After this weekend, every Pac-12 softball team has played half of its conference slate now. What should we expect moving forward? Let’s jump into the top four storylines heading into the second half of the Pac-12 softball season. 

1. Pac-12 Tournament seeding up for grabs

The inaugural Pac-12 softball tournament will be held on May 10-13 at Hillenbrand Stadium in Tucson. All nine teams will compete in a single-elimination format to decide the league’s automatic bid for the NCAA Tournament. 

The two teams that finish eighth and ninth in the conference will face off in a play-in game and would need to win four games to claim the bid. For the teams in that spot right now, Arizona and Oregon State, it will be important to try to climb into the seventh spot to avoid playing an extra game if possible. 

UCLA has a firm grasp on the No. 1 seed right now with a two-game lead on Washington and already took the series from the Huskies. However, the second spot is certainly up for grabs. Washington, Stanford and Utah are all within one game in the loss column heading into the second half of the conference season.

2. Can Washington and Oregon stay on track to host a Regional?

If the regular season ended today, UCLA and Stanford, ranked No. 3 and No. 5 in the NFCA Coaches poll respectively, would be no-doubt top eight seeds in the NCAA Tournament and in position to host a Regional and Super Regional based on RPI and résumé. Washington and Oregon are firmly in the mix to earn one of the sought after top 16 seeds and host a regional. According to the latest RPI update from April 9, the Huskies (8) and Ducks (22) are inside the top 22.

Washington is in a solid spot to not only host a Regional, but finish the year strong and potentially join UCLA and Stanford as likely top eight seeds. How could Washington legitimize its case? Winning the Pac-12 Tournament would certainly help. 

Oregon still has work to do. The Ducks have a good enough record versus the Top 25 RPI teams (5-7) to host, but could still use some more quality wins. Remaining series against Arizona, Arizona State, Cal and Utah all fit the bill.

3. Who will be the Pac-12 Freshman of the Year?

Early in the season, it seemed like a two-horse race between Washington pitcher Ruby Meylan and Stanford pitcher NiJaree Canady, but there are an incredible number of talented freshmen in the Pac-12 this season.

The UCLA duo of Jordan Woolery and Megan Grant have been a huge complement to Maya Brady in the heart of the Bruin lineup. Each has come through in big moments against some of the best teams in the country. They are two of four players with 39-plus RBIs in the conference thus far. 

There are other dark horse names that could throw their hat in the ring as well down the stretch. Olivia DiNardo has been a consistent presence in the Arizona batting order, hitting a team-high .454, and already earned a National Player of the Week award. Washington’s Alana Johnson has provided power for the Huskies in key situations and has become an everyday player. Elon Butler has quickly grown for Cal in every facet. 

4. How will Utah traverse a tough schedule to end the season?

The Utes have played themselves into the top half of the conference standings and appear primed to reach the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2017, but have a challenging road ahead. Utah still has the top four teams in the Pac-12 according to RPI: UCLA, Stanford, Washington and Oregon. If the Utes want to stay toward the top of the Pac-12, they’ll certainly have to earn it. Last season, Utah went a combined 5-7 against those teams with the lone series victory coming against Washington. Although, the Utes did have run-rule wins against both UCLA and Stanford. 

If there’s anything we’ve learned about Utah this season is that it’ll score runs and compete. The Utes scored 28 runs in the three games against Arizona State. Despite falling in the second game of the series, 10-8, Utah was down by five runs at two different points before a seven-inning rally came up short. Utah will need more consistency from Sydney Sandez and Mariah Lopez in the circle to net some wins, but there’s a reason the Utes are in the place they are in.