Softball Pac-12 Conference

Pac-12 Softball Weekly Rundown - April 12, 2023

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

SAN FRANCISCO - A pair of Top 25 matchups highlight this weekend's Pac-12 softball schedule with No. 2 UCLA at No. 24 Arizona and No. 5 Stanford at No. 25 Utah.

Winners of a combined 20 NCAA titles, the Wildcats will host the Bruins for three games on Pac-12 Networks at Hillenbrand Stadium, the site of May's inaugural Pac-12 Softball Tournament . The series will pit the nation's No. 2 scoring offense in Arizona (7.54 runs per game) against the country's No. 6 squad in ERA in UCLA (1.49). The Bruins currently lead the Conference with a 12-3 league mark and have won eight straight Pac-12 games, while Arizona is 3-9 and has dropped seven Conference matchups in a row. UCLA has won four straight in the series and did not allow a run in a three-game sweep at Easton Stadium last season.

Tied for third place in the Conference standings with 8-4 records, the Utes will host the Cardinal for three games in Salt Lake City broadcast via Utah Live Stream. Following a home sweep of Arizona, Stanford rose to No. 5 in the latest NFCA rankings, the program's best since it was No. 5 on May 12, 2009. At 31-6 overall, the Cardinal is off to its best 37-game start to a season since 2009 (35-2). Utah has won eight of its first 12 Pac-12 games and is closing in on its first season with double-digit league wins since 2017. The Utes are 26-8 overall and are off to their best 34-game start since 2017 (26-8).

Other Pac-12 series this weekend feature No. 19 Oregon at Arizona State and No. 9 Washington at Oregon State. Halfway through their league slate, the Ducks are tied for sixth with the Sun Devils at 5-7, but have already faced three of the league's top four teams in UCLA, Washington and Stanford, taking a game from each. The Huskies swept California last weekend and scored 16 and 10 in the final two games of the series, the Huskies' first back-to-back double-digit scoring performances this season.

On their league bye, the Golden Bears will be in Las Vegas for a three-game set at UNLV.

The Pac-12 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.

RANKINGS ROUNDUP: Eight of the league's nine teams are receiving votes in the latest USA Today /NFCA Division I Top 25 Coaches Poll , including six the in the top 25.

  • UCLA, which spent a week at No. 1 earlier this season, is No. 2 and followed by No. 5 Stanford, No. 9 Washington, No. 19 Oregon, No. 24 Arizona and No. 25 Utah. With eight points, Arizona State is second among a group of seven teams receiving votes, while California is fourth with four points.
  • It's the first time the Pac-12 has had two top-five teams since May 11, 2021, when UCLA was No. 2 and Washington was No. 5.
  • With six of its nine in the NFCA Top 25, the Pac-12 has 66.7 percent of its teams ranked, one of only two leagues over 60 percent (SEC - 69.2).
  • The Pac-12 is one of two leagues with three teams in the top 10 (Big 12).
  • Seven Conference teams were in the USA TODAY /NFCA preseason poll, the first time since 2013 and 12th time overall that the Pac-12 has had seven ranked teams to open the season, which tied the league's second-most all-time. All eight Pac-10 softball programs were in the preseason Top 25 in 2001.
  • ESPN.com/USA Softball : #2 UCLA, #5 Stanford, #10 Washington, #18 Oregon, #22 Utah, RV Arizona, RV Arizona State, RV California.
  • D1Softball : #2 UCLA, #5 Stanford, #10 Washington, #17 Oregon, #22 Utah.
  • Softball America : #2 UCLA, #5 Stanford, #10 Washington, #15 Oregon, #19 Utah, #25 Arizona.

RPI CHECK-IN: In the most recent update through games as of April 11, the Pac-12 is the nation's No. 1 conference according to the NCAA's RPI rankings.

  • Led by No. 2 UCLA, the Pac-12 has three of the nation's top 10 in the RPI, a total tied with the ACC for the most among all leagues. The Bruins are followed by No. 4 Stanford and No. 9 Washington.
  • Also in the top 42 are No. 22 Oregon, No. 28 California, No. 31 Utah, No. 38 Arizona State and No. 42 Arizona.
  • The Cardinal owns the nation's top strength of schedule, while Washington is fifth.

NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS: Through the season's first nine weeks, Pac-12 programs have combined to go 167-41 (.803) against non-league foes, the best non-conference winning percentage in the country ahead of the SEC (.797; 269-68-1).

  • Last season, Pac-12 teams went 228-68-1 (.769) in non-league games, the second-best mark in the country behind the SEC (342-97; .779).
  • The Pac-12 is 16-15 against NFCA-ranked opponents in non-conference games this season. After winning just one of its first seven, the league has gone 15-9 (.625) against ranked non-conference foes since.

UTAH MAKING NOISE: At 26-8, the Utes are off to their best 34-game start to a season since 2017 (26-8), also the year of their last NCAA Tournament appearance.

  • Halfway through their league schedule, the Utes are tied with Stanford for third at 8-4. Utah hasn't had a better Conference start since 2017 (9-3).
  • Utah started by winning its first two Pac-12 series as a Conference member for the first time, including the program's first series victory over Arizona since 2017.
  • Utah re-entered the NFCA rankings at No. 25 this week, its third appearance in that poll this year. Prior to this season, the Utes hadn't been in the NFCA rankings since Feb. 20, 2018, when they checked in tied for 24th.

STANFORD'S STRONG START: No. 5 in the latest NFCA rankings, the Cardinal has been a top-10 program in five consecutive polls, its longest top-10 run since nine straight weeks from Feb. 23 to April 20, 2010. It's Stanford's first top-five ranking since May 12, 2009.

  • Stanford had a 21-game winning streak snapped at Oregon on March 18. The Cardinal entered that series against the Ducks with eight consecutive shutouts and an Allee Bunker RBI double in the third inning of game one on March 17 snapped a 56-inning scoreless streak.
  • The Cardinal is fifth in the nation in ERA (1.41), tied for sixth in shutouts (16), fourth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.49) and fourth in fielding percentage (.982).
  • The Cardinal's 21-game winning streak was its longest since winning 28 in a row from Feb. 7 - March 23, 2009.
  • At 31-6, the Cardinal is off to its best 37-game start to a season since 2009 (35-2).

BRUINS LEADING: Following a loss at Oregon on March 24, UCLA has reeled off nine consecutive wins, including eight in Conference, to bolt to the top of the Pac-12 standings at 12-3 with a two-game lead over No. 9 Washington (10-5).

  • The Bruins' eight-game league winning streak is the second-longest active streak in the country among Power 5 programs. No. 1 Oklahoma has won nine Big 12 contests in a row.
  • Maya Brady is batting .443 with 12 home runs and 41 RBIs this season and is one of only two players in the country with those numbers along with Clemson's Valerie Cagle (.472, 15 HR, 44 RBIs). Brady leads the Pac-12 in hits (51), total bases (100), extra-base hits (23) and slugging percentage (.870), ranks second in batting average (.443) and home runs (12) and is fourth in RBIs (41).

DIAMOND DUCKS: The Ducks are currently 5-4 against teams that appeared in the 2022 Women's College World Series and 13-10 against those that made the NCAA Tournament last year.

  • In Conference, Oregon has already faced national top-10 RPI teams in UCLA, Stanford and Washington that are a combined 96-18 (.842) this season. The Ducks finish their Pac-12 schedule with series against Arizona State, Arizona, California and Utah, which are a combined 96-48 (.667).
  • Stevie Hansen has won 15 games in the circle, two more than she did as a freshman last season, ranks second in the Pac-12 and tied for 13th nationally.
  • Allee Bunker is batting a Pac-12 best .462 in conference games, 47 points higher than her season average of .415.

WEEKLY AWARDS: The most recent Pac-12 weekly awards announced on Monday were split between three different programs, with Washington's Sami Reynolds winning Pac-12 Player of the Week, Stanford's Alana Vawter earning Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week and Utah's Abby Dayton taking home Pac-12 Freshman of the Week honors.

