Oregon State tabbed the favorite in 2024 Pac-12 Baseball Preseason Coaches Poll

SCHEDULE | RECORD BOOK

Oregon State was voted by the conference’s coaches as the league favorite in the 2024 Pac-12 Baseball Preseason Coaches Poll released Wednesday. The Beavers tallied eight first-place votes and 95 total points to earn the top spot in poll.

OSU has finished second in the regular season each of the last two seasons, which also included a runner-up finish in the first Pac-12 Baseball Tournament in 2022, and will be looking for its first Pac-12 title since 2017. 

The Beavers enter the season ranked in the top 10 in five major national polls, including a No. 7 ranking in the USA Today NCAA Baseball Preseason Coaches Poll released this week. With star second baseman and Preseason All-American Travis Bazzana back to the lead the way, head coach Mitch Canham has a roster stacked with experience and poised to make a deep postseason run. 

Stanford, coming off back-to-back Pac-12 Regular Season Championships and three straight trips to the Men's College World Series, came in second after earning two first-place votes and 85 points. While the Cardinal, ranked No. 23 in the USA Today Poll, saw an exodus of talent to the professional ranks, head coach David Esquer always seems to find a way to reload each season to consistently compete at the top of the league.

UCLA picked up the final two first-place votes and totaled 82 points to finish third in the poll. The Bruins are ranked No. 24 in the USA Today preseason poll and are seeking their first conference title since 2019.

After winning the 2023 Pac-12 Baseball Tournament and coming up one win short of a trip to the Men's College World Series in the NCAA Super Regionals last spring, Oregon came in fourth in the poll with 74 points. USC, who was the surprise of the league last season in the first year under head coach Andy Stankiewicz, checked in at fifth with 64 points, followed by Washington in seventh with 49 points, California in eighth with 40 points and Arizona in ninth with 31 points.

Rounding out the poll was Utah (20 points) in 10th and Washington State (15 points) in 11th.

Non-conference play is scheduled to begin next week with all 11 programs opening up on Friday, February 16 and league play starting Friday, March 8.  The season will conclude with the Pac-12 Baseball Tournament in Scottsdale, Arizona, which is scheduled for May 21-25 at Scottsdale Stadium.

2024 PAC-12 BASEBALL PRESEASON COACHES POLL