After a wild weekend featuring a number of upsets, the dust has partially settled and three top contenders have emerged.
Every team (looking at you Stanford) now has a conference win.
(Last week: No. 2)
The Bruins avenged a loss to their conference rivals in a nonconference tilt by taking two of three across town and topping Cal State Fullerton 7-2 Tuesday. They'll return to Westwood to host Cal in another in-state showdown.
(Last week: No. 3)
Another weekend, another Pac-12 series win for ASU. The Sun Devils are gunning for the top of the standings, but before they get a shot at UCLA, they'll head to Seattle for a tough road trip against Washington.
(Last week: No. 1)
The Trojans rebounded from their first conference series loss, edging Pepperdine in 12 innings Tuesday. USC faces the Oregon schools back-to-back, first hosting the Ducks, which USC hasn't won a series against since 2011. Next week is Oregon State, whom the Trojans took two of three to close their season last year.
(Last week: No. 10)
The Ducks are going to have a hard time turning things around unless they start immediately against USC this Friday, though a series win over Oregon State was a necessary step in the right direction. The fact that it's taken this long for Oregon to earn a Pac-12 series victory is telling, as is its .248 team batting average (second to last in conference) .964 fielding percentage (second to last) and 3.67 ERA (seventh) (stats through Tuesday).
(Last week: No. 11)
The Cardinal rallied for six runs in the top of the ninth Saturday to tie the game, only to fall short of a road sweep thanks to walk-off by Cal's Brian Celsi. Stanford's seven game homestand features visits from Utah and UCLA, at a point where every conference game is a must win for the Cardinal to make any noise in the Pac-12.
(Last week: No. 6)
It's hard to imagine that after the hot start the Golden Bears had that they had a home series loss to a depleted Stanford team in their plans. And yet, that's exactly what happened. Two road conference series at UCLA and Arizona don't offer much time to dwell on that result, however.
(Last week: No. 9)
Two things are for sure – The Wildcats can hit and won't lay down in the third game against a rival. That much we learned when Arizona came to Phoenix Muni Saturday-Monday. They'll head to Corvallis before a nonconference game in Tucson against the Sun Devils with a Territorial Cup point still up for grabs on Wednesday, April 22, and Tuesday, April 28.
(Last week: No. 4)
Pitcher Joe Pistorese repeated as Pac-12 Player of the Week, and the Cougars won their second Pac-12 series. A soft stretch of Washington State's schedule is upon it, with a series against San Jose State and Utah that give it an opportunity to improve its overall record and get closer to .500 in conference play.
(Last week: No. 7)
A pair of visitors from the south in Arizona and USC are the next tests for the Beavers, who dropped a series in Eugene to resuscitate a limp and lifeless Oregon team. The next six games will play a big part in determining Oregon State's postseason fate.
(Last week: No. 5)
ASU closer Ryan Burr said the Huskies should be ready to face a bunch of "pissed off" Sun Devils, and given how Washington played in Pullman against its in-state rival, it should be concerned about No. 4 ASU coming to town. The Huskies pay a visit to Oregon the following week.
(Last week: No. 8)
The Utes got a break from Pac-12 play, dropping their first game against Southeastern Louisiana and rebounding to take the next two games 14-5 and 4-3. Next up: Utah will head to Stanford, and then come back home to face Washington State.
Reach the reporter at smodrich@asu.edu or follow @StefanJModrich on Twitter.
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