The Pac-12 saw five teams reach the NCAA Baseball Tournament last season, including Stanford, which made a run to the Men's College World Series. More of the same should be in store for 2023. 

With the start of the college baseball season on Friday, here's one thing to know about each Pac-12 team in the order in which they appear in the Conference's preseason coaches poll.

No. 3 Stanford — The Cardinal is an obvious national championship contender

Stanford was picked to repeat as Pac-12 champions by the Conference's coaches, earning nine of the possible 10 first-place votes, and is an early frontrunner to return to the Men's College World Series.

The USA Today Coaches Poll and D1Baseball.com have Stanford ranked as the No. 3 team in the nation ahead of the season. Baseball America has the Cardinal at No. 4. It’s no surprise as Stanford boasts a strong roster that finished tops in the Pac-12 last season before a deep postseason run. The Cardinal leads the Pac-12 with eight players on the preseason all-conference team, including four preseason All-Americans — Braden Montgomery (OF/RHP), Ryan Bruno (LHP), Carter Graham (INF), Quinn Mathews (LHP) and Tommy Troy (UTL).

Leading this talented group will be reigning Pac-12 Coach of the Year David Esquer. In three full seasons at the helm, Esquer’s Stanford squads have finished no worse than third place in the Pac-12. Don’t expect that to change in 2023. 

No. 17 UCLA — The Bruins could be unhittable

The Bruins' pitching staff was already the strongest in the Conference last season and it'll likely only be better this year. In 2022, UCLA was the only Pac-12 team to allow less than four earned runs per game thanks to strong seasons from freshman sensations Alonzo Tredwell, who earned a 2.11 ERA by holding opposing batters to a .195 average, and Ethan Flanagan, who posted a perfect 3-0 record while averaging 11.4 strikeouts per 9 innings. Both Tredwell and Flanagan earned all-conference honors.

With another year under their belts, Flanagan and Tredwell are expected to take their games to the next level in 2023. They’ll join returning starter Kelly Austin among others to form a dominant staff.

Oregon State — The Beavers' best player is not from a traditional baseball country

Everyone knows the basics when it comes to the Oregon State Beavers: they are a baseball powerhouse that’s won 26 conference titles, three national championships and has some of the best fans in all of college baseball. 

But here’s something you might not know: one of their best players, Travis Bazzana, the Beavers’ star second baseman, hails from Australia. Bazzana earned consensus Freshman All-American honors last season after hitting .306 with 26 extra base hits and 14 stolen bases. Bazzana also played cricket when he was growing up down under. 

He headlines a talented Oregon State roster that features another All-American in right-hander Ben Ferrer and first baseman Garret Forrester, who hit .332 last season and was named the 2022 Pac-12 Tournament Most Valuable Player.

Arizona — Discount the Wildcats at your own peril

With star catcher Daniel Susac departing for the big leagues (where he was selected in the first round of the MLB Draft by the Oakland A’s), Arizona could be expected to take a step back. National pundits see it that way as no preseason rankings have the Wildcats listed as a top-25 team. But if we learned one thing last year, it’s that Chip Hale’s squad thrived when it was the underdog.

A five-seed in the inaugural Pac-12 Baseball tournament, the Wildcats upset Oregon to open the tournament, defeated in-state rival Arizona State and gave the top-seeded Cardinal all they could handle in the semifinals before eventually falling 5-4. Still, the Wildcats reached the NCAA Tournament and knocked out host Miami (FL) in its own Regional. 

This is also an Arizona team that is just two years removed from a Men's College World Series appearance that saw the Wildcats take the eventual national runner-up Vanderbilt Commodores to extra innings.

Keep an eye on preseason All-American Chase Davis, one of the top hitters in the Pac-12. He launched 18 homers last season, and is one of five Pac-12 players on the preseason Golden Spikes Award Watch List.

No. 25 Oregon — The Ducks' recruiting class was one of the best in country

Oregon reeled in a top-5 recruiting class, according to Baseball America, the best in the Pac-12. Six incoming Ducks were included in the Baseball America 500, a list of the best draft-eligible players in the world. 

Highlighting the list are Carter Garate, who projects as a future major-league shortstop thanks to his compact swing and eye-popping defensive skills, and Dominic Hellman, a 6-foot-6 two-way player who excelled at shortstop and as a right-handed pitcher at the high-school level. 

