Schedule // Standings // Pac-12 Statistics // NCAA Statistics // Record Book

SAN FRANCISCO - Four intriguing series highlight the upcoming Pac-12 softball schedule, as Conference action enters its fifth weekend.

While six league programs are ranked in the latest NFCA poll, only one series will feature a pair of top-25 teams when No. 7 Stanford hosts No. 20 Arizona. The Cardinal was swept last week at UCLA, but is 13-0 at home this season, while Arizona swept the Bear Down Fiesta while on its Pac-12 bye. The Cats run-ruled three of the four games including back-to-back shutouts against San Diego. Arizona has dropped its last four Conference games. Stanford took last year's series in Tucson, the Cardinal's first series victory over Arizona on the road and only the second series victory over the Wildcats in program history.

In Seattle, No. 10 Washington will host a charging California squad that is starting a stretch with 14 of its last 18 regular-season games on the road. Cal took two of three last season in Berkeley against the then-No. 7 Huskies for its first series win against UW since 2015. Washington has won six in a row against the Bears in Seattle and Cal's last road win against the Huskies was when it took the series finale in 2016.

Utah, which dropped out of the NFCA poll after dropping two of three to Cal in Berkeley, was replaced in the rankings by No. 25 Arizona State. Due to inclement weather, the Utes will host the Sun Devils with a doubleheader on Friday and the series finale on Saturday. Utah is in second place in the league with a 6-3 mark, but ASU, which had dropped its first two series in Conference, just took two of three from then-No. 8 Washington. The Sun Devils swept the Utes in Tempe last season.

No. 3 UCLA, which has won six in a row and is coming off a big home sweep of then-No. 6 Stanford, hosts Oregon State for three beginning Thursday night. The Bruins have won 12 straight in the series, with OSU's last victory coming on April 13, 2017.

No. 18 Oregon will take a break from Conference play to host Lindenwood for two on Thursday and Friday.

The Pac-12 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.

RANKINGS ROUNDUP: Eight of the league's nine teams are receiving votes in the latest USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll, including six the in the top 25.

• UCLA, which spent a week at No. 1 earlier this season, is No. 3 and followed by No. 7 Stanford, No. 10 Washington, No. 18 Oregon, No. 20 Arizona and No. 25 Arizona State. With 43 points, Utah leads a group of four teams receiving votes, while California is third among that group with 16 points.
• With six of its nine in the NFCA Top 25, the Pac-12 has 66.7 percent of its teams ranked, one of only two leagues over 60 percent (SEC - 69.2).
• The Pac-12 is one of two leagues with three teams in the top 10 (Big 12).
• 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.
• ESPN.com/USA Softball: #3 UCLA, #7 Stanford, #11 Washington, #16 Oregon, #21 Arizona, #24 Utah, RV California, RV Arizona State.
• D1Softball: #3 UCLA, #7 Stanford, #13 Washington, #16 Oregon, #21 Arizona, #22 Utah, #25 California.
• Softball America: #3 UCLA, #8 Stanford, #12 Washington, #17 Oregon, #18 Utah, #19 Arizona.

RPI CHECK-IN: In the most recent update through games as of April 4, the Pac-12 is the nation's No. 2 conference according to the NCAA's RPI rankings (SEC).

• Led by No. 2 UCLA and No. 4 Stanford, the Pac-12 has two of the nation's top four in the RPI. The Bruins and Cardinal, which also own the nation's top two strengths of schedule, are followed by No. 11 Washington, No. 17 Oregon, No. 28 California, No. 32 Utah, No. 37 Arizona State and No. 38 Arizona. The Conference's eight teams in the top 40 are the second most among all leagues (SEC).
• UCLA leads the country with 15 wins against the RPI top 25, ahead of Oklahoma (12) and Oklahoma State (10). They are the only three programs with double-digit wins in that category. Stanford is tied for eighth with five and Washington is tied for 14th with four. There are only 14 programs in the country that have four or more RPI top 25 wins.

NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS: Through the season's first eight weeks, Pac-12 programs have combined to go 164-41 (.800) against non-league foes, the second-best non-conference winning percentage in the country narrowly behind the SEC (.801; 268-66-1).

• 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 is 16-15 against NFCA-ranked opponents in non-conference games this season. After winning just one of its first seven, the league has gone 15-9 (.625) against ranked non-conference foes since.

SURGING CALIFORNIA: Sitting at 6-5-1 in Conference, the Bears have won two consecutive Pac-12 series, taking two of three from then-No. 24 Utah last weekend and Arizona State two weeks ago. The latter was Cal's first series win against the Sun Devils since 2012.

• Cal, which sits just outside the NFCA rankings, checked in at No. 25 in the D1 Softball Top 25 released Monday. It's the first time the Bears have appeared in a national poll since 2018.
• The Golden Bears took down then-No. 2 UCLA on March 11, 8-0, for their first win over a top-five team since 2012.

