Pac-12 Baseball Weekly Rundown - April 20, 2023

Schedule // Standings // Pac-12 Stats // Pac-12 Stats (PDF) // NCAA Statistics 

LEADING OFF: Pac-12 baseball heads into the final month of the season with a season-high five teams in USA Today's national rankings after Oregon and Oregon State entered the fray this week. No. 9 Stanford is the league's top-ranked team followed by No. 21 Arizona State, No. 22 UCLA, No. 23 Oregon and No. 25 Oregon State. A sixth team, USC, is receiving votes. All five squads were also ranked in D1Baseball's Top 25 as well. 

The Oregon schools are on the rise after a pair of big series wins last weekend. For a second straight year, the Ducks took two of three from a top-10-ranked Cardinal squad, while the Beavers stayed hot with a sweep over visiting USC for its fourth straight Pac-12 series win. Both teams are still chasing the Sun Devils and the Cardinal, who sit atop the league standings at 11-3 and 11-4, respectively, as Oregon is tied for fourth a 9-6 and Oregon State is in sixth at 10-8. 

OSU will have a chance to move ahead of ASU this weekend with the teams facing off in a top-25 showdown in Phoenix to highlight the weekend slate. The series pits one of the top offensive teams in the league in the Sun Devils against a Beaver pitching staff that now owns the second-best ERA in the country at 3.11. The three-game set kicks off Friday night at 6:30 p.m. PT live on Pac-12 insider.

Rivalry weekend in LA is also on deck with UCLA visiting USC Friday-Sunday with all three games set to air live on Pac-12 Network and Pac-12 Los Angeles. Series first pitch is Friday at 7 p.m. PT.

The remainder of the weekend schedule will see Washington at Stanford, Oregon at California and Utah at Arizona. Washington State will host Santa Clara for three games at Bailey-Brayton Field in Pullman on its conference bye week.

The midweek lineup features 12 total games from Monday through Wednesday, headlined by a two-game series between Cal State Fullerton and Arizona State at Phoenix Municipal Stadium on Tuesday and Wednesday.

RPI: 

• The Pac-12 has the third-best RPI ranking as a conference behind only the SEC and the ACC.
• Thru April 19th, 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. Five are in the top 40. Stanford has the league's top RPI ranking at No. 18, followed by Oregon at No. 19. Arizona State rose to its highest RPI ranking of the season at No. 32 with UCLA close behind at No. 35 and Oregon State at No. 40, also a high for the Beavers in 2023. Arizona sits at No. 58, followed by USC at No. 65, Washington at No. 66, Washington State at No. 71, California at No. 78 and Utah at No. 115.

STACKING UP:

• Overall, the Pac-12 has the third-best non-conference winning percentage among all conferences so far in 2023 with a 141-54-1 mark. The SEC is on top with a 254-54-1 record, followed by the ACC in second at 205-65.
• 10 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. Seven teams (Stanford, ASU, USC, Oregon, Oregon State, Washington and UCLA) are .500 or better in league play.
• Through April 19, the Pac-12 owns a 81-33 (.712) record against teams from the other four D1 conferences in the West Region  (Big West, Mountain West, WAC, WCC). 

ON THE ROAD: 17-of-23 games against opponents in the A5 have been played away from home, including all 10 games against the SEC. Overall, Pac-12 teams have played 85 games away from home (non-conference plus neutral site).

RANKINGS ROUNDUP: The Pac-12 has a season-high five teams ranked and a sixth receiving votes in the latest USA Today's Coaches Poll. The league also has five teams ranked in D1Baseball's latest poll and at least four ranked in four of the six major polls. 

