No. 19 Arizona hits the road for the first time this season for the Crimson Classic hosted by Alabama. The Wildcats take on the No. 10 Crimson Tide on Friday and Saturday having split the last four matchups, with the two Arizona wins coming in Tuscaloosa back in 2020.

No. 25 Oregon hosts the Jane Sanders Classic featuring Maryland, Mount St. Mary’s, and No. 6 Washington. Washington's doubleheader against Maryland on Thursday will be played in Seattle.

Arizona State hosts the 2024 ASU Invitational and welcomes James Madison, North Florida, Omaha and UC San DIego to the Alberta B. Farrington Softball Stadium. The Sun Devils went 4-2 at the 2024 Sun Devil Classic last weekend.

No. 20 California hosts in-state foe UC Davis on Wednesday before heading to The Farm for the DeMarini Invitational hosted by No. 11 Stanford and featuring Boise State and No. 5 Georgia. The Cardinal are 4-0 against the Bulldogs since 2000. California is 2-1 this season against Top-25 teams, while Stanford has played at least one ranked opponent every weekend this season and is 3-4 this year against the NFCA Top 25. 

Oregon State returns to Southern California for the Judi Garman Classic, and the Beavers kick off the weekend on Friday against Michigan. No. 18 UCLA also battles it out at the Judi Garman Classic, and are set to face No. 13 Florida on Friday, with the Bruins riding a six-game win streak against the Gators including a pair of wins in Oklahoma City. 

Utah, who is receiving votes in the NFCA poll, remains in-state for the Utah Tech Invitational where the Utes will face Wisconsin three times before playing Utah Tech twice.

Quick Hits

• Eight of nine Pac-12 teams boast winning records this season, and three teams have two or less losses.
• The Pac-12 ranks fourth nationally among all conferences nationally with 7.95 hits per game.
• The Cardinal are tied for the nation’s lead for home runs in a game with six. The Cardinal clubbed six long balls against Georgia Tech, with Aly Kaneshiro hitting three herself.
• Five Pac-12 teams rank in the top 50 nationally in team batting average: No. 4 Arizona - .387, No. 30 Arizona State - .331; No. 37 California - .324, No. 38 Washington - .324 and No. 47 Utah - .319.
• Arizona’s Aissa Silva's eight wins on the year are tied for the most in NCAA DI.
• Half of Stanford’s games this season have come against ranked teams. The Cardinal handed No. 2 Texas its first loss of the season last weekend.
• Washington’s Brooke Nelson (13th - 0.50) & Ruby Meylan (17th - 0.56), and Stanford’s NiJaree Canady (21st - 0.61) are in the top-25 nationally in ERA.
  • Nelson and Meylan are first and second in the league in ERA. Meylan has allowed no earned in five appearances this season.
• Cal leads the league with 23 home runs, and its 1.44 home runs per game is 13th best in the nation. 
• The Pac-12 has eight players who rank in the top 70 nationally in home runs: Arizona’s Carlie Scupin - 6th, 7; Cal’s Elon Butler - 12th, 6; Arizona State’s Alesia Denby - 12th, 6; Arizona’s Olivia DiNardo - 32nd - 5; UCLA’s Maya Brady - 61st, 4; Oregon’s Ariel Carlson & Alyssa Daniell - 61st, 5; Stanford’s Kaneshiro - 61st, 5.

Rankings Rundown

• Six Pac-12 teams are ranked in the USA Today/NFCA Top 25 Poll: No. 6 Washington, No. 11 Stanford, No. 18 UCLA, No. 19 Arizona, No. 20 California and No. 25 Oregon. Utah is receiving votes.
• 77.8% of the league (7/9) is either ranked or receiving votes in the top 25.
• D1Softball: No. 7 Stanford, No. 8 Washington, No. 17 Arizona, No. 20 UCLA, No. 24 California.
• Softball America: No. 7 Stanford, No. 8 Washington, No. 15 Arizona, No. 22 California, No. 23 UCLA
• ESPN.com/USA Softball: No. 4 Washington, No. 10 Stanford, No. 19 UCLA, No. 21 Arizona, No. 24 California. Oregon is receiving votes.

