(Last week: No. 1)
The Trojans dropped a midweek game to a tough UC Irvine team on the road, proving that they aren’t invincible. But when they’re on, they’re pretty darn close. It’s one thing to outslug an opponent and another to beat them 13-0 and 9-2 in back-to-back games like they did at Cal Poly. USC is just 4-3 away from home as opposed to 14-2 at Dedeaux Field, so its mettle will be tested at Washington in the first leg of an extended Pac-12 road trip.
(Last week: No. 3)
The Golden Bears are rolling after a successful trip to the Pacific Northwest, sweeping Washington and outscoring the Huskies 18-6 on the series. They’ll head to Fresno State for a midweek tilt and then to Utah for a three-game series.
(Last week: No. 2)
An impressive series win over Oregon on a rainy weekend in Eugene didn’t come without a cost — Brett Lilek left the game Sunday in the second inning after a bizarre collision with David Greer and his immediate status is unknown. ASU also utilized veteran Eric Melbostad extensively for the first time this season and called upon Darin Gillies as well. Not playing a midweek game will give them a chance to rest up before hosting Stanford Friday.
(Last week: No. 5)
The defending conference champions swept visiting Washington State rather easily, and freshman Drew Rasmussen threw a perfect game just an hour before and 50 miles north on I-5 of Ryan Kellogg’s complete game Saturday. The Beavers take a five game break from conference play before facing UCLA in Los Angeles.
(Last week: No. 4)
The Bruins took care of business with Utah in town and swept the Utes this weekend convincingly – by a 28-2 margin over three games, to be exact. UCLA hasn’t played a Pac-12 game away from home yet, though, and will travel to San Diego State (winners of four straight) Tuesday before heading to Washington State for its conference road opener.
(Last week: No. 11)
Speaking of winning on the road — the Wildcats completed a sweep of Stanford for the first time in Palo Alto on Sunday, bolstered by Tyger Talley’s first career complete game shutout. They won’t have much time to dwell on it, though: Up next at Hi Corbett Field are Oregon and USC in consecutive weekends.
(Last week: No. 7)
The Ducks hung close on Friday and Saturday and salvaged a win Sunday, but find themselves trending toward the bottom of the conference with a resurgent Cal, USC, ASU and Oregon State all in a dogfight at the top. They’ll need to put together some wins on the road to get back on track and will have a week of non-conference play in between a trip to Arizona and a return to Eugene to host the in-state rival Oregon State.
(Last week: No. 8)
A two-game midweek series with Gonzaga offers the Huskies a brief respite from what’s ahead after Cal swept them at home this weekend. A dangerous USC team (averaging seven runs per game) will make the trip to Seattle on Friday.
(Last week: No. 9)
The Cougars ran into a red-hot Oregon State pitching staff in Corvallis and left without a win, and their upcoming schedule isn’t doing them any favors: UCLA and Cal are Washington State’s next two conference opponents.
(Last week: No. 6)
The Utes followed up a series victory at Arizona with a 9-3 home win over Utah Valley, but were swept by UCLA on the road. In what figures to be an equally lopsided matchup, Utah hosts Cal on Friday.
(Last week: No. 10)
The Cardinal are having a hard time adjusting to life without Cal Quantrill and Marcus Brakeman at the head of their rotation, as a middling Arizona squad came up to Sunken Diamond and swept Stanford. They’ll play host to San Diego (winners of 11 of their last 13) before playing their first series at Phoenix Muni.
Reach the reporter at smodrich@asu.edu or follow @StefanJModrich on Twitter.
Like State Press Sports on Facebook and follow @statepressport on Twitter.
