No. 4 Washington kicks off the South Florida Showdown this Thursday against No. 7 Oklahoma State. This will be the Huskies’ fourth game against a ranked team this year, and they are 2-1 so far with the lone loss coming to No. 1 Oklahoma in extras.

No. 22 Arizona sees its first action of the season as a ranked team this Thursday against Drake. The Wildcats are hosting the Hillenbrand Invitational this weekend looking to build off their strong 10-1-0 start to the season.

No. 13 Stanford travels to Austin, Texas for the Long Start State Invitational. The Cardinal will face No. 2 Texas on Saturday for the second time this year. 

Four Pac-12 teams are set to compete at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic this weekend. No. 21 California puts its eight-game winning streak on the line when they face Illinois on Friday. No. 19 UCLA will take on No. 24 Northwestern (Friday), RV Baylor (Saturday) and No. 5 Tennessee (Sunday). The Bruins have already taken on five top-25 teams so far this season. No. 20 Utah, No. 23 Oregon and Oregon State are set to join the Golden Bears and Bruins in Cathedral, Calif.

Arizona State hosts UTEP for a doubleheader on Wednesday before welcoming Texas State, Seton Hall, Ohio State, Utah Valley, Idaho State and New Mexico State to the Alberta B. Farrington Softball Stadium for the 2024 Sun Devil Classic.

Quick Hits

• Pac-12 teams are a combined 56-29 (.659) through two weeks of the season.
• Arizona State scored 10 runs in an inning against Memphis this past weekend, marking the first time they've scored double-digit runs in one frame since March 6, 2021.
• Washington’s Brooklyn Carter ranks fifth in NCAA DI with 1.14 stolen bases per game. The sophomore has stolen one or more bases in four contests this season. 
• Stanford’s NiJaree Canady’s 10.9 strikeouts per seven innings are the eighth-best mark in the country. Canady has struck out four-or-more batters in all five appearances this season, and her 15 Ks against San Diego State are still the most in a NCAA DI game this season.
• Arizona (first - 6) and Oregon (ninth - 4) each rank in the top-10 nationally in shutouts.
• The Pac-12 has three players hitting .500 or better so far this season, and two of them play for California in Acacia Anders (.500) and Elon Butler (.500). Arizona freshman Regan Shockey leads the league with a .517 batting average.
• The Wildcats rank sixth in the country with a .388 team batting average and fourth in fielding percentage at a .992 clip. They are one of two teams to rank in the top 10 in both categories (also UMES).
• Washington (sixth - .704) and UCLA (t-14th - .667) rank in the top 25 in strength of schedule based on past opposition win percentage.

Rankings Rundown

• Seven Pac-12 teams are ranked in the USA Today/NFCA Top 25 Poll: No. 4 Washington, No. 13 Stanford, No. 19 UCLA, No. 20 Utah, No. 21 California, No. 22 Arizona and No. 23 Oregon. California and Arizona are making their season debut in the rankings.
• 77.8% of the league (7/9) is ranked in the top 25, trailing just the SEC (84.6% - 11/13) for the highest percentage of ranked teams among all conferences.
• D1Softball: No. 4 Washington, No. 9 Stanford, No. 17 Arizona, No. 22 California, No. 24 UCLA
• Softball America: No. 4 Washington, No. 10 Stanford, No. 17 Arizona, No. 21 California
• ESPN.com/USA Softball: No. 4 Washington, No. 12 Stanford, No. 9 UCLA, No. 23 Arizona, No. 25 Oregon. California and Utah are receiving votes.

