Schedule // Standings // Pac-12 Statistics // NCAA Statistics // Record Book

SAN FRANCISCO - Seven ranked matchups highlight the first week of the 2023 Pac-12 softball season, which begins Thursday when No. 14 Washington takes on No. 16 Duke at the Mark Campbell Invitational in Irvine, Calif. at 10 a.m. PT.

The Huskies will also face top-ranked Oklahoma in the event on Saturday at 7 p.m. PT and are joined in the field by No. 17 Stanford, which plays the Sooners on Friday at 7 p.m. PT and the Blue Devils on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. PT. All games in the tournament will be carried on FloSoftball.

In addition to UW and the Cardinal, the 24th-ranked Oregon Ducks are at the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge in Mexico, where they will face a trio of NCAA Tournament teams from a year ago, including No. 3 Oklahoma State on Friday at 4 p.m. PT. FloSoftball will also broadcast UO's games from Nancy Almaraz Stadium.

In Baton Rouge, No. 19 Oregon State will play the league's only true road games against a ranked foe this week when the Beavers match up with No. 25 LSU on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. PT and Sunday at 10:30 a.m. PT. OSU's contests against the host of the LSU Invitational will be televised on SEC Network+.

No. 12 Arizona and No. 2 UCLA will start their seasons at home, hosting the Candrea Classic and Stacy Winsberg Memorial Tournament, respectively. The Megan Bartlett era of Sun Devil softball begins for No. 22 Arizona State in San Diego, with ASU playing five games in three days at the San Diego State Season Kickoff. California is in Southern California for the Easton Classic at Loyola Marymount and Cal State Fullerton, while Utah begins further south at the La Jolla Invitational hosted by UC San Diego.

The Conference is coming off of a season in which each of its nine programs finished with a record of .500 or better, seven earned NCAA Tournament berths, and three advanced to the Women's College World Series.

IN THE NATIONAL RANKINGS: Seven of the league's nine teams are nationally ranked and appear in the preseason USA Today/NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll.

• UCLA checks in at No. 2 and is followed by No. 12 Arizona, No. 14 Washington, No. 17 Stanford, No. 19 Oregon State, No. 22 Arizona State and No. 24 Oregon.
• The Pac-12's seven nationally-ranked teams are the second most in the country, trailing only the 13-team SEC, which has nine.
• It's the first time since 2013 and 12th time overall that the Conference has had seven teams in the USA TODAY/NFCA preseason poll, which is the league's second-most all-time. All eight Pac-10 softball programs were in the preseason Top 25 in 2001.

PRESEASON PAC-12 COACHES POLL: For the third consecutive season, UCLA was voted by the Conference’s softball head coaches as the league’s preseason favorite for the upcoming campaign.

• The Bruins, which have made seven straight trips to the Women's College World Series, collected all eight available first-place votes and totaled 64 points to top the annual poll. It's the first time since 2016 (Oregon) that a Pac-12 team has garnered every available first-place vote. Coaches may not vote for their own teams.
• Stanford was second with 54 points, and followed closely by Washington (53 points), which picked up the remaining first-place vote. Coming off its first Super Regional appearance since 2011, the Cardinal boasts its highest-ever position in the preseason poll. Stanford had been picked third twice previously, in 2002 and 2006. 
• Oregon collected 39 points and Arizona 30 to round out the top portion of the rankings. Oregon State was sixth (25 points), California seventh (21 points), Utah eighth (20 points) and Arizona State ninth (18 points).

RETURNING ALL-AMERICANS: The Pac-12 returns six NFCA All-Americans from a season ago, including the league's reigning Player (Baylee Klingler, WASH) and Pitcher (Megan Faraimo, UCLA) of the Year. In addition to Klingler (first-team All-American) and Faraimo (second-team AA), also back are Arizona State's Yannira Acuña (second-team AA), Arizona's Allie Skaggs (second-team AA), California's Makena Smith (third-team AA) and Utah's Ellessa Bonstrom (third-team AA).

PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE: The Conference's six returning All-Americans are also featured on the first-ever Preseason All-Pac-12 Team, which was voted on by the league's head coaches. UCLA has a league-high five players on the team in Maya Brady, Faraimo, Aaliyah Jordan, Sharlize Palacios and Brooke Yanez. Washington is second with four (Madison Huskey, Klingler, Lindsay Lopez, Sami Reynolds). 

TOP 100: Eighteen Pac-12 stars from all nine league programs were included in D1Softball.com's Preseason Top 100 Player Rankings, led by Washington's Baylee Klingler, who last season became the Conference's first triple crown winner since 1999 and just third all-time. UCLA landed six players on the list, which tied for the second-most in the country. Arizona, Arizona State, Oregon State and Washington placed two apiece, while California, Oregon, Stanford and Utah each have one.

WATCH LISTS: Seven Pac-12 student-athletes appear on the USA Softball Top 50 Collegiate Player of the Year watch list, the third-most in the country (SEC - 18, Big 12 - 11) - Maya Brady (UCLA), Megan Faraimo (UCLA), Frankie Hammoude (OSU), Baylee Klingler (WASH), Sharlize Palacios (UCLA), Carlie Scupin (ARIZ), Alana Vawter (STAN).

PAC-12 SOFTBALL TOURNAMENT: Arizona's Hillenbrand Stadium will serve as the host site for the inaugural Pac-12 Softball Tournament, which is set to make its debut from May 10-13, 2023. The four-day event will begin with a play-in game between the eighth and ninth-place teams in the regular-season standings on Wednesday. That winner will advance to an eight-team, single-elimination bracket with the quarterfinals, semifinals and championship being contested on the following three days. The winner of the Pac-12 Softball Tournament will receive the Conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING: The nation’s most successful softball conference, Pac-12 programs have combined to win 24 of the 40 NCAA softball championships all-time, 18 more than the next closest league, and all nine Pac-12 teams have made appearances in the Women’s College World Series. Of the 13 different programs to have won an NCAA softball championship, five are from the Pac-12: UCLA (12), Arizona (8), Arizona State (2), California (1) and Washington (1).

MORE PAC-12 SOFTBALL:

• 1 thing to know about all 9 Pac-12 softball teams entering the 2023 season
• 1 must-watch non-conference matchup for every Pac-12 softball team
• 1 freshman to know from each Pac-12 softball team in 2023
• These Pac-12 softball transfers could be difference-makers in 2023

UPCOMING SCHEDULE (Full Schedule) 

CONFERENCE STANDINGS (Expanded Standings)