Pac-12 Baseball Weekly Rundown - February 15, 2024

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LEADING OFF:  The 2024 college baseball season gets underway this weekend with all 11 Pac-12 teams throwing out their first pitches on Friday.  2-time defending Pac-12 regular season champion #23 STANFORD actually opens with a Friday doubleheader against Cal State Fullerton, as Saturday’s game was moved up a day due to inclement weather scheduled to hit the Bay Area this weekend.  Those 2 schools faced off in the 2023 Stanford Regionals with the Cardinal eliminating the Titans.  2023 Pac-12 Tournament champion OREGON opens this season in Arlington, Texas for the Shriners Children’s College Showdown presented by Kubota where they will face 3 Big 12 schools in Oklahoma, Baylor and #22 Texas Tech.   

#7 OREGON STATE opens in Surprise, Arizona for the 10th straight season as part of the College Baseball Classic while both USC and CALIFORNIA will also be in the Phoenix area to take part in the MLB Desert Invitational which includes a pair of games on MLB Network.  WASHINGTON STATE opens up the Nathan Choate era on the road at Utah Tech.  #24 UCLA opens up at home with a series against Gonzaga while ARIZONA hosts #25 Northeastern in a 3-game set in Tucson.

The first game broadcast on Pac-12 Network this season will be on Monday, February 19 with UNLV visiting Stanford on the Farm.  The first Top 25 match-up of the season comes on Wednesday, February 21 when #7 Oregon State takes on #22 Texas Tech in Arlington, Texas. 

BEAVERS EARLY FAVORITES:  Oregon State, who has finished 2nd in the regular season standings each of the last 2 seasons, was picked by the Pac-12 coaches as the favorite to win the conference.  The Beavers received 8 of the 11 first place votes and are looking for its first Pac-12 title since 2017.  Stanford, who’s won the last 2 regular season titles, was 2nd and had 2 first place votes while UCLA was picked 3rd and received the other first place vote.

PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM:  For the 2nd straight year, the conference released a Preseason All-Conference team as voted on by the league’s 11 coaches.  Oregon State, Arizona State and California all led the league with 5 selections each. The 33-person team featured 18 players that earned Pac-12 honors last spring including 8 all-conference selections highlighted by preseason All-Americans Travis Bazzana (Oregon State), Malcolm Moore (Stanford), Austin Overn (USC), Duce Gourson (UCLA) and Micah Ashman (Utah).

Rankings

• USA Today Coaches:  #7 Oregon State, #23 Stanford, #24 UCLA, RV:  Oregon, Arizona, USC

• Baseball America:  #5 Oregon State, #15 Stanford

• D1Baseball:  #7 Oregon State, #22 UCLA

• NCBWA:  #8 Oregon State, #17 Stanford, #22 UCLA, RV: Arizona, Arizona State, Oregon, USC, Washington

• Perfect Game:  #9 Oregon State, #12 Stanford, #18 UCLA

Preseason All-Americans

D1 Baseball

• 1st Team - 2B Travis Bazzana (Oregon State)

• 3rd Team - OF Austin Overn (USC)

Baseball America

• 1st Team - C Malcolm Moore (Stanford)

• 2nd Team - C Caleb Lomavita (California), 2B Travis Bazzana (Oregon State)

• 3rd Team - 2B Duce Gourson (UCLA), SP Matt Scott (Stanford)

NCBWA

• 1st Team - 2B Travis Bazzana (Oregon State)

• 2nd Team - RP Austin Anderson (Oregon)

• 3rd Team - RP Micah Ashman (Utah)

Perfect Game

• 1st Team - IF Travis Bazzana (Oregon State)

• 2nd Team - 2B Duce Gourson (UCLA), DH Malcolm Moore (Stanford)

Preseason Award Watch Lists

Golden Spikes Award

• INF Travis Bazzana (Oregon State)

• OF Rodney Green Jr. (California)

• C Caleb Lomavita (California)

• C Malcolm Moore (Stanford)

NCBWA Stopper of the Year

• Austin Anderson (Oregon)

• Micah Ashman (Utah)

• Josh Emanuels (Washington)

• Chase Grillo (Washington State)

