LEADING OFF:  Oregon State, who’s now ranked No. 1 in three of the six major polls,  heads to Tucson this weekend with a chance to wrap up the regular season title and No. 1 seed in the Pac-12 Tournament.  The Beavers, riding a seven-game winning streak including back-to-back shutouts, have a three-game lead with six left to play.  Arizona is tied for third in the Pac-12 and four games back of Oregon State.  The Wildcats have not lost a home series to the Beavers since 2014.

No. 7 Stanford, fresh off their first sweep of Cal since 2013, looks to stay in the hunt for the No. 1 seed as they visit Utah.  The Cardinal have won five straight games and have already won road series against Oregon State and UCLA.  Utah currently sits seventh in the Pac-12 standings but four schools are within two games of the Utes entering the weekend.

No. 24 UCLA has hit a rough patch of late but still remains in a tie for third place.  The Bruins already have home sweeps over Oregon and Arizona State this season.  They’ll host a Washington State squad that has won a season-high six straight games.  The Cougars have already won road series at Arizona and Oregon this season when both were ranked in the Top 10.

Oregon and Arizona State meet up in the desert this weekend with the Ducks one game ahead of the Sun Devils in the standings as the fifth and sixth seeds.  Oregon broke out of a recent funk with a 15-6 win over UC San Diego on Wednesday, the 11th time this season they’ve scored 10+ runs in a game.  Arizona State has won their last four games including a road win at Grand Canyon on Tuesday.  ASU’s Nate Baez has six home runs in the last six games.

Washington enters the weekend in a tie for the eighth spot with California but must head to Los Angeles to take on USC.  The Trojans are just a game and half behind the Huskies in the standings and took two of three from Arizona last weekend.  Washington is coming off a three-game sweep of UCLA in Seattle.

California hosts New Mexico for three this weekend before finishing up with Utah next weekend.  That series will likely help determine who goes to the inaugural Pac-12 Tournament, as only the top eight teams in the league attend.

Rankings Roundup

• USA Today Coaches:  #2 Oregon State, #7 Stanford, #24 UCLA
• Baseball America:  #1 Oregon State, #9 Stanford, #22 UCLA
• D1Baseball:  #2 Oregon State, #8 Stanford, #23 UCLA
• Collegiate Baseball:  #1 Oregon State, #10 Stanford, #13 Arizona, #15 UCLA
• NCBWA:  #1 Oregon State, #9 Stanford, #20 UCLA, #29 Oregon, #30 Arizona
• Perfect Game:  #2 Oregon State, #17 Stanford, #23 UCLA

RPI UPDATE:  In the most updated release, the Pac-12 had all 11 teams are in Top 100 in Adjusted RPI, the only conference that has every one of its teams inside the top 100.  Oregon State leads the way at No. 2, going 32-9 against Top 100 teams and 5-0 against the RPI Top 25. 

Oregon is the second highest rated Pac-12 school at No. 24 and haa the third toughest schedule in the country. 

UCLA has the fifth highest adjusted RPI (No. 64) among Pac-12 schools but is 10-3 against the RPI Top 50, the second best win percentage (.769) against Top 50 teams behind Tennessee (12-2, .857) – minimum 6 games

FORWARD THINKING:  D1Baseball and Baseball America both released updated projections for the Field of 64 on May 11^th with both predicting five Pac-12 schools making the NCAA Tournament.

D1Baseball has Oregon State (No. 2 overall) and Stanford (No. 15 overall) as two teams hosting regionals with Oregon as a two seed and both Arizona and UCLA as number three seeds. 

Baseball America has Oregon State (No. 2 overall) at home for the regionals with Stanford and Oregon as two seeds while Arizona and UCLA would be three seeds.

TICKETS ON SALE NOW!:  The inaugural Pac-12 Baseball Tournament is scheduled for May 25-29, 2022 at Scottsdale Stadium and tickets are now available at pac-12.com/tickets.  The double-elimination tournament will be spread over five days at the Spring Training home of the San Francisco Giants.  The bracket for the tournament can be found here.

