Once again the Pac-12 showcases three in the top-10 in the latest USA Today/NFCA Top-25 poll: No. 6 Stanford, No. 7 UCLA, No. 9 Washington, No. 18 Arizona, No. 19 California, and No. 25 Oregon. It’s the second-straight week the Conference has three teams in the top-10.

The final week of the regular season is on deck, with the Pac-12 regular-season crown up for grabs and Pac-12 Tournament seeding on the line. UCLA controls its own destiny, and can clinch the outright title with at least two wins this weekend. Stanford is also in the hunt, and the Cardinal can take the title with a three-game sweep, and at least two losses from UCLA. Washington is in the mix as well, and a Husky sweep of Utah and three losses by UCLA will give Washington and the Bruins a share of the regular-season title. If this happens, and Stanford goes 1-2 this weekend, these three teams will all share the crown.

No. 6 Stanford battles No. 25 Oregon on Pac-12 Networks. These two teams last squared off at the Pac-12 Tournament, with the Cardinal edging the Ducks, 4-3 in the quarterfinal. Oregon holds a 39-33 all-time advantage over Stanford.

Utah welcomes No. 9 Washington to Salt Lake City for a three-game series. The Utes topped the Huskies in the semifinals of the Pac-12 Tournament a season ago behind a four-run seventh inning, however Washington topped Utah at the Women’s College World Series. 

Arizona State takes on seventh-ranked UCLA to wrap up the regular season. The Sun Devils took the three-game series in Tempe, Ariz. back in 2022, however the Bruins swept Arizona State at home last year.

California takes on Oregon State in a series with key Pac-12 Tournament seeding implications. The Beavers are 8-13 in league play while the Golden Bears sit at 7-12, and these two teams, along with the 8-13 Utes will serve as the 6-8 seeds depending on this weekend’s outcomes. These two teams tied their last meeting, 5-5. Cal takes on Nevada on Wednesday, May 1 to wrap up non-conference play for the regular season.

Hosted by Stanford, the Pac-12 Softball Tournament takes place from May 8-11 at Boyd & Jill Smith Family Stadium. Pac-12 Networks is home to the first two rounds, and the semifinals and championship is set to air on ESPN2.

Quick Hits

• Stanford’s NiJaree Canady and UCLA’s Maya Brady are among the 26 finalists for USA Softball’s Collegiate Player of the Year. 
  • A Pac-12 player has won this award six times: UCLA's Rachel Garcia - 2019 and 2018; Stanford's Ashley Hansen - 2011; Washington's Danielle Lawrie - 2010 and 2009; & UCLA's Stacey Nuveman - 2002).
  • Canady is the only player nationally to rank in the top five in both ERA (No. 1 - 0.55) and strikeouts per seven (No. 3 - 10.7).
• Four Pac-12 players rank in the top 50 nationally in batting average: No. 7 Utah’s Abby Dayton - .449, No. 14 Oregon’s Kai Luschar - .440, No. 35 Arizona’s Regan Shockey - .420 & No. 37 Utah’s Haley Denning - .418.
• Washington is one of seven teams nationally to have a team batting average of over .320 while also posting a team ERA of 2.50 or better (also Boston U, Duke, Grand Canyon, Oklahoma, Southeastern La. and Texas).
• Cal's 70 homers this season leads the conference and ranks 10th nationally. The program record for long balls in a season is 84 in 2012.
• Oregon’s 80 walks allowed leads the league and ranks 13th in NCAA DI.
  • The Ducks are 14-4 this season when walking one or fewer batters this season.
• The Pac-12 is the only conference boasting two teams in the top five of fielding percentage: No. 2 Arizona - .982 & No. 4 Washington - .981.
  • The Huskies have an NCAA-best 21 errors.
• Pac-12 national rankings:
  • Hits per game: 2nd - 7.98
  • Runs per game: 4th - 5.26
  • Home runs per game: 4th - 1.00
  • Triples per game: 5th - 0.21
• Six Pac-12 teams are predicted to make the NCAA Tournament in D1Softball’s latest bracketology.
  • Stanford (4) and UCLA (6) are predicted to host, No. 2 seed Arizona - Baton Rouge regional, No. 2 seed California - Stillwater regional, No. 2 seed Oregon - Norman regional, No. 2 seed Washington - Fayetteville regional.
  • The Pac-12 has sent six-or-more teams to the NCAA Tournament in three-straight seasons.

Rankings Rundown

• USA Today/NFCA Top 25 Poll: No. 6 Stanford, No. 7 UCLA, No. 9 Washington, No. 18 Arizona, No. 19 California, and No. 25 Oregon
• D1Softball: No. 5 Stanford, No. 6 UCLA, No. 9 Washington, No. 16 Arizona, No. 23 Oregon and No. 25 California.
• Softball America: No. 7 UCLA, No. 9 Stanford, No. 14 Washington, and No. 22 Arizona.
• ESPN.com/USA Softball: No. 6 UCLA, No. 7 Stanford, No. 10 Washington, No. 20 Arizona, No. 21 Oregon and RV California.
• NCAA RPI Rankings (through 4/30): No. 5 Stanford, No. 9 UCLA, No. 19 Arizona, No. 20 Washington, No. 22 California, No. 31 Oregon, No. 44 Utah, No. 77 Oregon State and No. 87 Arizona State.