• Rashad Ruff (UCLA)

D1 Baseball Preseason Positional Player Rankings

Catchers (Top 50)

• #6 Malcolm Moore (Stanford)

• #7 Caleb Lomavita (California)

• #10 Ryan Campos (Arizona State)

• #49 Bennett Thompson (Oregon)

First Basemen (Top 50)

• #15 Mason Guerra (Oregon State)

• #44 Jacob Tobias (Arizona State)

• #50 Jacob Walsh (Oregon)

Second Basemen (Top 50)

• #1 Travis Bazzana (Oregon State)

• #4 Duce Gourson (UCLA)

• #45 Owen Cobb (Stanford)

Shortstops (Top 50)

• #8 Cam Clayton (Washington)

• #12 Cody Schrier (UCLA)

• #16 Elijah Hainline (Oregon State)

• #17 Mason White (Arizona)

• #50 Bryce Martin-Grudzielanek (USC)

Third Baseman (Top 50)

• #15 Trent Caraway (Oregon State)

• #18 Drew Smith (Oregon)

• #46 Nu’u Contrades (Arizona State)

Outfielders (Top 100)

• #8 Austin Overn (USC)

• #19 Rodney Green Jr. (California)

• #20 Gavin Turley (Oregon State)

• #22 TJ Clarkson (Utah)

• #29 AJ Guerrero (Washington)

• #32 Justin Cassella (Oregon)

• #78 Micah McDowell (Oregon State)

• #86 Brady Kasper (Oregon)

• #88 Harris Williams (Arizona State)

Starting Pitchers (Top 150)

• #36 Aiden May (Oregon State)

• #39 Matt Scott (Stanford)

• #47 Caden Aoki (USC)

• #79 Ian May (California)

• #91 Luke Jewett (UCLA)

• #106 Jacob Kmatz (Oregon State)

• #128 Jackson Kent (Arizona)

• #133 Nick Dugan (Stanford)

• #144 Grant Taylor (Washington State)

• #145 Tyler Stromsborg (USC)

Relief Pitchers (Top 50)

• #41 Micah Ashman (Utah)

• #45 Cody Delvecchio (UCLA)

• #48 Josh Blum (USC)

Impact Transfers (Top 130)

• #15 RHP Aiden May (Oregon State via Arizona)

• #24 INF Elijah Hainline (Oregon State via Washington State)

• #60 OF Justin Cassella (Oregon via Elon)

• #99 RHP Kassius Thomas (Stanford via Duke)

• #117 RHP Xavier Martinez (USC via Cal State Northridge)

• #119 OF Jeffery Heard (Oregon via Sacramento State)

Baseball America Preseason Lists

• Best Pure Hitter - #2 Travis Bazzana (Oregon State)

• Fastest Runner -  #2 Austin Overn (USC)

• Best Defensive Outfielder - #3 Austin Overn (USC)

• Best Outfield Arm - #3 Nick McLain (Arizona State)

• Closest to the Majors - #3 Travis Bazzana (Oregon State)

MADE IN AMERICA:  3 current Pac-12 players made the 2023 Collegiate National Team Roster that went 7-3 this summer, sweeping 5 games with Taiwan and going 3-2 against Japan. The Pac-12 was represented by INF Duce Gourson (UCLA), OF Rodney Green Jr. (Cal), and C Malcolm Moore (Stanford).  Former Stanford OF/P Braden Montgomery was also on the team prior to his transfer in August.

2024 PAC-12 BASEBALL TOURNAMENT: Once again, the Pac-12 Baseball Tournament returns to Scottsdale Stadium May 21-25, 2024 for year 3 at the Spring Training home of the San Francisco Giants. The tournament will once again feature pool play, with the top 9 teams in the Conference standings will earn berths to the tournament. The teams will be split into three pools based on their regular season finish with the top team from each pool advancing to the semifinals. The fourth semifinal spot will be determined by the top record of the non-advancing teams, with any tiebreakers going to the higher seed.  

The champion will receive the Conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

ON DECK (Full Schedule) 

2023 CONFERENCE STANDINGS (Expanded Standings) 

2024 PAC-12 WEEKLY AWARDS