  • Reynolds a team-best .625 with two home runs and seven RBIs to lead No. 10 Washington to a sweep of California. It was her fifth career Pac-12 weekly award, the most for a Husky hitter all-time (one Freshman and four Player of the Week). Only seven others from UW have more weekly awards in their career, all pitchers: Danielle Lawrie (18), Gabbie Plain (14), Taran Alvelo (9), Jennifer Spediacci (9), Eve Gaw (6), Kelley Lynch (5) and Stephanie Burns (5).
  • Vawter pitched two complete games and another two relief innings with eight strikeouts in a sweep of then-No. 20 Arizona, the No. 7 Cardinal's first sweep of the Wildcats since 2009. It was her fourth career Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week award and first this season. Vawter is the fifth Cardinal to win four career Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week awards and first since Teagan Gerhart in 2012 ( Missy Penna - 9; Dana Sorensen - 7; Gerhart - 5; Becky Blevins - 4).
  • Dayton was on base all weekend against then-No. 25 Arizona State, going 7-for-8 as the Utes took two of three from the Sun Devils. It was her second Pac-12 Freshman of the Week award (March 20) to make her the Conference's first two-time winner this season. Dayton is third Ute to win multiple Pac-12 Freshman of the Week awards ( Ally Dickman - 2 - 2016; Katie Donovan - 2 - 2015).
  • Nationally, Pac-12 players have collected four of the NFCA's 18 weekly awards thus far (player, pitcher). Faraimo was named Wilson/NFCA Pitcher of the Week for the second time in her career on March 21 and Utah's Mariah Lopez was selected for the honor on Feb. 14 following the season's opening weekend. Offensively, UCLA's Maya Brady and Arizona's Olivia DiNardo were named Louisville Slugger/NFCA National Players of the Week on Feb. 14 and March 7, respectively.
  • Pac-12 players have also won six of the 27 national awards (player, pitcher, freshman) handed out by D1 Softball in the season's first eight weeks.

QUICK HITTERS

  • ARIZONA: Arizona is the Conference's offensive leader, pacing the league in nearly every offensive category - batting (.346), slugging (.558), on base percentage (.435), runs (294), hits (356), RBIs (268), doubles (56) and total bases (574). The Wildcats are fourth nationally in scoring, averaging 7.54 runs per game, are fourth nationally in batting and fifth in on base percentage.
    • Freshman Olivia DiNardo leads the Conference with a .454 batting average. She is 13th in the NCAA and leads the country's freshmen in that category.
  • ARIZONA STATE: Senior infielder Jordyn VanHook is tied for third in the nation with 15 home runs after launching just five in her first three seasons. Nearly half of her 31 hits in 2023 have gone over the fence. She leads the NCAA in home runs per game (0.44).
  • CALIFORNIA: Cal's 49 home runs are tied for seventh on the team single-season record list. The Bears hit 57 home runs as a team in 2022, ranking third in school history. With 1.32 home runs per game, Cal ranks 13th in the country and third in the Pac-12, trailing ASU (1.41) and Washington (1.32). Cal's 107 extra-base hits (49 HR, 54 2B, 4 3B) are third in the Pac-12 behind Arizona (112) and Washington (109).
    • The Golden Bears took down then-No. 2 UCLA on March 11, 8-0, for their first win over a top-five team since 2012. They took two of three from Arizona State March 24-26, their first series win against the Sun Devils since 2012.
  • OREGON: Allee Bunker is third in program history in hits (265), second in doubles (45), tied for sixth in RBIs (153) and seventh in runs (153). With three more runs and two more RBIs, Bunker would become the only player in program history ranked in the career top five in hits, doubles, runs and RBI.
  • OREGON STATE: With 52 career home runs, Frankie Hammoude has tied the school record ( Tarrah Beyster - 52 - 1997-2000).
  • STANFORD: Stanford is tied for sixth nationally with 16 total shutouts in its first 37 games. Last year, the Cardinal tied for fourth in the country with 21 shutouts in 61 games.
    • NiJaree Canady has only given up one earned run in 51 1/3 innings and leads the country with a 0.14 ERA this season.
    • Fellow first-year River Mahler is third in the Conference in batting average (.432) and third among all NCAA freshmen.
  • UCLA: Megan Faraimo is 63 strikeouts away from becoming just the third player in UCLA history to record 1,000 strikeouts in a career. In the 1,000 K club are Anjelica Selden (1,441; 2005-08) and Keira Goerl (1,095; 2001-04).
    • Two of the Conference's top five in RBIs are UCLA freshmen in Megan Grant (T2nd, 42) and Jordan Woolery (5th, 39).
  • UTAH: The Utes are ninth in the country in batting average, hitting .337 as a team, and 10th in scoring, averaging 7.00 runs per game. Utah's 2.38 steals per game average is 12th nationally and its 81 total stolen bases are just 11 shy of the school record of 92 set in 1994.
  • WASHINGTON: With a 14-3 record this season, first-year pitcher Ruby Meylan is tied for 24th nationally in total victories and is fourth in the Conference. Meylan's win total is tied for the NCAA lead among freshmen with Texas Tech's Sage Hoover.

