LEADING OFF:  Conference play kicks off this weekend with five weekend series.  Defending Pac-12 champion and No. 14 Arizona opens up defense of their title at California, their first trip to Berkeley since 2018.  It will also be the first taste of conference play for the Wildcats new head coach Chip Hale.

Washington State will make their home debut for the 2022 season with a 3-game set with No. 6 Oregon State, having played their first 12 games away from Bailey-Brayton Field. 

Utah will have to wait an extra day for the start of their home season.  Due to weather, their Friday home opener was converted into a Saturday doubleheader.  The Utes are off to a 9-2-1 in their first season under head coach Gary Henderson.

Rankings Roundup

• USA Today Coaches:  #5 Stanford, #6 Oregon State, #14 Arizona, #25 UCLA
• Baseball America:  #2 Stanford, #8 Oregon State, #15 UCLA, #17 Arizona,
• D1Baseball:  #5 Stanford, #7 Oregon State, #16 Arizona
• Collegiate Baseball:  #4 Oregon State, #5 Stanford, #18 Arizona, #24 UCLA
• NCBWA:  #4 Stanford, #6 Oregon State, #14 Arizona, #22 UCLA
• Perfect Game:  #4 Stanford, #9 Oregon State, #13 UCLA, #21 Arizona

TOP OF THE MOUNTAIN:  No. 25 UCLA capped off an impressive weekend at Minute Maid Park with a win over the No. 1 Texas Longhorns 5-1.  It was the Bruins first win over a top-ranked team since beating Oregon State in the final game of the 2018 regular season.

CROSSTOWN SHOWDOWN:  The Bruins will open conference play at home against the hottest team in the league.  USC has won seven in a row and now sit at 9-2 on the season, their best start since 2015 when they opened the year 15-0.   This is the Trojans longest win streak since 2018.

BEAVER BLITZ:  No. 6 Oregon State was the last Pac-12 team to suffer a loss this season, suffering an extra-innings defeat to UC Irvine on Sunday.  The Beavers boast one of the top offenses in the country so far this season, ranking 10^th in the country in runs per game (10.1), third in batting average (.353) and sixth in on base percentage (.457)

HONOR ROLL:  UCLA freshman Thatcher Hurd racked up a few national honors this last week after striking out 15 over 6.2 innings combined over one start and one relief appearance.  Hurd won the Dick Howser Trophy (NCBWA) Co-Pitcher of the Week, Perfect Game/Rawlings Pitcher of the Week as well as one of the Collegiate Baseball National Players of the Week.  Hurd is second in the country with 35 strikeouts so far this season.

Utah 1B/LHP TJ Clarkson was also honored by Collegiate Baseball as one of their national Players of the Week.  Clarkson hit .471 with three home runs last week and takes a career-high eight-game hitting streak into the weekend,

Collegiate Baseball National Players of the Week

• March 7 – 1B/LHP TJ Clarkson (Utah), RHP Thatcher Hurd (UCLA)
• February 28- RHP Matthew Sox (Utah)
• February 21- RHP Josh White (California)

Golden Spikes Performance of the Week

• February 28 – LHP Quinn Mathews (Stanford), RHP Matthew Sox (Utah)

Dick Howser Trophy Pitcher of the Week

• March 8 – RHP Thatcher Hurd (UCLA) – Co-winner

Perfect Game/Rawlings Pitcher of the Week

• March 8 – RHP Thatcher Hurd (UCLA)

College Baseball Foundation Pitcher of the Week

• March 1- Quinn Mathews (Stanford)

College Baseball Foundation Shortstop of the Week

• March 1 – Nik McClaughry (Arizona)

COACHES CHOOSE CARDINAL:  The Pac-12 coaches took Stanford atop their preseason poll with the Cardinal receiving eight first-place votes for a total of 98 out of a possible 100 points.

Oregon State was second with 84 points and one first-place vote, Arizona was third with 77 points and UCLA with two first-place votes had the fourth-most points with 75.

NATIONAL AWARDS PRESEASON WATCH LISTS

GOLDEN SPIKES

• OF Dylan Beavers, California
• OF Brock Jones, Stanford
• IF Ethan Long, Arizona State
• IF Sean McLain, Arizona State
• RHP Max Rajcic, UCLA
• C Daniel Susac, Arizona
• RHP Josh White, California

BOBBY BRAGAN COLLEGIATE SLUGGER AWARD

• OF Dylan Beavers, California
• C Cole Elvis, California
• OF Brock Jones, Stanford
• IF John Kasevich, Oregon
• OF Tanner Smith, Oregon
• C Daniel Susac, Arizona

NCBWA STOPPER OF THE YEAR

• Holden Christian, Arizona
• Stone Churby, Oregon
• Aaron Roberts, California
• Kolby Somers, Oregon
• Mitchell Verburg, Oregon State

PRESEASON ALL-AMERICAN TEAMS

AMERICAN MADE:  Seven Pac-12 players were part of the 45-man roster for the 2021 Collegiate National Team.  Normally this would include exhibitions against international opponents but instead played an 11-game intrasquad series last summer at Appalachian League ballparks.  The roster included OF Dylan Beavers (CALIFORNIA), OF Brock Jones (STANFORD), OF/1B Ethan Long (ARIZONA STATE), INF/OF Sean McLain (ARIZONA STATE), C Daniel Susac (ARIZONA) and RHP Josh White (CALIFORNIA).

NEXT GENERATION:  The Class of 2021 recruits will get their first taste of Pac-12 play this season and it was a strong class across the board for the conference.  

Baseball America ranked UCLA’s class number one in the country for the first time in their 22 years for rankings.  The class is highlighted by a pair of Top 100 pitchers in RHP Thatcher Hurd (#44) and LHP Gage Jump (#57) along with Top 100 outfielder Malakhi Knight (#72).

Three other schools made their Top 25 with Oregon State (#6), USC (#17), and Washington (#24).

ALUMNI TOP PROSPECT LISTS:  In the latest lists by MLB Pipeline, Baseball America and The Athletic’s Keith Law, former Oregon State catcher Adley Rutschman is considered the top prospect in Major League Baseball.  The #1 pick in the 2019 draft by the Baltimore Orioles hit a combined 23 homers over 123 games between their AA (Bowie) and AAA (Norfolk) affiliates.

Former Sun Devil Spencer Torkelson, the #1 pick in the 2020 draft by the Detroit Tigers comes in #4 on all three lists.  Torkelson hit 30 home runs over three different minor league levels.

INAUGURAL PAC-12 TOURNAMENT:  The inaugural Pac-12 Baseball Tournament is scheduled for May 25-29, 2022 at Scottsdale Stadium.  The double-elimination tournament will be spread over five days at the Spring Training home of the San Francisco Giants.

The top eight teams in the Conference standings at the conclusion of the regular season will earn berths in the Pac-12 Baseball Tournament, from which the champion will receive the Conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Pac-12’s initial agreement with the City of Scottsdale runs through 2024.

ON DECK (Full Schedule) 

CONFERENCE STANDINGS (Expanded Standings) 

PAC-12 BASEBALL WEEKLY AWARDS