Conference Notebook

• Arizona: Arizona has hit .350 or better in all but two games this season. The Wildcats are coming off an 8-0 win against Omaha in which they went 10-18 (.556) at the plate
• Arizona State: The Sun Devils are the only Pac-12 team with three players hitting over .400: Alesia Denby - .440, Kelsey Hall - .440 and Yannixa Acuna - .429.
• California: Eight Golden Bears have a home run this season. Cal is tied for the league lead with 15 homers, and are led by Butler’s four and Mika Lee’s three.
• Oregon: Kai Luschar has reached base in all 11 games for the Ducks. The outfielder is sixth in the conference with a .524 OBP.
• Oregon State: The Beavers have already played in six one-run games this season and they are 2-4 in those contests. Oregon State has allowed two-or-fewer earned runs in eight of 10 games this year.
• Stanford: Aly Kaneshiro became the first Cardinal with three home runs in a game since at least 1999 when she hit three long balls against Georgia Tech. Kaneshiro went 4-for-4 with seven RBI and four runs scored against the Yellow Jackets.
• UCLA: Maya Brady moved into fifth place in Bruin history with her 56th career home run last week. Brady is six homers away from tying Tairia Mims and Delaney Spaulding for the third most in program history. 
• Utah: Karlie Davison has reached base in 11 of her last 12 games dating back to last season. Davison ranks second on the team with a .440 batting average and paces the Utes with a .517 OBP.
• Washington: Head coach Heather Tarr is five wins away from 800 in her career. She is the Pac-12’s active leader in career wins.

Watch List

• 11 Pac-12 players are on USA Softball’s Top 50 “Watch List” for Player of the Year: Maya Brady, UCLA; NiJaree Canady, STAN; Megan Grant, UCLA; Stevie Hansen, ORE; Taryn Kern, STAN; Mariah Lopez, UTAH; Ruby Meylan, WASH; Sharlize Palacios, UCLA; Carlie Scupin, ARIZ; Allie Skaggs, ARIZ; Jordan Woolery, UCLA. 

Additions & Returners

• Every Pac-12 program was ranked in the top-45 of Extra Inning Softball’s 2023 team recruiting rankings: No. 7 Washington, No. 8 UCLA, No. 9 Arizona, No. 13 Oregon, No. 31 Stanford, No. 33 Arizona State, No. 34 California, No. 44 Oregon State, No. 45 Utah.
• The Pac-12 returns 12 First-Team All-Conference members from a season ago: Tatum Anzaldo (CAL); Aliya Belarde (UTAH), Brady (UCLA), NiJaree Canady, (STAN), Abby Dayton (UTAH), Megan Grant (UCLA), Dakota Kennedy (ARIZ), Mariah Lopez (UTAH), River Mahler (STAN), Ruby Meylan (WASH), Allie Skaggs (ARIZ) and Jordan Woolery (UCLA).
• Six 2023 NFCA All-Americans will suit up for Pac-12 teams this year: Brady, Grant, Taryn Kern, Lopez, Woolery & Meylan.
  • Stanford added 2023 NFCA Second Team All-American Kern this offseason, who transferred in from Indiana.

PowHER of the PAC

• All nine Pac-12 softball programs are led by female head coaches.
• Six of nine are leading their alma maters: Jessica Allister, STAN; Amy Hogue, UTAH; Kelly Inouye-Perez, UCLA; Caitlin Lowe, ARIZ; Chelesea Spencer, CAL; Heather Tarr, WASH.

Preseason Coaches Poll

• Stanford received seven first-place votes and 63 total points to finish atop the 2024 preseason coaches poll for the first time in Pac-12 history. Reigning regular-season champion UCLA was second with 54 points, while Utah came in third with 49 points and one first-place vote. Washington grabbed the remaining first-place vote and 45 points to finish fourth. 2023 Pac-12 Player of the Year and Batting Champion Brady of UCLA headlined the 20-member Preseason All-Pac-12 Team. 

2024 Pac-12 Softball Tournament

• Stanford’s Boyd & Jill Smith Family Stadium will host the 2024 Pac-12 Softball Tournament, which takes place from May 8-11. 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 41 NCAA softball championships all-time, 17 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). The Pac-12 sent six teams to the NCAA Tournament a season ago, with three teams advancing to the Women’s College World Series, the most of any other conference. 

Upcoming Schedule (Full Schedule) 

Pac-12 Standings (Full Standings)

Pac-12 Softball Weekly Awards