UTAH MAKING NOISE: At 22-7, the Utes are off to their best 29-game start to a season since 2017 (22-7), also the year of their last NCAA Tournament appearance.

• The Utes, which will hit the halfway point of their Conference schedule this weekend, are currently in second place in the Pac-12 with a 6-3 league record.
• Utah started by winning its first two Pac-12 series as a Conference member for the first time, including the program's first series victory over Arizona since 2017.
• Utah dropped out of the NFCA rankings released this week, but are up to 18th in the Softball America poll and maintained their spots in the D1 Softball rankings (No. 22) and the ESPN.com/USA Softball poll (No. 24).
• This Utes have carved out a spot in a top 25 for four consecutive weeks.

STANFORD'S STRONG START: No. 7 in the latest NFCA rankings, the Cardinal has been a top-10 program in four consecutive polls, its longest top-10 run since nine straight weeks from Feb. 23 to April 20, 2010.

• Stanford had a 21-game winning streak snapped at Oregon on March 18. The Cardinal entered that series against the Ducks with eight consecutive shutouts and an Allee Bunker RBI double in the third inning of game one on March 17 snapped a 56-inning scoreless streak.
• The Cardinal is fifth in the nation in ERA (1.44), fourth in shutouts (16), fourth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.50) and second in fielding percentage (.984).
• The Cardinal's 21-game winning streak was its longest since winning 28 in a row from Feb. 7 - March 23, 2009.

WEEKLY AWARDS: Following a sweep of then-No. 6 Stanford, UCLA picked up two of the Conference's three weekly awards, with Aaliyah Jordan voted Pac-12 Player of the Week and Megan Faraimo Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week. 

• Jordan led the Bruins with a .571 batting average, two home runs, a 1.429 slugging percentage, 10 total bases and three RBIs in their sweep to win her second career Pac-12 Player of the Week award (April 23, 2018).
• Faraimo pitched a team-best 10.2 innings of shutout ball, struck out 17 and earned two wins in the series to collect her ninth career Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week award, fourth this season and third consecutive.
• The Bruins have received a Pac-12-leading nine weekly awards this season. Those nine have been won by six different players, which is tied for UCLA's most in a single season (2008, 1997).
• The Pac-12 Freshman of the Week, California's Elon Butler powered California to a series-clinching win over then-No. 24 Utah on Sunday by hitting two home runs, including the game winner, and driving in four in a 5-4 victory. She became the Golden Bears' fourth Pac-12 Freshman of the Week all-time (award started in 2015), joining Acacia Anders (March 21, 2022), Lindsay Rood (May 2, 2016) and Kobie Pettis (May 11, 2015).
• Nationally, Pac-12 players have collected four of the NFCA's 16 weekly awards thus far (player, pitcher). Faraimo was named Wilson/NFCA Pitcher of the Week for the second time in her career on March 21 and Utah's Mariah Lopez was selected for the honor on Feb. 14 following the season's opening weekend. Offensively, UCLA's Maya Brady and Arizona's Olivia DiNardo were named Louisville Slugger/NFCA National Players of the Week on Feb. 14 and March 7, respectively.
• Pac-12 players have also won six of the 24 national awards (player, pitcher, freshman) handed out by D1 Softball in the season's first eight weeks.

QUICK HITTERS

• ARIZONA: Arizona is the Conference's offensive leader, pacing the league in nearly every offensive category - batting (.360), slugging (.583), on base percentage (.450), runs (290), hits (342), RBIs (264), doubles (56) and total bases (554). The Wildcats are second nationally in scoring, averaging 8.06 runs per game, are third nationally in batting, fourth in on base percentage and seventh in slugging.
  • Freshmen Olivia DiNardo leads the Conference with a .460 batting average. She is 11th in the NCAA and leads the country's freshmen in that category.
• ARIZONA STATE: Senior infielder Jordyn VanHook is tied for third in the nation with 14 home runs after launching just five in her first three seasons. Nearly half of her 30 hits in 2023 have gone over the fence. She is second in the NCAA in home runs per game (0.45).
• CALIFORNIA: Cal's 47 home runs are eighth on the team single-season record list. The Bears hit 57 home runs as a team in 2022, ranking third in school history. With 1.38 home runs per game, Cal ranks 11th in the country and second in the Pac-12, trailing only ASU (1.39). Cal's 103 extra-base hits (47 HR, 52 2B, 4 3B) are second in the Pac-12 behind Arizona (110). 
• OREGON: Terra McGowan has smashed a career-high 10 home runs this season, a total tied for fourth among all catchers nationally.
  • Allee Bunker is third in program history in hits (261), second in doubles (45) and eighth in RBIs (147) and is the only player in program history ranked in the UO career top 10 in hits, doubles and RBI.
• OREGON STATE: With 51 career home runs, Frankie Hammoude is one away from tying and two away from breaking the school record (Tarrah Beyster - 52 - 1997-2000).
• STANFORD: Stanford is tied for fourth nationally with 16 total shutouts in its first 34 games, trailing Oklahoma (19), Boston U. (18) and Tennessee (17). Last year, the Cardinal tied for fourth in the country with 21 shutouts in 61 games.
  • NiJaree Canady has only given up one earned run in 51 1/3 innings and leads the country with a 0.14 ERA this season.
  • Fellow first-year River Mahler is second in the Conference in batting average (.437) and second among all NCAA freshmen.
• UCLA: Maya Brady is batting .435 with 11 home runs and 38 RBIs this season and is one of only two players in the country with those numbers (Autumn Owen - Marshall). Brady leads the Pac-12 in hits (47), total bases (93), extra-base hits (22), ranks second in RBIs (38), home runs (11) and slugging percentage (.861) and is third in batting average (.435).
• UTAH: The Utes are 13th in the country in batting average, hitting .328 as a team, and 12th in scoring, averaging 6.69 runs per game. Utah's 2.62 steals per game average is 10th nationally and its 76 total stolen bases are just 16 shy of the school record of 92 set in 1994.
• WASHINGTON: With a 13-3 record this season, first-year pitcher Ruby Meylan is tied for 18th nationally in total victories and is third in the Conference. Meylan's win total is second among NCAA freshmen, trailing only Texas' Sage Hoover (14).

