Three Pac-12 Baseball teams boast top seven rankings

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IN THE RANKINGS: In the latest USA Today Top 25 Coaches Poll, three Pac-12 Baseball teams are ranked in the top seven, and in another nationally recognized poll - the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association - the three teams reside in the top six. Conference co-leader STANFORD continues check in at No. 2 in the polls for the fifth-straight week, OREGON STATE climbed two spots to No. 3 after going 3-1 last week, and No. 7/6 UCLA also bumped up two spots with a three-game sweep over Cal Poly.

WEEKLY RECAP: Stanford (33-6, 14-4, Pac-12) and UCLA (30-10, 14-4) are tied for first place in the Conference standings heading into the last month of the regular season. The Cardinal recorded a comeback series win over CALIFORNIA by taking the last two games (14-1, 5-2). Stanford also picked up a 5-2 win over San Francisco on Tuesday for its 11th victory in the last 12 games. UCLA swept Cal Poly (9-5, 6-3, 6-4) for the series victory and shut out UC Irvine 12-0 on Tuesday to  extend its winning streak to eight games, its longest since 2015.

Oregon State (33-7, 12-6), which is within two games of first in the Pac-12, took 2-of-3 games against ARIZONA STATE (18-25, 10-11) and recorded a non-conference win in the Civil War against OREGON by a 4-3 score. Luke Heimlich struck out 11 batters and held ASU to five hits and two runs in eight innings in the Beavers’ 6-2 series opener on Friday. Arizona State tied the series behind Dellan Raish’s four innings of scoreless relief for an 8-5 victory on Saturday before the Beavers closed with a 6-5 win on Sunday.

WASHINGTON (20-19, 11-7) went 3-1 last week to earn the series over in-state rival WASHINGTON STATE (14-23, 6-12) and collected a 7-2 win over local foe Seattle on Tuesday. UW’s offense operated on all cylinders for a 15-2 win over WSU in the opener before the teams split results in a doubleheader on Saturday. The Huskies moved up to fourth in the league standings and are a half-game behind Oregon State in third. UTAH (12-29, 6-12) collected its second Pac-12 series win against ARIZONA, taking the first two games (5-4, 3-2) before the Wildcats claimed a 7-6 win on Sunday. 

USC won the series opener against OREGON (9-2), but the Ducks rallied to take the series with back-to-back wins, including pitcher Kenyon Yovan's dominating career-high 15 strikeouts in Saturday's 9-2 victory.

NUMBERS GAME: Three Pac-12 teams rank in the top 10 nationally in win-loss percentage with No. 2 Stanford (.850), No. 3 Oregon State (.825) and No. 9 UCLA (.750). Stanford leads the nation in WHIP (1.08) and is second in hits allowed per nine innings (6.76). OSU ranks ninth in batting average (.310) and seventh in on-base percentage (.407). UCLA’s 2.68 doubles per game ranks sixth nationally and also cracks the top-10 at sixth in on-base percentage (4.08) and ninth in scoring (7.5). The Pac-12 holds the second- and third-best earned run average in the nation with Stanford (2.57) and UCLA (2.71), respectively. USC ranks eighth in fielding percentage (.981). The Pac-12 has recorded four no-hitters this season, which ties for the most in a single season in Conference history (Washington, Feb. 24; USC, March 15; WSU, April 8, April 22).

STARS DELIVERING: The Pac-12 leads the national homerun race with ASU freshman Spencer Torkelson at No. 1 with 21 homers followed by California’s Andrew Vaughn in second with 19. Luke Heimlich of Oregon State owns sole possession of the nation's most victories after collecting his 10th of season last week. Arizona’s Gage Canning leads the country in triples (9) and triples per game (.21). Oregon’s Kenyon Yovan earned Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week after recording 15 strikeouts in a single game, a total that ranks third in Oregon history and is the seventh-most by a pitcher in the NCAA and most of any Pac-12 pitcher this season. The sophomore has totaled 75 strikeouts for the second-most in the league thus far. Oregon State’s Steven Kwan was tabbed Pac-12 Player of the Week, registering multiple hits in three of the four games, going 12-of-18 (.667) for a .714 on base percentage and 1.056 slugging percentage with three walks and two RBIs.

