Baseball Pac-12 Conference

Pac-12 Baseball Weekly Rundown - April 13, 2023

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LEADING OFF: Pac-12 baseball is halfway through its conference slate and a handful of teams are setting themselves up nicely for the push to the regular season title and a berth in the conference tournament over the final six weeks. Five teams - Arizona State, Stanford, USC, Oregon State and Oregon - are picking the right time to start playing their best baseball, led by the Sun Devils who have gone 18-2 over their last 20 games, which includes four straight Pac-12 series wins to match their total series wins from a season ago.

Arizona State finds itself tied atop the league standings at 10-2 with defending champion and preseason favorite Stanford, who has swept three straight Pac-12 series and won 12 of its last 15. USC, coming off a non-conference sweep of San Diego State and a midweek win over Cal State Fullerton, is in third at 9-3 but will have a big test at Oregon State this weekend as the Beavers took two of three in Eugene last weekend and have won nine of their last 12. The Sun Devils and Trojans both entered the USA Today's Coaches Poll this week for the first time this season, ranking No. 23 and No. 24, respectively, while Oregon State received votes.

Oregon will need to put the series loss to its rival behind them quickly as the Ducks welcome No. 8 Stanford to PK Park this weekend, while No. 23 Arizona State will try to keep the good times rolling against Washington at Husky Ballpark. Arizona will hit the road to Pullman for three at Washington State and California will be at Utah to round out the conference schedule. No. 19 UCLA will host UC Davis at Jackie Robinson Stadium for three games on its conference bye week.

The midweek lineup features eight games on Tuesday and a single matchup on Wednesday - a non-conference bout between rivals Arizona and Arizona State in Tucson.

RPI:

  • The Pac-12 has the third-best RPI ranking as a conference behind only the SEC and the ACC.
  • Thru April 12th, the Pac-12 has 10 of 11 teams in the Top 80 in Adjusted RPI, one of only three conferences in the nation (ACC, SEC) to have nine or more in the Top 100. Four are in the top 35 with three in the top 15. Oregon has taken over the league's top RPI ranking at No. 12, followed by UCLA at No. 13. Stanford made another big jump, going from No. 25 last week to No. 15. Arizona State was another big mover, rising from No. 51 to No. 34 over the past week. Oregon State is at No. 54, followed by Arizona at No. 61, Washington at No. 67, USC at No. 68, Washington State at No. 71, California at No. 78 and Utah at No. 104.

STACKING UP:

  • Overall, the Pac-12 has the third-best non-conference winning percentage among all conferences so far in 2023 with a 134-50-1 mark. The SEC is on top with a 245-50-1 record, followed by the ACC in second at 196-58.
  • 9 of 11 league teams are at .500 or better through six weeks of the season, while eight of 11 have winning percentages of .600 or better. Six teams (Stanford, ASU, USC, Oregon, Washington and UCLA) are .500 or better in league play.
  • Through April 12, the Pac-12 owns a 71-28 (.717) record against teams from the other four D1 conferences in the West Region  (Big West, Mountain West, WAC, WCC). That includes a 18-14 (.562) record against RPI Top 100 teams.

ROAD WARRIORS: 17-of-23 games against opponents in the A5 have been played away from home, including all 10 games against the SEC. Pac-12 teams have played a total of 82 non-conference games away from home (includes neutral site games).

RANKINGS ROUNDUP: The Pac-12 has at least four teams ranked in four of the six major polls and three ranked in the other two polls.

  • USA Today : #8 Stanford, #19 UCLA, #23 Arizona State. #24 USC, RV - Oregon, Oregon State
  • D1Baseball : #8 Stanford, #22 UCLA, #23 USC, #24 Arizona State
  • Baseball America : #7 Stanford, #21 USC, #22 Arizona State
  • Collegiate Baseball: #9 Stanford, #10 Arizona State, #22 Oregon, #24 USC
  • NCBWA :  #8 Stanford, #21 UCLA, #23 Arizona State, #26 USC, #30 Oregon, RV - Oregon State, Washington
  • Perfect Game :  #8 Stanford, #14 UCLA, #23 USC

QUICK HITTERS:

  • USC's first-year head coach Andy Stankiewicz picked up his first signature series win against then-No. 3 Stanford at home the weekend of March 10, the Trojans' first over the Cardinal in eight years. USC continues to stay hot, grabbing victories in 16 of its last 19 and winning its first four Pac-12 series and a fifth straight series with its non-conference sweep over San Diego State last weekend. The Trojans' four series and nine league wins have already surpassed their totals of two and eight, respectively, from a year ago, while the four consecutive Pac-12 series wins is a first since 2001. USC is ranked in D1Baseball (No. 23) and USA Today Coaches Poll (No. 24) for the first time this season.
  • Since losing its conference-opening series at USC on the weekend of March 11, Stanford has gone 12-3 over its last 15 games. After recording its third straight Pac-12 sweep at California last weekend, the Cardinal split with No. 23 Texas Tech in a two-game non-conference series at Sunken Diamond, marking Stanford's first win over a ranked team in 2023.
  • Dating back to March 10, Arizona State has gone 18-2 and won its first four Pac-12 series, matching its total series wins from a year ago. At 24-9, the Sun Devils are just two wins shy of matching its total wins of 26 from last spring and sit tied for first in the Pac-12 standings at 10-2. Sophomore catcher Ryan Campos , recently named to the Golden Spikes Midseason Watch List, picked up Pac-12 Player of the Week honors, the third different Sun Devil to do so this year, after leading ASU to a home sweep over Washington State last weekend. The Sun Devils' entry in the national polls over the last two weeks marks the first time the program has been ranked in the Willie Bloomquist era.
  • Oregon State's big rivalry weekend win at Oregon made it three straight Pac-12 series wins for the Beavers, who are also surging, winning nine of their last 12 since suffering a sweep at Stanford on March 19.
  • Oregon's 11-game winning streak ended with a game-two loss to Oregon State on April 9, but it was the longest winning streak for the Ducks since the 1964 team won 12 straight. The Ducks were able to take that streak to 11 behind an outstanding performance by junior righty Jace Stoffal , who took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and allowed only one hit overall in a 2-0 Oregon win in the series opener against OSU. Stoffal was named Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week for the first time in his career. Despite the series loss to the Beavers, Oregon has won 13 of its last 15
  • UCLA ended a string of two straight Pac-12 series losses with its 2-0-1 weekend at home over Utah. The Bruins' staff continues to be stingy, ranking ninth in the country with a 3.40 ERA, good for second in the Pac-12.
  • After winning five straight Pac-12 series dating back to last season, Washington has now lost straight conference series after dropping two of three in Tucson last weekend. The 13-8 series-opening win did however end a nine-game winning streak by the Wildcats. Husky slugger Will Simpson continues to lead the Pac-12 and ranks 15th in the nation with 13 home runs in 2023. He is only the seventh Husky all-time to cross the 30 career home run plateau .
  • Arizona got back on track with a 2-1 series win over Washington at home and has now won every series against the Huskies in Tucson since 2015.
  • Washington State's two-game sweep on the weekend of April 1-2 (game three of series was canceled due to weather/game two postponement) was its first series win over UCLA since 2017. No announcement on a makeup date for game three.
  • Arizona State's sweep over rival Arizona on the weekend of March 24 was its first since 2019 and only its second since 2009.
  • Washington State took two of three at Oregon State in its Pac-12 opener on the weekend of March 10, the Cougars' first series win in Corvallis since 2009.
  • Stanford junior catcher Albert Rios set a Cardinal record and matched the Pac-12 record with 11 RBIs in a 24-9 Stanford victory over CSU Bakersfield on Sunday, March 5. The 11 RBIs matched the previous Pac-12 record of 11 set by UCLA's Bill Scott vs. Washington in a game that started on March 29, 1999 and was completed on March 30, 1999 due to rain.
  • Oregon State head coach Mitch Canham picked up his 100th career victory on Tuesday, March 7 as the Beavers beat San Diego 9-4 in Corvallis.

NATIONAL AWARDS:

  • Collegiate Baseball National Players of the Week
    • Feb. 20 - C Josiah Cromwick, Oregon
    • Feb. 27 - RHP Trent Sellers, Oregon State
    • Mar. 6 - 1B/OF/C Kiko Romero, Arizona
    • Mar. 13 - RHP Connor Wilford, Washington State
    • Mar. 20 - RHP Dakota Hawkins, Washington State; 2B Luke Keaschall, Arizona State
    • Mar. 27 - OF Tanner Smith, Oregon
  • Perfect Game National Players of the Week
    • Mar. 7 - RHP Kiefer Lord, Washington - National Pitcher of the Week
  • College Baseball Hall of Fame - Shortstop of the Week
    • April 4 - Drew Cowley, Oregon

STAT LINES:

  • NCAA Top Team Rankings: Batting Avg. - Arizona State (14th, .316); Hits - Arizona State (13th, 362); Doubles - Arizona (3rd, 83); Triples - USC (1st, 22); Home runs - Stanford (38th, 49); Scoring - Stanford (20th, 8.7); Slugging percentage - Arizona (13th, .535); Sacrifice Flys - Arizona, ASU, USC, WSU (19th, 20); Walks - Oregon State (18th, 188); ERA - Oregon State (6th, 3.20); Shutouts - UCLA (10th, 4); Strikeout-to-Walk Ratio - UCLA (5th, 3.66); Strikeouts-Per-9 Innings - Washington State (18th, 10.7); Walks Allowed Per Nine Innings - UCLA (4th, 2.65); Fielding percentage - Oregon State (21st, .979); Double plays - Utah (38th, 27).
  • NCAA Top Individual Rankings: Batting Avg. - Tommy Troy, Stanford (22nd, .420); Doubles - Luke Keaschall, ASU (30th, 13); Triples - Austin Overn, USC (1st, 10); Hits - Ryan Campos, ASU (42nd, 50); Runs - Ryan Campos, ASU (39th, 40); RBI - Kiko Romero, Arizona (32nd, 42); Home Runs - Will Simpson (15th, 13); Sac Flys - Mac Bingham, Arizona (2nd, 6); Sac Bunts - Bruer Webster, Utah (2nd, 10); On-base percentage - Ryan Campos, ASU (23rd, .523); Slugging percentage - Kiko Romero, Arizona (28th, .756); Toughest to Strikeout - Rikuu Nishida, Oregon (17th, 14.5); Stolen Bases - Rodney Green Jr., Cal (15th, 21); ERA - Kelly Austin, UCLA (21st, 1.93); Saves -  Ryan Brown, OSU; Josh Mollerus, Oregon (17th, 6); Strikeouts - Trent Sellers, OSU (10th, 67).

WE'RE GOING STREAKING:

  • Arizona State enters the weekend riding a league-high six-game winning streak. USC has the second-longest steak of five games.
  • Multiple Pac-12 hitters have streaks on the line at the plate heading into the fifth weekend of conference play. Washington's AJ Guerrero has a league-high eight gamer going, followed by Washington State's Jacob McKeon and Stanford's Tommy Troy at seven games.
  • Multiple Pac-12ers have reached base safely over a long stretch of games. ASU's Ryan Campos and Oregon State's Garret Forrester are tied for the league-high at 31 straight games. Arizona's Chase Davis has reached safely in 29 straight.

GOLDEN SPIKES MIDSEASON WATCH LIST:

  • Ryan Campos, C, So., Arizona State
  • Chase Davis, OF, Jr., Arizona
  • Braden Montgomery, OF/UTL, So., Stanford
  • Tommy Troy, INF, Jr., Stanford

D1 BASEBALL POSITION RANKINGS (As of April 1):

  • Top 50 Catchers - No. 7 Ryan Campos (Arizona State); No. 24 Malcolm Moore (Stanford); No. 26 Caleb Lomavita (California); No. 29 Johnny Tincher (Washington).
  • Top 50 First Basemen - No. 8 Kiko Romero (Arizona); No. 20 Sam Brown (Washington State); No. 22 Will Simpson (Washington); No. 36 Garret Forester (Oregon State).
  • Top 50 Second Basemen - No. 4 Luke Keaschall (Arizona State); No. 7 Ethan Gourson (UCLA); No. 10 Travis Bazzana; No. 44 Drew Bowser (Stanford).
  • Top 50 Shortstops - No. 18 Cam Clayton (Washington); No. 24 Cody Schrier (UCLA); No. 31 Luke Hill (Arizona State); No. 37 Nik McClaughry (Arizona).
  • Top 50 Third Basemen - No. 6 Tommy Troy (Stanford); No. 14 Sabin Ceballos; No. 21 Kyle Karros (UCLA); No. 42 Nu'u Contrades (Arizona State).
  • Top 50 Relievers - No. 19 Micah Ashman (Utah); No. 23 Josh Mollerus (Oregon); No. 44 Josh Emanuels (Washington); No. 47 Garrett Clarke (USC).
  • Top 100 Starting Pitchers - No. 23 Quinn Matthews (Stanford); No. 27 Kiefer Lord (Washington); No. 28 Kelly Austin (UCLA); No. 33 Alonzo Tredwell (UCLA); No. 41 Stu Flesland; No. 45 Ross Dunn (Arizona State); No. 48 Matt Scott (Stanford); No. 60 Jake Brooks (UCLA); No. 64 TJ Nichols (Arizona); No. 67 Paulshawn Pasqualotto (California); No. 75 Trent Sellers (Oregon State);
  • Top 100 Outfielders - No. 3 Braden Montgomery (Stanford); No. 25 Tanner Smith (Oregon); No. 29 Chase Davis (Arizona); No. 36 JonJon Vaughns (UCLA); No. 58 AJ Guerrero (Washington); No. 61 Albert Rios (Stanford); No. 86 Cole Gabrielson (USC).