STAT LINES

• NCAA Top-10 Team Rankings: Batting Avg. - Arizona (3rd, .360); ERA - Stanford (5th, 1.44), UCLA (8th, 1.62); Fielding % - Stanford (2nd, .984), Arizona (5th, .982), Washington (10th, .980); Home runs/game - Arizona State (10th, 1.39); OBP - Arizona (4th, .450); Scoring - Arizona (2nd, 8.06); Shutouts - Stanford (4th, 16), UCLA (8th, 14); Slugging % - Arizona (7th, .583); Stolen bases/game - Utah (10th, 2.62); Strikeout-to-walk ratio - UCLA (3rd, 5.61); Stanford (4th, 5.50); Triples/game - Stanford (10th, 0.41); Winning % - UCLA (6th; .892), Stanford (9th, .824); Walks - Arizona (9th, 138).
• NCAA Top-10 Individual Rankings: ERA - NiJaree Canady, STAN (1st, 0.14); Hits allowed per seven innings - NiJaree Canady, STAN (1st, 1.91); Home runs - Jordyn VanHook, ASU (3rd, 14); Home runs per game - Jordyn VanHook, ASU (2nd, 0.45); RBIs - Allie Skaggs, ARIZ (2nd, 54); RBIs per game - Allie Skaggs, ARIZ (2nd, 1.50); Runs per game - Jasmine Perezchica, ARIZ (6th, 1.26); Sacrifice flies - Megan Grant, UCLA (3rd, 5); Saves - Marissa Schuld, ASU (4th, 5); Shutouts - NiJaree Canady, STAN (5th, 6), Ruby Meylan, WASH (5th, 6), Megan Faraimo, UCLA (5th, 6); Slugging % - Jordyn VanHook, ASU (10th, .885); Stolen bases per game - Haley Denning, UTAH (7th, 0.79); Strikeout-to-walk ratio - Alana Vawter, STAN (3rd, 10.38), NiJaree Canady, STAN (9th, 8.36); Strikeouts - Megan Faraimo, UCLA (10th, 153); Strikeouts per seven innings - NiJaree Canady, STAN (2nd, 12.5); Total bases - Maya Brady, UCLA (6th, 93); Toughest to strike out - Ellesse Bonstrom (5th, 39.5); Triples - Taylor Gindlesperger, STAN (2nd, 6); Victories - Megan Faraimo, UCLA (4th, 17); Walks allowed per seven innings - Alana Vawter, STAN (2nd, 0.56); Walks per game - Allie Skaggs, ARIZ (7th, 0.86).

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).

MORE PAC-12 SOFTBALL:

• In Season
  • Previewing the Stanford-UCLA softball series, a battle of top-10 teams (March 30)
  • Off to best Pac-12 start, Utah softball has Women's College World Series aspirations in 2023 (March 21)
  • Pitching, defense and freshmen fueling Stanford softball's nation-best winning streak (March 16)
  • These Pac-12 freshmen have shined bright to begin the 2023 softball season (Feb. 20)
• Preseason
  • 1 thing to know about all 9 Pac-12 softball teams entering the 2023 season
  • 1 must-watch non-conference matchup for every Pac-12 softball team
  • 1 freshman to know from each Pac-12 softball team in 2023
  • These Pac-12 softball transfers could be difference-makers in 2023

UPCOMING SCHEDULE (Full Schedule) 

CONFERENCE STANDINGS (Expanded Standings) 

PAC-12 SOFTBALL WEEKLY AWARDS

NATIONAL WEEKLY HONORS