Pac-12 Baseball Weekly Rundown - March 28, 2024

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LEADING OFF:  With all teams off on Easter Sunday, conference series are Thursday-Saturday this week.  #2 OREGON STATE continues to roll behind the bat of All-American Travis Bazzana.   Bazzana has lead off each of the last 4 games with a home run and has 8 dingers in his last 5 games.  The Pac-12 Player of the Week for the 3rd time already this season, Bazzana leads the conference in almost every offensive category while ranking in the Top 15 in most of those statistics nationally.  The 21-2 Beavers head to Irvine this weekend for a series with USC, who have lost 6 straight games to Oregon State.  Trojans sophomore Austin Overn has 4 triples so far this season and is already just 2 away from the school's career record of 20. 

UTAH heads into the weekend series as winners of 5 of their last 6 games and currently tied for 3rd in the Pac-12 at 5-4.  The Utes have been blazing the base paths with a league-high 46 stolen bases with Kai Roberts (14) and Core Jackson (11) ranking 1-2 in the Pac-12.  STANFORD heads to Salt Lake City this week, trying to keep their good play on the road this season where they are 5-2.  The Cardinal's starting pitching has been racking up strikeouts with the top 2 in the conference in Matt Scott (50 K in 36.0 IP) and Christian Lim (41 in 29.2), who just earned his 2nd Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week honors.

The Apple Cup series takes place in Seattle this weekend and WASHINGTON STATE has been riding the wave.  The Cougars swept ASU last weekend for the 2nd time in program history with Chase Grillo getting the save in all 3 games.  Joey Kramer is the leading the league in conference play with a .500 AVG (19-38).  WASHINGTON returns home after 6 straight road games against ranked opponents.  The Huskies have the only 2 sub-2.00 ERA pitchers who qualify for the league leaders with Sam Boyle (1.93) and Grant Cunningham (1.96).

CALIFORNIA has been outstanding at home this season (11-2) but will spend this weekend in Tempe to face ARIZONA STATE.  The Bears will have some momentum after a Tuesday night 3-run walk-off home run by Jarren Advincula against Santa Clara, Cal's 3rd walk-off win of the season.  The Sun Devils also had some late inning magic this week, turning a 7-1 1st inning deficit into a 10-9 win over UNLV thanks to a 4-run 9th inning.  The Sun Devils hit 3 home runs in Las Vegas on Monday after having 3 long balls the previous 9 games combined.

UCLA is hoping a walk-off of their own could be the spark they're looking for after beating UC Santa Barbara 13-12 in 12 innings on Tuesday.  Payton Brennan went 7-7 including the game-winning single  to become the first Bruin since 2008 to collect 7 hits in a game.  Brennan entered that game with 6 hits and a .194 AVG on the season and boosted it to .342 by the end of the night.  UCLA heads to Tucson this weekend to face the hot bats of ARIZONA who have scored 24 runs on 25 hits the last 2 games.  Wildcats outfielder Brendan Summerhill is 7-15 with 10 RBI over the last 3 games including a 7 RBI performance on Sunday in a win over the Ducks. 

OREGON is the lone Pac-12 team in non-conference play this weekend that kicked off with 5-4 win over Seattle in 10 innings on Wednesday.  The Ducks allowed 3 runs in the Top of the 10th before Drew Smith capped the comeback with a 2-run walk-off single.

Rankings

• USA Today Coaches:  #2 Oregon State   RV:  Oregon
• Baseball America:  #3 Oregon State
• D1Baseball:  #2 Oregon State
• NCBWA:  #2 Oregon State   RV: Oregon, Utah
• Perfect Game:  #3 Oregon State 

RPI:  Through games of Wednesday, March 27, Oregon State once again remains the highest Pac-12 squad at #4 with both of their losses this season in Quad 1.  Overall, the conference has 7 teams in the Top 100 with #26 Utah and #44 California both in the Top 50.

NATIONAL AWARDS:

• Perfect Game National Players of the Week
  
  • Feb. 20 - INF Travis Bazzana, Oregon State (co-winner)
  • March 26 - INF Travis Bazzana, Oregon State (co-winner)

FIELD OF 64 PROJECTIONS (March 27):

Baseball America:  Oregon State (1 seed, 3 overall), Oregon (2 seed), Utah (3 seed), California (First Four Out)

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