PERFECT GAME MIDSEASON ALL-AMERICANS :

  • Braden Montgomery, Stanford - Second Team Hitter
  • Tommy Troy, Stanford - Third Team Hitter
  • Kiefer Lord, Washington - Third Team Pitcher
  • Malcolm Moore, Stanford - Freshman First Team Hitter
  • Austin Overn, USC - Freshman First Team Hitter
  • Matt Scott, Stanford - Freshman First Team Pitcher
  • Matthew Grabmann, Oregon - Freshman Second Team Pitcher

2023 MLB OPENING DAY: Former Oregon State standout and the 2019 No.1 overall pick Adley Rutschman may have made his MLB debut for the Baltimore Orioles in 2022, but Thursday, March 30 marked his first Opening Day in the big leagues. Rutschman had a monster day, hitting a home run in his first at-bat and going 5-for-5 overall with 4 RBI in a 10-9 Baltimore win over Boston, joining Hall-of-Famers Billy Herman and Babe Ruth as the third player ever to go 5-5 and get multiple RBI on Opening Day. UCLA great Gerrit Cole made some history himself, recording the most strikeouts by a Yankee pitcher on Opening Day with 11 in New York's 5-0 shutout of the Giants. Rutschman and Cole highlight a total of 54 former Pac-12 stars on 2023 Opening Day rosters. It's the second-most players from a conference behind only the SEC (SEC 89, Pac-12 54, ACC 42, WCC 21, American 20).

CARDINAL PICKED TO REPEAT: For a second consecutive year the Pac-12 coaches took defending champion Stanford atop their preseason poll with the Cardinal receiving nine first-place votes for a total of 99 points.

UCLA collected the other two first-place votes to come in second with 90 points and Oregon State was in third with 77 points. Arizona (74 points) and Oregon (68 points) rounded out the top five in fourth and fifth, respectively.

INAUGURAL PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM: For the first time in Pac-12 history, the conference announced a Preseason All-Pac-12 Team , voted on by the leagues coaches.

Stanford led the way with eight selections. Preseason All-Americans Braden Montgomery (UTL), Ryan Bruno (LHP), Carter Graham (INF), Quinn Mathews (LHP) and Tommy Troy (INF) earned the honor along with Cardinal infielder Drew Bowser , outfielder Eddie Park and pitcher Joey Dixon .

The 32-person team also includes preseason All-Americans Travis Bazzana (INF) and Ben Ferrer (RHP) from Oregon State, Chase Davis (OF) from Arizona and pitcher Alonzo Tredwell of UCLA.

Tredwell and UCLA teammate Cody Schrier (INF), both 2022 Freshman All-Americans, were two of six Bruins selected, which was second-most behind Stanford.

FRESH (AND FAMILIAR) FACES: The Pac-12 has a pair of new head coaches in 2023 - Washingtons Jason Kelly and USCs Andy Stankiewicz - but neither are new to the West.

Kelly in particular is no stranger to the Pac-12, returning to Washington to begin his head coaching career after previously spending seven years as the Huskies pitching coach from 2013-19 under Lindsay Meggs, who announced his retirement following the 2022 season. Kelly was a key part of UWs first-ever trip to the Mens College World Series in 2018 before stints as the pitching coach at Arizona State and last season at LSU. Kelly was also previously honored as the 2018 D1Baseball National Assistant Coach of the Year.

Stankiewicz, a former Major League Baseball player, came to USC last summer after a highly successful 11-year run at Grand Canyon in which he won five regular season Western Athletic Conference titles and was named the WAC Coach of the Year four times. Over the last two seasons, Stankiewicz guided Grand Canyon to its first ever NCAA Division I postseason appearance in 2021 then led the program to its first ever at-large bid this past season.

NATIONAL AWARDS PRESEASON WATCH LISTS

GOLDEN SPIKES

  • Chase Davis; OF; Arizona
  • Quinn Mathews; LHP; Stanford
  • Braden Montgomery; OF/RHP
  • Cody Schrier; INF; UCLA
  • Tommy Troy; INF/OF; Stanford

BOBBY BRAGAN COLLEGIATE SLUGGER AWARD

  • Drew Cowley, INF, Oregon
  • Chase Davis, OF, Arizona
  • Carter Graham, INF, Stanford
  • Jacob McKeon, OF, Washington State
  • Tanner Smith, OF, Oregon
  • Jacob Walsh, INF, Oregon

PRESEASON ALL-AMERICAN TEAMS

AMERICAN MADE: Two Pac-12 players were part of the 26-man roster for the 2022 Collegiate National Team that represented Team USA and finished in third place at Honkbalweek Haarlem last July at  Pim Mulier Stadium in Haarlem, Netherlands. The final squad was named after completing the 2022 Collegiate National Team Training Camp, a five-game intrasquad series played throughout North Carolina. The roster included RP Ryan Bruno (Stanford) and RP Ross Dunn (Arizona State).

