With the college baseball season reaching its final week of the regular season, here is how the Pac-12 is stacked to end the year:
1. Oregon State (43-9, 22-5 Pac-12): The No. 4 Beavers have been the conference’s best team all season, and they proved it last weekend, knocking off in-state rival Oregon two out of three games in Eugene to open a two-game lead in the Pac-12 standings with only a week to go. Two wins against Washington State next weekend clinches the conference for the Beavers.
2. UCLA (37-15, 20-7 Pac-12): Since dropping two of three to Oregon State early in April, the No. 17 Bruins have been on fire. They have won 13 of their last 15 conference games, including their last nine. The Bruins have been winning with their pitching (2.76 team ERA). The Bruins are going to be a difficult out in the postseason and they close their regular season out at Stanford, which will be a good warm-up before regionals.
3. Oregon (43-13, 20-7 Pac-12): The No. 3 Ducks have led the conference almost the entire season, but they faltered last weekend at home against the Beavers. As happy as the Ducks will be with their record, there’s still going to be an air of disappointment with how the season finished. The Ducks are still in a great place to host a regional, though, and a sweep of Utah this weekend should get them there.
4. ASU (34-17-1, 15-12 Pac-12): Not only did last weekend’s series loss to UA cost the No. 21 Sun Devils the Territorial Cup Series, it also most likely cost them the chance to host a regional in Tempe. Still, the Devils are a dangerous team with the starting duo of junior Trevor Williams and freshman Ryan Kellogg and an offense that has clubbed a conference-leading 41 home runs this season. A 4-0 week and some help could put the Sun Devils back in the hosting discussion.
5. UA (31-21,12-15 Pac-12): The Wildcats had a very nice weekend in Tempe, but it might be too little, too late for the defending National Champions. Junior outfielder Johnny Field, who's hitting .351, may be the conference’s best all-around player. A solid showing this weekend versus USC will put the Wildcats on the bubble. If they do make it to postseason play, opponents beware.
6. Stanford (29-21, 14-13 Pac-12): The Cardinal were a preseason top-10 team, but their struggles have earned them the title of most disappointing team in the conference. The Cardinal swept rival California in last weekend, but a postseason berth seems unlikely, even with a good final weekend at home against UCLA.
7. Washington (22-31, 13-14 Pac-12): The Huskies have quietly moved all the way up to sixth in the Pac-12 standings after sweeping rival Washington State on the road last weekend. The Huskies have been hot, winning four of their past five series, including a series win over conference leader Oregon State. A series win over ASU to end the season would mean a lot to the program, which started the season 9-24.
8. California (23-31, 10-20 Pac-12): The Golden Bears have shown flashes of brilliance this season, but not recently. Cal lost eight of its past nine conference games, including being swept at home last weekend by rival Stanford in its final series of the season. The Bears finished with the worst team ERA in the conference at 4.61, but junior catcher Andrew Knapp (.350, 8 HR, 41 RBI) helped save them offensively.
9. Washington State (22-30, 8-19 Pac-12): After looking impressive in their first conference series against ASU, the Cougars have struggled, topped off by last week’s home sweep to rival Washington. In fact, the only Pac-12 series the Cougars have won this season was the ASU series. The Cougars have struggled to score runs, even their .297 batting average in conference play is third best in the Pac-12.
10. USC (19-33, 10-17 Pac-12): In two years, the Trojans will not be this far down in the rankings. They’ve dealt with a head coaching change midseason and are one of the Pac-12’s most inexperienced teams. The Trojans have lost seven of their past nine conference games, but a good weekend at UA would be a nice first step for Dan Hubbs’s club at rebuilding.
11. Utah (20-29, 6-21 Pac-12): The Utes sport the worst record in the conference and have been swept four times this season. The Utes have only won two conference series this season, but one of those was on the road against Stanford. The Utes are the worst hitting team in the conference at .253, and with the Oregon Ducks visiting Salt Lake City this weekend, they have a good chance to be swept for the fifth time this season.
Reach the reporter at dsshapi1@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @Danny__Shapiro