SENIOR CLASS AWARD: Oregon second baseman Kyle Kasser is one of 10 finalists for the 2018 Senior CLASS Award. An honor that is given annually to a Division I senior student-athlete in baseball who has notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition. Kasser boasts a 3.17 GPA in economics and participates in the community as a three-year member and past co-director of the Student Athlete Advisory Council (SAAC). Kasser was a 2017 first-team All-Pac-12 Conference selection after hitting .381 in league games for the third-highest rate in the Conference.

GOLDEN SPIKES: USA Baseball released the Golden Spikes Award midseason watch list that narrows down the top 40 amateur baseball players in the country. Seven Pac-12 players made the cut, which tied for the second-most of any conference. Arizona State and Oregon are 2-of-4 schools that had two players selected to the list (Kentucky, NC State), while Sun Devils’ infielder Spencer Torkelson is the only freshman featured on the list.

Now in its 40th year recognizing the top amateur baseball player in the country, seven former Pac-12 baseball players have won the award, most recently awarded to UCLA pitcher Trevor Bauer in 2011. The 41st Golden Spikes Award semifinalists will be announced on May 21, followed by the finalists on June 22 and the winner will be crowed on June 28 at the College Baseball World Series.

USA Baseball Golden Spikes Midseason Watch List
Kris Bubic, STAN, LHP
Gage Canning, ASU, OF
Joe DeMers, WASH, RHP
Trevor Larnach, OSU, OF
Adley Rutschman, ASU, C/IF
Spencer Torkelson, ASU, IF
Andrew Vaughn, CAL, IF

USA Baseball Golden Spikes Watch Preseason List
Kris Bubic, STAN, SP
Tanner Dodson, CAL, UTL
Nico Hoerner, STAN, SS
Nick Madrigal, OSU, 2B
Alfonso Rivas, ARIZ, 1B
Andrew Vaughn, CAL, 1B

ALL AMERICANS: The Pac-12 had 11 different student-athletes from six different Pac-12 teams featured on Baseball America, NCBWA, and Collegiate Baseball preseason All-America teams.

STOPPER OF THE YEAR: The Pac-12 has four student-athletes on the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Preseason Watch List. Arizona State’s Connor Higgins, California’s Erik Martinez, Oregon State’s Jake Mulholland and Oregon’s Kenyon Yovan. The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association will be presenting the Stopper of the Year Award to the top relief pitcher in Division I baseball for the 14th straight year at the College World Series on Saturday, June 16, 2018.

NCBWA Stopper of the Year Watch List
Connor Higgins, ASU, LHP
Erik Martinez, CAL, P
Jake Mulholland, OSU, LHP
Kenyon Yovan, ORE, RHP

ALL AMERICANS: The Pac-12 had 11 different student-athletes from six different Pac-12 teams featured on Baseball America, NCBWA, and Collegiate Baseball preseason All-America teams.

STOPPER OF THE YEAR: The Pac-12 has four student-athletes on the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Preseason Watch List. Arizona State’s Connor Higgins, California’s Erik Martinez, Oregon State’s Jake Mulholland and Oregon’s Kenyon Yovan. The National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association will be presenting the Stopper of the Year Award to the top relief pitcher in Division I baseball for the 14th straight year at the College World Series on Saturday, June 16, 2018.

NCBWA Stopper of the Year Watch List
Connor Higgins, ASU, LHP
Erik Martinez, CAL, P
Jake Mulholland, OSU, LHP
Kenyon Yovan, ORE, RHP

CONFERENCE STANDINGS (Expanded Standings)

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

2018 PAC-12 PLAYER AND PITCHER OF THE WEEK