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.

HITTING THE BOOKS:  CoSIDA has selected the 2021-22 Academic All-District Baseball Team with the Pac-12 accounting for 11 of the 13 slots in District 8 which covers the western United States.  These honorees advance to the CoSIDA Academic All-America ballot.

POWER PLAYERS: D1Baseball updated their Position Power Rankings this week with the Top 30 at each infield position and their Top 100 in the outfield and among starting pitchers.  The following Pac-12 players made the lists:

• Catcher:  #2 Daniel Susac (Arizona), #27 Nate Baez (Arizona State), #30 Kody Huff (Stanford)
• First Base:  #9 Carter Graham (Stanford), #20 Nathan Martorella (California)
• Second Base:  #16 Brett Barrera (Stanford), #21 Tyresse Turner (USC), #30 Travis  Bazzana (Oregon State)
• Shortstop:  #19 Josh Kasevich (Oregon)
• Third Base:  #28 Ethan Long (Arizona State)
• Outfield:  #1 Jacob Melton (Oregon State), #20 Dylan Beavers (California), #22 Justin Boyd (Oregon State), #30 Brock Jones (Stanford), #33 Tanner O’Tremba (Arizona), #37 Joe Lampe (Arizona State), #59 Anthony Hall (Oregon), #64 Tanner Smith (Oregon), #66 TJ Clarkson (Utah), #92 Chase Davis (Arizona), #100 Wade Meckler (Oregon State)
• Starting Pitchers: #1 Cooper Hjerpe (Oregon State), #18 Alex Williams (Stanford), #41 Quinn Mathews (Stanford), #53 Max Rajcic (UCLA), #92 Charlie Hurley (USC), #94 Jacob Kmatz (Oregon State)

HONOR ROLL:  Arizona State’s Nate Baez had a huge showing last week which earned him both the Pac-12 Player of the Week and recognition from Collegiate Baseball as one of their national players of the week.  Baez homered three times in the Sun Devils’ sweep of Utah, becoming the third different ASU player to win the Pac-12 honor this season.

Stanford’s Alex Williams was named the Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week for the second time this season.  Williams did not allow an earned run in 8.1 innings against Cal last Friday.  The Cardinal have won this award five times in 12 weeks this season.

D1Baseball National Players of the Week

• April 5- LHP Cooper Hjerpe (OSU)

Collegiate Baseball National Players of the Week

• May 9- C/UTL Nate Baez (ASU)
• April 25- INF/OF Wade Meckler (OSU)
• April 18- C Tyler Lozano (USC)
• April 11- C Vincent Martinez (Stanford)
• April 4- LHP Cooper Hjerpe (OSU), LHP Quinn Mathews (Stanford)
• March 21- LHP Cooper Hjerpe (OSU)
• March 14- OF Jacob Melton (OSU), C Daniel Susac (Arizona), LHP Adam Tulloch (ASU)
• 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

• April 4- LHP Cooper Hjerpe (OSU)
• February 28- LHP Quinn Mathews (Stanford), RHP Matthew Sox (Utah)

Dick Howser Trophy Player of the Week

• March 15- C Daniel Susac (Arizona)

Dick Howser Trophy Pitcher of the Week

• April 5- LHP Cooper Hjerpe (OSU) – Co-winner
• March 8- RHP Thatcher Hurd (UCLA) – Co-winner

Perfect Game/Rawlings Pitcher of the Week

• April 5- LHP Cooper Hjerpe (OSU)
• 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)

HEAD OF THE CLASS:  Ten baseball student-athletes were named finalists for the 2022 Senior CLASS Award with four of them coming from the Pac-12, the most by any conference.  Oregon had two players make the list, the only school with multiple finalists, with outfielder Tanner Smith and pitcher Kolby Somers.  They’re joined by Stanford pitcher Alex Williams and Oregon State pitcher Mitchell Verburg.  The award is for players that excel on and off the field and the winner will be announced during the 2022 College World Series.

Fans are encouraged to vote through June 6 at SeniorCLASSAward.com.