Conference Notebook

• Arizona: The Wildcats wrapped up regular season action with a 3-2 win over Grand Canyon on Tuesday. Dakota Kennedy went 4-for-4 with a pair of home runs in the victory. Arizona has 30+ wins on the year for the  second time in the last three campaigns.
• Arizona State: Kelsey Hall carries a seven-game hitting streak into this weekend. Hall is hitting .526 over this stretch with eight runs scored, five RBI and four home runs.
• California: The Pac-12’s leader in home runs, Elon Butler has 15 long balls this season. Butler ranks third in the League with a .754 slugging percentage, and the Golden Bears are 12-2 when Butler goes yard this season.
• Oregon: Ariel Carlson ranks second in the league with 14 home runs, and is looking to be the first Duck to lead the league in long balls since 2007 (Ann Marie Topps - 19). Carlson’s 25 extra-base hits ranks second in the Conference, as do her 101 total bases.
• Oregon State: Ellie Garcia has tossed a team-high 119.2 innings this season, the fifth most in the Pac-12. The Beavers are the only team in the league to have three pitchers toss more than 45.0 innings in Pac-12 play this season, and is the only team in the Conference to have just three pitchers see action this year.
• Stanford: The Cardinal reached the 40-win plateau for the 15th time in program history, and for the second time in the Jessica Allister era. Stanford already has its most Pac-12 wins ever, and its most Conference wins since 1998 when it won 17 as a member of the Pac-10 Conference (28-game league schedule that season).
• UCLA: Junior Mackenzie Ficke made her first collegiate start on Tuesday, tossing a five-inning complete-game with two strikeouts for the victory. Maya Brady had three RBI in the win to reach 228 in her career, tying her with Tairia Mims and Stephany LaRosa for the third most in UCLA history. Brady needs two more RBI to pass Delany Spaulding for the second most in Bruin history.
• Utah: Mariah Lopez has started 28 games this season, tied for the fourth most in NCAA DI. Her 180.0 innings pitched leads the Pac-12, her 15 complete games are tied for the league lead, and her 19 wins in the circle are the second most.
• Washington: Freshman Sidne Peters’ 9.10 strikeouts per seven is the second best in the Pac-12, the 15th best nationally, and the sixth best nationally among NCAA DI freshmen. Peters’ 4.62 hits allowed per seven innings is also the second best in the league and the eighth best among NCAA DI freshmen.

Watch List

• 11 Pac-12 players are on USA Softball’s Top 50 “Watch List” for Player of the Year: Maya Brady, UCLA; NiJaree Canady, STAN; Megan Grant, UCLA; Stevie Hansen, ORE; Taryn Kern, STAN; Mariah Lopez, UTAH; Ruby Meylan, WASH; Sharlize Palacios, UCLA; Carlie Scupin, ARIZ; Allie Skaggs, ARIZ; Jordan Woolery, UCLA. 

Additions & Returners

• Every Pac-12 program was ranked in the top-45 of Extra Inning Softball’s 2023 team recruiting rankings: No. 7 Washington, No. 8 UCLA, No. 9 Arizona, No. 13 Oregon, No. 31 Stanford, No. 33 Arizona State, No. 34 California, No. 44 Oregon State, No. 45 Utah.
• The Pac-12 returns 12 First-Team All-Conference members from a season ago: Tatum Anzaldo (CAL); Aliya Belarde (UTAH), Brady (UCLA), NiJaree Canady, (STAN), Abby Dayton (UTAH), Megan Grant (UCLA), Dakota Kennedy (ARIZ), Mariah Lopez (UTAH), River Mahler (STAN), Ruby Meylan (WASH), Allie Skaggs (ARIZ) and Jordan Woolery (UCLA).
• Six 2023 NFCA All-Americans will suit up for Pac-12 teams this year: Brady, Grant, Taryn Kern, Lopez, Woolery & Meylan.
  • Stanford added 2023 NFCA Second Team All-American Kern this offseason, who transferred in from Indiana.

PowHER of the PAC

• All nine Pac-12 softball programs are led by female head coaches.
• Six of nine are leading their alma maters: Jessica Allister, STAN; Amy Hogue, UTAH; Kelly Inouye-Perez, UCLA; Caitlin Lowe, ARIZ; Chelsea Spencer, CAL; Heather Tarr, WASH.

Preseason Coaches Poll

• Stanford received seven first-place votes and 63 total points to finish atop the 2024 preseason coaches poll for the first time in Pac-12 history. Reigning regular-season champion UCLA was second with 54 points, while Utah came in third with 49 points and one first-place vote. Washington grabbed the remaining first-place vote and 45 points to finish fourth. 2023 Pac-12 Player of the Year and Batting Champion Brady of UCLA headlined the 20-member Preseason All-Pac-12 Team. 

2024 Pac-12 Softball Tournament

• Stanford’s Boyd & Jill Smith Family Stadium will host the 2024 Pac-12 Softball Tournament, which takes place from May 8-11. The four-day event will begin with a play-in game between the eighth and ninth-place teams in the regular-season standings on Wednesday. That winner will advance to an eight-team, single-elimination bracket with the quarterfinals, semifinals and championship being contested on the following three days. The winner of the Pac-12 Softball Tournament will receive the Conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Historically Speaking

• The nation’s most successful softball conference, Pac-12 programs have combined to win 24 of the 41 NCAA softball championships all-time, 17 more than the next closest league, and all nine Pac-12 teams have made appearances in the Women’s College World Series. Of the 13 different programs to have won an NCAA softball championship, five are from the Pac-12: UCLA (12), Arizona (8), Arizona State (2), California (1) and Washington (1). The Pac-12 sent six teams to the NCAA Tournament a season ago, with three teams advancing to the Women’s College World Series, the most of any other conference. 

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Pac-12 Standings (Full Standings)

Pac-12 Softball Weekly Awards