• USA Today: #9 Stanford, #21 Arizona State, #22 UCLA, #23 Oregon, #25 Oregon State, RV - USC
• D1Baseball: #9 Stanford, #19 Arizona State, #21 Oregon State, #22 UCLA, #23 Oregon
• Baseball America: #11 Stanford, #18 Arizona State, #19 Oregon State, #20 Oregon
• Collegiate Baseball: #8 Arizona State, #11 Stanford, #16 Oregon
• NCBWA:  #10 Stanford, #19 Arizona State, #22 UCLA, #25 Oregon, #27 Oregon State, RV - Washington
• Perfect Game: #9 Stanford, #12 UCLA, #22 Oregon; Also considered - Arizona State, Oregon State

QUICK HITTERS:

• Oregon State is hitting its stride at the right time, winning four straight Pac-12 series and riding a seven-game winning streak heading into the pivotal series with the Sun Devils. The Beavers' sweep over USC last weekend was its first league sweep of 2023 and the team has won 13 of their last 16 since getting swept at Stanford on March 19.
• Oregon bounced back nicely from a series loss to rival Oregon State and was impressive in doing so in the series win over Stanford, holding the league's top scoring offense to one run on eight hits in the two Duck wins. Overall, the Ducks have won 15 of their last 19, which included an 11-game winning streak, the program's longest since the 1964 team won 12 straight. Friday night starter Jace Stoffal has been lights out on the mound, becoming just the second Duck all time to win consecutive Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week awards. Stoffal dominated the Cardinal, allowing three hits and just four baserunners in a complete-game shutout in a 4-0 series-opening win. Stoffal's performance earned him some national praise as D1Baseball's National Pitcher of the Week and the NCBWA's National Co-Pitcher of the Week.
• Stanford's streak of three straight Pac-12 series sweeps came to an end last weekend in Eugene, but the Cardinal have stayed steady, winning 13 of their last 19. Preseason All-American Quinn Matthews leads the Stanford pitching staff with a 2.83 ERA that ranks third in the Pac-12 while his 76 strikeouts rank seventh overall in the nation. 
• Despite splitting the series at Washington and dropping a non-conference midweek bout with rival Arizona, Arizona State has gone 19-4 over its last 23 games and won its first four Pac-12 series, already matching its total series wins from a year ago. At 25-11 overall, the Sun Devils need just one win to match its total wins of 26 from last spring and they head in the final four weeks sitting in first in the Pac-12 standings at 11-3. The Sun Devils' entry in the national polls over the last three weeks marks the first time the program has been ranked in the Willie Bloomquist era. 
• 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 ran into a roadblock in Corvallis last weekend, suffering its first sweep of the season, but has still collected victories in 16 of its last 22, which included winning four consecutive Pac-12 series for the first time since 2001.The Trojans' four series and nine league wins have already surpassed their totals of two and eight, respectively.
• UCLA has faced some adversity with injuries in 2023 but continues to battle for wins. The Bruins took two of three at home against UC Davis on its conference bye week last weekend and its pitching staff has stayed steady as its 3.65 ERA ranks second in the conference and 12th in the country.
• Washington picked up a the series split (game three was canceled) against the Sun Devils in Seattle last weekend behind a seven-inning gem from Stu Flesland II, who matched his career-high in the 7.0 inning-outing. The redshirt junior struck out nine and allowed three runs on just five hits in the 8-3 Husky win.
• Arizona's 20-0 midweek non-conference shutout over Arizona State on April 19 was the Wildcats' largest shutout victory over their in-state rival in program history. Arizona smacked 19 hits, which included five home runs and five doubles, led by Mac Bingham's a 5-for-5 night at the plate with four runs scored, one double, one home run and three RBI.
• California outfielder Kade Kretzschmar, the 2022 Ivy League Player of the Year and graduate transfer from Dartmouth, had a monster week for the Bears, hitting 15-for-21 (.714) with a pair of home runs, three doubles, 10 RBI, six runs scored, two walks and a stolen base to help Cal go 4-1 and take two of three at Utah. He recorded multiple hits in all five games and drove in multiple runs in four of five contests en route to earning Pac-12 Player of the Week honors. Kretzschmar also collected national awards as D1Baseball's and NCBWA's National Player of the Week.
• 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 has turned in some stellar performances during Pac-12 play in 2023. Most recently, the Cougars won a league series against Arizona in Pullman for the first time since 2009, while it was their first back-to-back series wins over the Wildcats since 2006-07. Earlier in the season, WSU'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 and the Cougars opened Pac-12 play by taking two of three at Oregon State on the weekend of March 10, Washington State's 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:

• D1Baseball National Players of the Week
  • April. 17 -
    • Pitcher of the Week - RHP Jace Stoffal, Oregon
    • Player of the Week - OF Kade Kretzschmar, California
• NCBWA Dick Howser Trophy National Players of the Week
  • April. 18 -
    • Co-Pitcher of the Week - RHP Jace Stoffal, Oregon
    • Player of the Week - OF Kade Kretzschmar, California
• 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
  • April 17 - INF/C Sabin Ceballos, 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 (14th, .318); Hits - Arizona (15th, 397); Doubles - Arizona (2nd, 96); Triples - USC (1st, 22); Home runs - Oregon (44th, 56); Scoring - Stanford (30th, 8.3); Slugging percentage - Arizona (10th, .546); Sacrifice Flys - Arizona, Washington State (11th, 24); Walks - Oregon State (22nd, 209); ERA - Oregon State (2nd, 3.11); Shutouts - Oregon, UCLA (12th, 4); Strikeout-to-Walk Ratio - UCLA (4th, 3.50); Strikeouts-Per-9 Innings - Stanford (21st, 10.4); Walks Allowed Per Nine Innings - UCLA (5th, 2.81); Fielding percentage - Washington (25th, .979); Double plays - Utah (21st, 32). 
• NCAA Top Individual Rankings: Batting Avg. - Ryan Campos, ASU (26th, .413); Doubles - Luke Keaschall, ASU (26th, 15); Triples - Austin Overn, USC (1st, 10); Hits - Mac Bingham, Arizona (53rd, 55); Runs - Mac Bingham, Arizona; Chase Davis, Arizona; Nick McClaughry, Arizona (70th, 42); RBI - Kiko Romero, Arizona (15th, 52); Home Runs - Chase Davis, Arizona; Will Simpson, Washington (36th, 15); Sac Flys - Sam Brown, WSU (2nd, 7); Sac Bunts - Carson Wells, USC (2nd, 11); On-base percentage - Ryan Campos, ASU (19th, .523); Slugging percentage - Kiko Romero, Arizona (21st, .779); Toughest to Strikeout - Rikuu Nishida, Oregon (25th, 13.1); Stolen Bases - Rodney Green Jr., Cal (12th, 25); ERA - Jace Stoffal, Oregon (50th, 2.64); Saves -  Ryan Brown, OSU (15th, 7); Strikeouts - Quinn Matthews, Stanford (17th, 76).

WE'RE GOING STREAKING:

• Oregon State enters the weekend riding a league-high seven-game winning streak. Arizona has the second-longest steak of two games.
• Multiple Pac-12 hitters have streaks on the line at the plate heading into the sixth weekend of conference play. Four different Arizona players - Chase Davis, Emilio Corona, Mason White and Mac Bingham -  along with Washington's AJ Guerrero all have 10-gamers going, while Utah's Jayden Kiernan is at nine and fellow Ute TJ Clarkson is at eight with Cal's Kade Kretzschmar. 
• Multiple Pac-12ers have reached base safely over a long stretch of games. Oregon State's Garret Forrester will put his league-high streak of 35 games straight on the line against Arizona State to go along with his seven-game hitting streak. Arizona's Chase Davis has reached safely in 33 straight, while ASU's Ryan Campos has a 31-gamer going, but hasn't played since April 11. 

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 league’s 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 - Washington’s Jason Kelly and USC’s 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 UW’s first-ever trip to the Men’s 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

• D1 Baseball - First Team: RP Ryan Bruno (Stanford), 2B Tommy Troy (Stanford).
• Baseball America - First Team: 2B Tommy Troy (Stanford)
• Collegiate Baseball - First Team: INF Carter Graham (Stanford), SP Quinn Matthews (Stanford)
• NCBWA - First Team: INF Carter Graham (Stanford)
• Perfect Game - First Team: 2B Tommy Troy (Stanford), SP Quinn Matthews (Stanford)

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 Conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The Pac-12’s current agreement with the City of Scottsdale runs through 2024.

ON DECK (Full Schedule) 

CONFERENCE STANDINGS (Expanded Standings) 

2023 Pac-12 Baseball Weekly Awards