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Pac-12 softball leads with five teams in the top 10

Apr 4, 2018

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Pac-12 softball has five teams in the top 10 in both the USA Today/NFCA and USA Softball/ESPN polls, the most of any conference in the country. WASHINGTON has been No. 1 in the USA Today/NFCA poll for seven-straight weeks and six-straight weeks in the USA Softball/ESPN poll. UCLA has been in the top five of both polls since the preseason and Oregon has been in the top six since the preseason, as well.

Also ranked this week in the top 10 are No. 3/3 UCLA, No. 5/4 OREGON, No. 7/7 ARIZONA STATE and No. 9/8 ARIZONA. No. 24/23 CALIFORNIA and No. RV/25 OREGON STATE also appear in the rankings.

Eight teams appear in the top 40 of the NCAA RPI, including taking the top three spots. Washington is No. 1, Oregon is No. 2 and UCLA is No. 3. Six teams appear in the top-15, joining the above ranked teams is Arizona State at No. 5, Arizona at No. 9 and Oregon State at No. 15. Also in the RPI is California at No. 37 and Utah at No. 39.

This week is highlighted by a three-game ranked series between No. 9/8 Arizona at No. 5/4 Oregon on the Pac-12 Network starting on Friday. Arizona is currently ranked fourth in the conference standings with Oregon coming in a close fifth after having a bye from conference play last week. Both teams look to improve upon their conference ranking as we quickly approach the final month of regular season play.

Arizona State’s Marisa Stankiewicz is this week’s Pac-12 Player of the Week as well as the Louisville Slugger/NFCA National Player of the Week (4 GP, 8 runs, 5 hits, 7 RBI, .625 avg, 2.333 SLG%). Stankiewicz’s teammate G Juarez picked up her fourth-straight Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week honor after pitching a no hitter against BYU (2 GP, 2 wins, 12.0 IP, 20 K, 0.58 ERA). UCLA’s Aaliyah Jordan received her fourth Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honor of the season (4 GP, 6 runs, 7 hits, 7 RBI, .467 avg, .600 SLG%).

The Pac-12 tops the NCAA statistics in nine categories, including seven team and two individual categories. UCLA leads the nation in batting average (.372), on base percentage (.451) and scoring (7.50). Utah is first in doubles per game (1.91). Arizona tops the rankings in home runs per game (1.42). Oregon is ranked first in strikeout-to-walk ratio (7.22) and Washington is first in W-L percentage (.946). Pac-12 teams appear in the top-10 in 12 of 14 NCAA categories.

In the individual categories, UCLA’s Aaliyah Jordan is first in runs batted in per game (1.47). Two Pac-12 student-athletes are tied for first in shutouts: Arizona State’s Giselle “G” Juarez and Arizona’s Taylor McQuillin each have nine shutouts. Pac-12 student-athletes appear in the top-10 in 20 categories in the individual statistics.


UPCOMING SCHEDULE

Wednesday, Apr. 4    
Saint Mary's at #24/23 California Live Stream 4 p.m. PT
Seattle at #1/1 Washington Live Stream 5 p.m. PT
Friday, Apr. 6    
#7/7 Arizona State at #RV/25 Oregon State   1 p.m. PT
#9/8 Arizona at #5/4 Oregon P12N 5 p.m. PT
Utah at #1/1 Washington P12N 5 p.m. PT
Stanford at #3/3 UCLA   7 p.m. PT
Saturday, Apr. 7    
#9/8 Arizona at #5/4 Oregon ESPN 12 p.m. PT
Utah at #1/1 Washington P12N 12 p.m. PT
#7/7 Arizona State at #RV/25 Oregon State   1 p.m. PT
Stanford at #3/3 UCLA   6 p.m. PT
Sunday, Apr. 8    
#7/7 Arizona State at #RV/25 Oregon State   12 p.m. PT
Stanford at #3/3 UCLA   12 p.m. PT
Utah at #1/1 Washington P12N 1 p.m. PT
#9/8 Arizona at #5/4 Oregon P12N 3 p.m. PT
Tuesday, Apr. 10    
Southern Utah at Utah Live Stream 4 p.m. PT
#RV/25 Oregon State at Portland State   5 p.m. PT

CONFERENCE STANDINGS (Expanded Standings)

Teams Pac-12 Record Overall Record
Arizona State 5-1 31-4
Washington 7-2 35-2
UCLA 7-2 32-2
Arizona 6-3 27-6
Oregon 4-2 29-6
Oregon State 3-6 20-15
Utah 2-7 17-15
Stanford 1-5 20-14
California 1-8 25-11

PAC-12 SOFTBALL PLAYERS OF THE WEEK

  Player of the Week Pitcher of the Week Freshman of the Week
Apr. 2 Marisa Stankiewicz, ASU G Juarez, ASU Aaliyah Jordan, UCLA
Mar. 26 Sis Bates, WASH G Juarez, ASU Danielle Gibson, ASU
Mar. 19 Jessie Harper, ARIZ G Juarez, ASU Hope Brander, OSU
Mar. 13 Shannon Rhodes, ORE G Juarez, ASU Aaliyah Jordan, UCLA
Mar. 6 Julia DePonte, WASH Miranda Elish, ORE Gabbie Plain, WASH
Feb. 27 Kirstyn Thomas, WASH Taylor McQuillin, ARIZ Aaliyah Jordan, UCLA
Feb. 20 Taylor Van Zee, WASH Megan Kleist, ORE Aaliyah Jordan, UCLA
Feb. 13 Kirstyn Thomas, WASH Taran Alvelo, WASH Briana Perez, UCLA