCLA has a league-high five players on the team in Maya Brady, Faraimo, Aaliyah Jordan, Sharlize Palacios and Brooke Yanez. Washington is second with four (Madison Huskey, Klingler, Lindsay Lopez, Sami Reynolds). 

TOP 100: Eighteen Pac-12 stars from all nine league programs were included in D1Softball.com's Preseason Top 100 Player Rankings, led by Washington's Baylee Klingler, who last season became the Conference's first triple crown winner since 1999 and just third all-time. UCLA landed six players on the list, which tied for the second-most in the country. Arizona, Arizona State, Oregon State and Washington placed two apiece, while California, Oregon, Stanford and Utah each have one.

WATCH LISTS: Seven Pac-12 student-athletes appear on the USA Softball Top 50 Collegiate Player of the Year watch list, the third-most in the country (SEC - 18, Big 12 - 11) - Maya Brady (UCLA), Megan Faraimo (UCLA), Frankie Hammoude (OSU), Baylee Klingler (WASH), Sharlize Palacios (UCLA), Carlie Scupin (ARIZ), Alana Vawter (STAN).

PAC-12 SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT: Arizona's Hillenbrand Stadium will serve as the host site for the inaugural Pac-12 Softball Tournament, which is set to make its debut from May 10-13, 2023. The four-day event will begin with a play-in game between the eighth and ninth-place teams in the regular-season standings on Wednesday. That winner will advance to an eight-team, single-elimination bracket with the quarterfinals, semifinals and championship being contested on the following three days. The winner of the Pac-12 Softball Tournament will receive the Conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING: The nation’s most successful softball conference, Pac-12 programs have combined to win 24 of the 40 NCAA softball championships all-time, 18 more than the next closest league, and all nine Pac-12 teams have made appearances in the Women’s College World Series. Of the 13 different programs to have won an NCAA softball championship, five are from the Pac-12: UCLA (12), Arizona (8), Arizona State (2), California (1) and Washington (1).

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UPCOMING SCHEDULE (Full Schedule) 

CONFERENCE STANDINGS (Expanded Standings) 

PAC-12 SOFTBALL WEEKLY AWARDS

NATIONAL WEEKLY HONORS