STAT LINES

  • NCAA Top-10 Team Rankings: Batting Avg. - Arizona (4th, .346), UCLA (7th, .338), Utah (9th, .337); ERA - Stanford (5th, 1.41), UCLA (6th, 1.49); Fielding % - Stanford (4th, .982), Arizona (5th, .982), Washington (8th, .980); Home runs/game - Arizona State (9th, 1.41); OBP - Arizona (5th, .435); Scoring - Arizona (4th, 7.54), Utah (10th, 7.00); Shutouts - Stanford (6th, 16), UCLA (6th, 16); Strikeout-to-walk ratio - UCLA (2nd, 5.83); Stanford (4th, 5.49); Winning % - UCLA (4th; .900), Stanford (7th, .838).
  • NCAA Top-10 Individual Rankings: ERA - NiJaree Canady, STAN (1st, 0.14); Hits allowed per seven innings - NiJaree Canady, STAN (1st, 1.91); Home runs - Jordyn VanHook, ASU (3rd, 15); Home runs per game - Jordyn VanHook, ASU (1st, 44); RBIs - Allie Skaggs, ARIZ (2nd, 55); RBIs per game - Allie Skaggs, ARIZ (3rd, 1.41), Ellessa Bonstrom, UTAH (1.24); Sacrifice flies - Megan Grant, UCLA (5th, 5), Julia Jimenez, UTAH (5th, 5); Saves - Marissa Schuld, ASU (4th, 5); Shutouts - NiJaree Canady, STAN (7th, 6), Ruby Meylan, WASH (7th, 6), Megan Faraimo, UCLA (7th, 6); Slugging % - Maya Brady, UCLA (10th, .870); Strikeout-to-walk ratio - Alana Vawter, STAN (3rd, 9.10), Megan Faraimo, UCLA (5th, 8.45), NiJaree Canady, STAN (7th, 8.36); Strikeouts - Megan Faraimo, UCLA (8th, 169); Strikeouts per seven innings - NiJaree Canady, STAN (1st, 12.5); Total bases - Maya Brady, UCLA (5th, 100); Triples - Taylor Gindlesperger, STAN (5th, 6); Victories - Megan Faraimo, UCLA (2nd, 19); Walks allowed per seven innings - Alana Vawter, STAN (3rd, 0.60).

powHER OF THE PAC: All nine Pac-12 softball programs are led by female head coaches.

  • The Pac-12 is one of just two leagues in the country that features exclusively female head coaches (Ivy League).
  • Six of the nine are leading their alma maters - Jessica Allister (STAN), Amy Hogue (UTAH), Kelly Inouye-Perez (UCLA), Caitlin Lowe (ARIZ), Chelsea Spencer (CAL) and Heather Tarr (WASH).

PRESEASON PAC-12 COACHES POLL : For the third consecutive season, UCLA was voted by the Conferences softball head coaches as the leagues 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).

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 Conferences automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. Limited tickets are still available by visiting pac12.me/SBTix .

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 Acua (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).

