Pac-12 Baseball Weekly Rundown - March 21, 2024

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LEADING OFF:  #2 OREGON STATE remains one of the hottest teams in all of baseball and this weekend battles a WASHINGTON squad whom the Beavers have won 17 of the last 19 meetings.  Travis Bazzana continues to lead OSU at the plate and in his last 2 games is 8-9 with 4 HR, 10 RBI and 7 runs scored as he leads the conference in AVG, Hits, HR, OBP, Runs, RBI, Triples, SLG%, Walks and Total Bases.  Mason Guerra got in on the party as well, tying the school record with 3 HR in Tuesday's 14-3 win over Portland.  The Huskies are coming off taking 2 of 3 from a weekend series at then #24 Texas.  Washington's pitching has been stellar of late, with a 2.96 ERA over the last 8 games.  Jeter Ybarra is riding a 10-game hitting streak and is the reigning Pac-12 Player of the Week.

After facing each other last weekend, CALIFORNIA and OREGON start the weekend tied atop the conference standings.  The Golden Bears, who are 9-0 at home this season, host UTAH this weekend.  Cal is 2nd in the Pac-12 with 32 home runs, with Caleb Lomavita leading the way with 8.  Kai Roberts has been the spark for the Utes this season, with multiple hits in 6 of his last 7 games and 7 of his league-leading 12 stolen bases in that span.  The Ducks meanwhile welcome ARIZONA to Eugene this weekend.  Oregon's Jacob Walsh has 6 home runs in his last 9 games and his next one will tie him for the school's career record of 31.  Garen Caulfield has back-to-back 3-hit games for the Wildcats and now sits 3rd in the Pac-12 with a .413 AVG.

ARIZONA STATE catching some momentum of late with a few stellar pitching performances.  Connor Markl allowed just 1 hit in 6 scoreless innings in a win over Arizona on Saturday to bring home Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week, while Hunter Omlid struck out 11 in 5.1 relief innings on Tuesday in the Sun Devils win over Utah Valley.  ASU travles to Pullman to face a WASHINGTON STATE squad that has scored 10+ runs in 3 of their last 4 games.  In the last 6 games, Cole Cramer has gone 13-18 (.722 AVG) to boost his season mark to .408, 4th best in the Pac-12.

The 2 Los Angeles schools match up at Jackie Robinson Stadium this weekend.  USC has won 3 of their last 4 including winning a series at Stanford last weekend.  Trojans catcher Jacob Galloway has a hit in his last 19 straight games, while teammate Austin Overn is heating up with a 9-game streak.  UCLA freshman Roman Martin had 5 RBI in the Bruins series-clinching win over WSU on Sunday and has 8 RBI while hitting 7-11 (.636) in his last 3 games.  The Bruins will also host #22 UC Santa Barbara on Tuesday.

STANFORD is the lone Pac-12 squad in non-conference play this weekend as they host Creighton (Saturday-Monday) in their first ever meeting.  Matt Scott leads the Pac-12 with 43 strikeouts this season, having chalked up at least 6 K's in all 5 of his starts.

Rankings

• USA Today Coaches:  #2 Oregon State   RV:  Oregon
• Baseball America:  #4 Oregon State
• D1Baseball:  #2 Oregon State
• NCBWA:  #2 Oregon State   RV: California, Oregon
• Perfect Game:  #2 Oregon State  Also Considered:  Oregon

RPI:  Through games of Wednesday, March 20, Oregon State remains the highest rated Pac-12 school at #5 with a 9-2 record against the Top 100.  The Pac-12 has 6 teams in the Top 80, 1 of 6 conferences to do that.

NATIONAL AWARDS:

• Perfect Game National Players of the Week
  • Feb. 20 - INF Travis Bazzana, Oregon State (co-winner)

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).

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 - INF 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)

Bobby Bragan National Collegiate Slugger

• Travis Bazzana (Oregon State)
• Emilio Corona (Arizona)
• Elijah Hainline (Oregon State)
• Malcolm Moore (Stanford)
• Bennett Thompson (Oregon)
• Jacob Walsh (Oregon)
• Mason White (Arizona)

NCBWA Stopper of the Year

• Austin Anderson (Oregon)
• Micah Ashman (Utah)
• Josh Emanuels (Washington)
• Chase Grillo (Washington State)
• Rashad Ruff (UCLA)

D1BASEBALL 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)

FIELD OF 64 PRESEASON PROJECTIONS:

Baseball America:  Oregon State (1 seed), Stanford (2 seed), UCLA (2 seed), Oregon (3 seed), USC (3 seed), Arizona State (First Four Out)

D1Baseball:  Oregon State (1 seed), Stanford (2 seed), Arizona State (3 seed), Oregon (3 seed), UCLA (3 seed), USC (3 seed)

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) 

2024 CONFERENCE STANDINGS (Expanded Standings) 

2024 PAC-12 WEEKLY AWARDS