2023 PAC-12 BASEBALL TOURNAMENT: After an exciting inaugural event last May, the Pac-12 Baseball Tournament returns to Scottsdale Stadium May 23-27, 2023 for year two at the Spring Training home of the San Francisco Giants. The tournament will look different in 2023 after the Pac-12 coaches approved format changes during the offseason.

Switching from a double-elimination format to pool play, the top nine 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 Conferences automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Pac-12s current agreement with the City of Scottsdale runs through 2024.

ON DECK ( Full Schedule )

Friday, April 14
California at Utah UTAH Live Stream 5:00 p.m. PT/6 p.m. MT
No. 8 Stanford at (RV) Oregon ORE Live Stream 5:05 p.m. PT
UC Davis at No. 19 UCLA UCLA Live Stream 6:00 p.m. PT
No. 23 Arizona State at Washington WASH Live Stream 6:05 p.m. PT
Arizona at Washington State Pac-12 Washington 7:00 p.m. PT
No. 24 USC at (RV) Oregon State Pac-12 Oregon 7:00 p.m. PT
Saturday, April 15
California at Utah UTAH Live Stream 1:00 p.m. PT/2 p.m. MT
UC Davis at No. 19 UCLA UCLA Live Stream 2:00 p.m. PT
No. 23 Arizona State at Washington WASH Live Stream 2:05 p.m. PT
No. 8 Stanford at (RV) Oregon ORE Live Stream 2:05 p.m. PT
Arizona at Washington State Pac-12 Washington 3:00 p.m. PT
No. 24 USC at (RV) Oregon State Pac-12 Los Angeles/Mountain/Oregon 3:00 p.m. PT
Sunday, April 16
California at Utah UTAH Live Stream 11:00 a.m. PT/12:00 p.m. MT
Arizona at Washington State ARIZ Live Stream 12:00 p.m. PT
No. 24 USC at (RV) Oregon State Pac-12 Oregon 12:00 p.m. PT
No. 8 Stanford at (RV) Oregon ORE Live Stream 12:00 p.m. PT
UC Davis at No. 19 UCLA UCLA Live Stream 1:00 p.m. PT
No. 23 Arizona State at Washington WASH Live Stream 1:05 p.m. PT
Tuesday, April 18
Washington State at Gonzaga TBD
(RV) Oregon at Portland 5:00 p.m. PT
Utah at BYU BYUtv 5:00 p.m. PT
Seattle U at (RV) Oregon State OSU Live Stream 5:05 p.m. PT
UC Irvine at No. 19 UCLA UCLA Live Stream 6:00 p.m. PT
Sacramento State at No. 8 Stanford STAN Live Stream 6:05 p.m. PT
San Francisco at California CAL Live Stream 6:05 p.m. PT
CSUN at No. 24 USC Pac-12 Insider 6:30 p.m. PT
Wednesday, April 12
No. 23 Arizona State at Arizona (Non-conference) Pac-12 Insider 6:00 p.m. PT

CONFERENCE STANDINGS ( Expanded Standings )

Teams Pac-12 Record Overall Record
No. 8 Stanford 10-2 22-8
No. 23 Arizona State 10-2 24-9
No. 24 USC 9-3 21-10-1
No. 19 UCLA 8-5-1 19-9-1
Oregon 7-5 22-9
Washington 6-6 19-10
Oregon State 7-8 21-11
Washington State 5-9 19-12
Arizona 5-10 17-13
Utah 3-11-1 12-19-1
California 3-12 14-15

2023 Pac-12 Baseball Weekly Awards

Player Pitcher
Feb. 20 Jonah Advincula, WSU TJ Nichols, ARIZ
Feb. 27 Gavin Turley, OSU Trent Sellers, OSU
March 6 TJ Clarkson, UTAH Kiefer Lord, WASH
March 13 Kiko Romero, ARIZ Connor Wilford, WSU
March 20 Luke Keaschall, ASU Matt Dallas, ORE
March 27 Nu'U Contrades, ASU Matt Scott, STAN
April 3 Jacob Walsh, ORE Tyler Stromsborg, USC
April 10 Ryan Campos, ASU Jace Stoffal, ORE