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING: The nations 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 Womens 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:

UPCOMING SCHEDULE ( Full Schedule )

Friday, April 14
#5 Stanford at #25 Utah Utah Live Stream 4 p.m. PT
California at UNLV Mountain West Network 6 p.m. PT
#19 Oregon at Arizona State Pac-12 Arizona 6 p.m. PT
#2 UCLA at #24 Arizona Pac-12 Network
Pac-12 Los Angeles 		6 p.m. PT
#9 Washington at Oregon State Oregon State Live Stream 6 p.m. PT
Saturday, April 15
#2 UCLA at #24 Arizona Pac-12 Oregon 1 p.m. PT
#5 Stanford at #25 Utah Utah Live Stream 2 p.m. PT
California at UNLV Mountain West Network 3 p.m. PT
#19 Oregon at Arizona State Arizona State Live Stream 5 p.m. PT
#9 Washington at Oregon State Oregon State Live Stream 5 p.m. PT
Sunday, April 16
#5 Stanford at #25 Utah Utah Live Stream 11 a.m. PT
California at UNLV Mountain West Network noon PT
#2 UCLA at #24 Arizona Pac-12 Network
Pac-12 Arizona
Pac-12 Los Angeles 		noon PT
#9 Washington at Oregon State Oregon State Live Stream noon PT
#19 Oregon at Arizona State Pac-12 Network
Pac-12 Arizona
Pac-12 Bay Area 		2 p.m. PT
Monday, April 17
#5 Stanford at BYU BYUtv 1 p.m. PT
Tuesday, April 18
Portland State at #19 Oregon (DH) Pac-12 Network
Pac-12 Oregon 		3 p.m. PT
Wednesday, April 19
Santa Clara at California Pac-12 Network
Pac-12 Bay Area 		2 p.m. PT
#24 Arizona at Grand Canyon ESPN+ 6 p.m. PT
#2 UCLA at Long Beach State ESPN+ 6 p.m. PT

CONFERENCE STANDINGS ( Expanded Standings )

Teams Pac-12 Record Overall Record
#2 UCLA 12-3 36-4
#9 Washington 10-5 29-8
#5 Stanford 8-4 31-6
#25 Utah 8-4 26-8
California 6-8-1 25-12-1
#19 Oregon 5-7 25-11
Arizona State 5-7 21-13
#24 Arizona 3-9 24-15
Oregon State 2-12-1 11-23-1

PAC-12 SOFTBALL WEEKLY AWARDS

Player Pitcher Freshman
Feb. 13 Maya Brady, UCLA Megan Faraimo, UCLA Taylor Tinsley, UCLA
Feb. 20 Jordyn VanHook, ASU NiJaree Canady, STAN NiJaree Canady, STAN
Feb. 27 Devyn Netz, ARIZ Stevie Hansen, ORE Ruby Meylan, WASH
March 6 Olivia DiNardo, ARIZ NiJaree Canady, STAN Olivia DiNardo, STAN
March 13 Ellessa Bonstrom, UTAH Brooke Yanez, UCLA Megan Grant, UCLA
March 20 Ellessa Bonstrom, UTAH Megan Faraimo, UCLA Abby Dayton, UTAH
March 27 Madison Huskey, WASH Megan Faraimo, UCLA Alana Johnson, WASH
April 3 Aaliyah Jordan, UCLA Megan Faraimo, UCLA Elon Butler, CAL
April 10 Sami Reynolds, WASH Alana Vawter, STAN Abby Dayton, UTAH

NATIONAL WEEKLY HONORS

Award - Recipient
Feb. 14 Louisville Slugger/NFCA Player of the Week - Maya Brady, UCLA
Feb. 14 Wilson/NFCA Pitcher of the Week - Mariah Lopez, UTAH
Feb. 14 D1 Softball Player of the Week - Maya Brady, UCLA
Feb. 14 D1 Softball Freshman of the Week - Ruby Meylan, WASH
Feb. 21 D1 Softball Freshman of the Week - NiJaree Canady, STAN
Feb. 27 D1 Softball Player of the Week - Devyn Netz, ARIZ
Feb. 27 D1 Softball Pitcher of the Week - Stevie Hansen, ORE
March 7 Louisville Slugger/NFCA Player of the Week - Olivia DiNardo, ARIZ
March 7 D1 Softball Freshman of the Week - NiJaree Canady, STAN
March 21 Wilson/NFCA Pitcher of the Week - Megan Faraimo, UCLA