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 WATCH LISTS

GOLDEN SPIKES (Midseason)

• RHP Jake Brooks, UCLA
• LHP Cooper Hjerpe, Oregon State
• OF/INF Jacob Melton, Oregon State
• C Daniel Susac, Arizona

GOLDEN SPIKES (Preseason)

• 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

BUSTER POSEY (Collegiate Catcher of the Year)

• Cole Elvis, California
• Garret Guillemette, USC
• Kody Huff, Stanford
• Daniel Susac, Arizona

BROOKS WALLACE (Collegiate Shortstop of the Year)

• Josh Kasevich, Oregon
• Nik McClaughry, Arizona
• Sean McLain, Arizona State
• Keshawn Ogans, California
• Cody Schrier, UCLA

BUSTER POSEY (Collegiate Catcher of the Year)

• Cole Elvis, California
• Garret Guillemette, USC
• Kody Huff, Stanford
• Daniel Susac, Arizona

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

STOPPER OF THE YEAR (Midseason)

• Holden Christian, Arizona
• Ethan Flanagan, UCLA
• Trevor Long, Arizona
• Kolby Somers, Oregon
• Alonzo Treadwell, UCLA

NCBWA STOPPER OF THE YEAR (preseason)

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

SENIOR CLASS AWARD

• INF Sam Novitske, Oregon
• INF Jack Smith, Washington State
• OF Tanner Smith, Oregon (finalist)
• LHP Kolby Somers, Oregon (finalist)
• RHP Mitchell Verburg, Oregon State (finalist)
• RHP Alex Williams, Stanford (finalist)

PRESEASON ALL-AMERICAN TEAMS

PERFECT TIMING:  Perfect Game announced their Midseason Awards for this season and Oregon State lefty Cooper Hjerpe was named their Midseason Pitcher of the Year. 

Their Midseason All-American teams featured Hjerpe on the first team and two more on the second team with Arizona catcher Daniel Susac and Oregon State outfielder Jacob Melton. 

Their Midseason All-Freshman team was heavily Pac-12 influenced.  The hitters included Cal catcher Caleb Lomavita, Oregon first baseman Jacob Walsh, Oregon State second baseman Travis Bazzana and UCLA shortstop Cody Schrier.  The pitchers were a pair of Bruins with Thatcher Hurd and Ethan Flanagan.

PAC TO THE PROS:  MLB’s Opening Day saw 48 former Pac-12 stars on big league rosters.  Stanford led the way with eight former Cardinal suiting up, with Arizona State placing six big leaguers and five each for Arizona, California, UCLA and USC.

Former Sun Devil Spencer Torkelson, one of the top prospects in all of baseball, made his debut with the Detroit Tigers on Opening Day while former Beaver Steven Kwan got off to an historic start to his career.  The Cleveland Guardians outfielder reached base 18 times in his first five career games, the most in a player’s first five games in MLB’s Modern Era (since 1901).

FEELING A DRAFT:  D1Baseball released their MLB Draft Midseason Top 150 prospects with 12 Pac-12 players making the list with the rough estimate of the round they would be drafted in:

• #2- Arizona catcher Daniel Susac (1^st round)
• #13- Cal outfielder Dylan Beavers (1^st round)
• #30- Oregon State outfielder Jacob Melton (2^nd round)
• #32- Oregon State pitcher Cooper Hjerpe (2^nd round)
• #40- Stanford outfielder Brock Jones (2^nd round)
• #62- Oregon shortstop Josh Kasevich (3^rd round)
• #82- Oregon State outfielder Justin Boyd (4^th round)
• #93- Oregon pitcher Adam Maier (5^th round)
• #120- Arizona State outfielder Ethan Long (5^th round)
• #137- Oregon outfielder Anthony Hall (6^th round)
• #145- Arizona state infielder Sean McLain (6^th round)
• #149- UCLA pitcher Max Rajcic (6^th round)

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).

ON DECK (Full Schedule) 

CONFERENCE STANDINGS (Expanded Standings) 

PAC-12 BASEBALL WEEKLY AWARDS