Conference Notebook

• Arizona: Regan Shockey has won back-to-back Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors, the first WIldcat to accomplish the feat since Jessie Harper in 2017. Shockey leads the conference and ranks third among NCAA freshmen in batting average (.527). Shockey has hit safely in 16 of 17 contests this season.
• Arizona State: Arizona State has hit a double in 13-straight contests and in 16 of 17 games this year. The Sun Devils lead the Conference with 1.88 doubles per game, which is the 25th-best nationally, and their 32 doubles on the year are the sixth most in NCAA DI.
• California: The Golden Bears are on a 13-game winning streak, which is their longest winning streak since 2013 when they won 22 straight. Butler’s 1.026 paces the league, and nine of her 18 hits are of the extra base variety. 
• Oregon: The Ducks are second in the Pac-12 with a .981 fielding percentage, and have boasted nine errorless games this season. Kai Luschar leads the team with a .500 batting average and a .565 on base percentage. 
• Oregon State: Ellie Garcia and Sarah Haendiges each have three complete games on the young season. Haendiges leads the team and ranks t-5th in the league with 41.0 IP this year.
• Stanford: The Cardinal host its first games of 2024 this weekend having won two of its last three home openers. Stanford has gone 62-83 (.747) the last three seasons at home, including 22-3 a season ago.
• UCLA: Taylor Tinsley tossed three complete games at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic, allowing just two earned over the weekend to be named the Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week. The Bruins earned two top-25 wins this past weekend and now have three on the year.
• Utah: Hayley Denning (.457) and Abby Dayton (.455) rank fourth and fifth, respectively, in the Pac-12 in batting average. Denning has eight multi-hit games this year, including her last three straight. Dayton has five three-hit contests this season. 
• Washington: The Huskies have won 10 of their last 11 games, with the lone loss coming to No. 7 Oklahoma State. Washington’s most recent win, which came against Yale in six innings, gave head coach Heather Tarr her 800th career victory. Meylan threw a career-high 12 strikeouts in the contest and now has eight career games with 10 or more strikeouts, the ninth most in program history.

Watch List

• 11 Pac-12 players are on USA Softball’s Top 50 “Watch List” for Player of the Year: Maya Brady, UCLA; NiJaree Canady, STAN; Megan Grant, UCLA; Stevie Hansen, ORE; Taryn Kern, STAN; Mariah Lopez, UTAH; Ruby Meylan, WASH; Sharlize Palacios, UCLA; Carlie Scupin, ARIZ; Allie Skaggs, ARIZ; Jordan Woolery, UCLA. 

Additions & Returners

• Every Pac-12 program was ranked in the top-45 of Extra Inning Softball’s 2023 team recruiting rankings: No. 7 Washington, No. 8 UCLA, No. 9 Arizona, No. 13 Oregon, No. 31 Stanford, No. 33 Arizona State, No. 34 California, No. 44 Oregon State, No. 45 Utah.
• The Pac-12 returns 12 First-Team All-Conference members from a season ago: Tatum Anzaldo (CAL); Aliya Belarde (UTAH), Brady (UCLA), NiJaree Canady, (STAN), Abby Dayton (UTAH), Megan Grant (UCLA), Dakota Kennedy (ARIZ), Mariah Lopez (UTAH), River Mahler (STAN), Ruby Meylan (WASH), Allie Skaggs (ARIZ) and Jordan Woolery (UCLA).
• Six 2023 NFCA All-Americans will suit up for Pac-12 teams this year: Brady, Grant, Taryn Kern, Lopez, Woolery & Meylan.
  • Stanford added 2023 NFCA Second Team All-American Kern this offseason, who transferred in from Indiana.

PowHER of the PAC

• All nine Pac-12 softball programs are led by female head coaches.
• Six of nine are leading their alma maters: Jessica Allister, STAN; Amy Hogue, UTAH; Kelly Inouye-Perez, UCLA; Caitlin Lowe, ARIZ; Chelsea Spencer, CAL; Heather Tarr, WASH.

Preseason Coaches Poll

• Stanford received seven first-place votes and 63 total points to finish atop the 2024 preseason coaches poll for the first time in Pac-12 history. Reigning regular-season champion UCLA was second with 54 points, while Utah came in third with 49 points and one first-place vote. Washington grabbed the remaining first-place vote and 45 points to finish fourth. 2023 Pac-12 Player of the Year and Batting Champion Brady of UCLA headlined the 20-member Preseason All-Pac-12 Team. 

2024 Pac-12 Softball Tournament

• Stanford’s Boyd & Jill Smith Family Stadium will host the 2024 Pac-12 Softball Tournament, which takes place from May 8-11. 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 41 NCAA softball championships all-time, 17 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). The Pac-12 sent six teams to the NCAA Tournament a season ago, with three teams advancing to the Women’s College World Series, the most of any other conference. 

Upcoming Schedule (Full Schedule) 

Pac-12 Standings (Full Standings)

Pac-12 Softball Weekly Awards