Pair them with the Ducks' four preseason all-Pac-12 selections and Oregon could improve from last season's NCAA Tournament squad that finished third in the Pac-12 in runs scored and fifth in ERA.

Arizona State — The Sun Devils added a star shortstop...and a lot of other new faces

After a seventh-place finish in head coach Willie Bloomquist's first season, ASU overhauled its roster by adding 29 newcomers, including 13 transfers. Chief among them is San Francisco shortstop transfer Luke Keaschall, whose ability to hit for power and average will be a welcomed addition. Keaschall hit .312 with 12 homers and a .489 slugging percentage at USF. He also swiped 30 bases in 2022, more than any player in the Pac-12 last year. 

Keaschall is piling up accolades even before he takes his first at-bat as a Sun Devil. The junior was named to preseason All-Pac-12 Team and to Collegiate Baseball News' Preseason All-American Team, making him one of just six Pac-12 student-athletes to attain that honor. 

Along with shortstop Ethan Long and catcher Ryan Campos, who also made the preseason All-Pac-12 team, the Sun Devils could have one of the top infields in the Conference.

Washington — The Huskies have a new, but familiar, head coach

Following the retirement of longtime head coach Lindsay Meggs, the Huskies hired a familiar face as his successor in Jason Kelly, who spent seven seasons as the UW pitching coach from 2013 to 2019. Kelly most recently served as the LSU pitching coach, where he helped the Tigers to a 40-22 record and guided a pitching staff that held opposing batters to a .240 average. 

During his stint at Washington, Kelly oversaw a pitching staff that powered its way to the Huskies only Men's College World Series appearance in 2018. For the upcoming season, Kelly will inherit a Huskies squad that finished with the fourth-best team ERA in the league (4.60). 

Buoying their pitching staff is catcher Johnny Tincher, who earned All-Pac-12 and Pac-12 All-Defensive Team honors last season. He finished second on the team with a .314 batting average and a .393 on-base percentage.

California — The Golden Bears built momentum throughout 2022

Cal finished last regular season on a heater, winning six straight games before stunning UCLA in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament.

In that stretch, California’s offense looked as terrifying as any team in the country. The Golden Bears averaged an astonishing 10.3 runs per game over their final nine contests. That momentum should help as they look to qualify for their first NCAA tournament since 2019. 

Catcher/designated hitter Caleb Lomavita, the Bears' lone representative on the preseason all-conference team, was a Freshman All-American last season after slashing .272/.345/.414 with 10 doubles and seven home runs.

Washington State — The Cougars are moving in the right direction

The Cougars have finished in the bottom half of the Pac-12 standings in head coach Brian Green's first two full seasons (not counting the canceled 2020 season), but are on the upswing. In 2019, the year before he was hired, the Cougars finished with just 11 wins. They more than doubled that figure in 2021 (26 wins) before winning 27 games in 2022, their highest win total since 2015. 

Jacob McKeon should again be one of the Pac-12's top sluggers after he hit .348 with seven home runs last season.

USC — The Trojans have a proven winner in the dugout

After two straight losing seasons, USC decided to make a change at head coach. If past performance is a sign of what's to come, it appears they nailed the hire by selecting former major leaguer Andy Stankiewicz. 

Stankiewicz coached Grand Canyon to Western Athletic Conference titles in five of the past seven seasons, earning four WAC Coach of the Year nods. In 2022, GCU spent three consecutive weeks on D1Baseball.com’s top-25 list and made its second straight NCAA Tournament appearance — impressive feats for a mid-major.

Success isn't expected overnight — USC was picked 10th in the Pac-12 preseason poll and doesn't have any players on the preseason all-conference team — but there's no reason to think Stankiewicz can't turn around this historic program eventually.

Utah — The Utes have a homegrown star

When Landon Frei was choosing where he’d play college ball, he likely had many options. The second baseman’s ability to hit average and extra bases would have made him an attractive to any number of college baseball’s traditional powerhouses. 

But the Santa Clara, Utah native decided to represent his home state. And the Utes are all the better for it. Playing as a true freshman, Frei led the Utes in batting average (.330) and hits (62), earning him Pac-12 All-Conference Honorable Mention. The righty had a flair for the dramatic, homering in his first collegiate at-bat.

If he can continue to improve during his sophomore campaign, the Utes may surprise people in 2023.