Five teams tabbed in top-20, ranked matchups slated in Pac-12 softball
THIS WEEK IN PAC-12 SOFTBALL
• Five Pac-12 softball teams are ranked in the top-20 of the USA Today/NFCA Coaches poll, including No. 1 UCLA, No. 2 WASHINGTON, No. 5 ARIZONA, No. 15 OREGON and No. 16 ARIZONA STATE. The Bruins were voted the new No. 1 team in the country with 30 first-place votes. Oregon State and Stanford received votes with nine and six, respectively.
• Two Pac-12 softball teams have perfect records after the first weekend of competition, including UCLA (11-0) and Oregon (9-0). The conference represents two of only five remaining undefeated teams in NCAA Division I softball and has the most representatives of any conference.
• The conference boasts a 78-14 (.848) overall record, going 9-4 against ranked opponents last weekend. The week included wins over top-10 competition in then- No. 5 Florida State, No. 9 Alabama and No. 10 Kentucky.
• Three Pac-12 student athletes named to the top-30 softball candidates for the 2020 Senior CLASS Award, including Arizona’s Jessie Harper and Washington’s Sis Bates and Morganne Flores. The watch list represents NCAA Division I seniors with notable achievements in: community, classroom, character and competition.
THE WEEK AHEAD
The Pac-12 has several mid-week matchups beginning tonight (Feb. 18) as STANFORD hosts Fresno State at 5:30 p.m. and Arizona hosts the U.S. Women’s National Team at 6 p.m. PST, on Pac-12 Networks. On Wednesday, CALIFORNIA heads to Moraga, Calif., to face St. Mary’s at 2 p.m.
Beginning Thursday (Feb. 20), eight out of the nine Pac-12 softball teams (excluding Stanford) head to Cathedral City for the annual Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic. Stanford will host Nevada in a three-game weekend series.
This week’s schedule will include seven top-25 matchups, including three top-10 battles. On Friday, No. 5 Arizona takes on No. 7 Florida and on Saturday, games includes No. 2 Washington vs. No. 3 Oklahoma and No. 1 UCLA vs. Florida.
UTAH and UCLA will also take on the USWNT on Saturday and Sunday, respectively.
NATIONAL STAT LEADERS
Three Pac-12 teams’ batting averages rank in the top-25 with UCLA in second (.406), Washington in fourth (.356) and Arizona in 21st (.338).
Four Pac-12 teams are ranked in the top-25 in earned run average with Stanford in second (0.92), UCLA in 13th (1.15), OREGON STATE in 17th (1.19) and Oregon in 18th (1.35). Three teams are ranked in the top-25 on base percentage with UCLA ranked third (.490), Washington 14th (.435) and Oregon 23rd (.424). All three teams, with the addition of ASU, are also ranked in the top-20 in scoring.
The Pac-12 has seven players in the top-25 for RBI, with Arizona’s Alyssa Palomino-Cardoza in second with 18.
Pitching staffs around the league rank among the nation’s toughest as six teams rank top-20 in shutouts: No. 2 UCLA, Stanford (5), No. 9 ASU, Oregon (4), and No. 16 OSU, Arizona (3). UCLA’s Megan Faraimo leads all players with three shutouts.
UCLA leads the country in strikeout-to-walk ratio at 12.14, followed by Oregon at No. 6 (6.67), Arizona at No. 13 (4.69) and OSU at No. 19 (4.10).
PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
Rachel Cid, a sophomore infielder for Oregon, was named the Pac-12 Player of the Week. Cid helped then-No. 21 Oregon to four wins last weekend, totaling eight RBI, two home runs and seven runs. The Ducks extend their perfect start to the season to 9-0. Delivered a walk-off three-run home run in game two against Dayton to finish off a 9-0 run-rule victory on Sunday. Drove in multiple runs in three straight games, including back-to-back three-RBI games against Houston and Dayton. Scored four times, including twice in the Ducks' 11-run fourth inning in an 18-3 win over Dayton on Saturday Feb. 15.
Mariah Mazon, a junior pitcher and designated player for Oregon State, was named the Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week. Mazon threw the second no-hitter of both the season and her career in an 8-0 run-rule victory over Houston on Saturday. Pitched five innings with seven strikeouts out of 15 batters faced, tossing only 69 pitches.Notched a career-high 12 strikeouts through six innings of work in win over Dayton (6-2) on Friday.Helped OSU go 3-1 on the weekend and picked up her second save of the season after striking out all three batters in the top half of the seventh inning against Dayton on Saturday morning. Over the course of the four games, held opponents to a .117 batting average.
Kelley Lynch, a freshman pitcher and first baseman for Washington was named the Pac-12 Freshman of the Week. Lynch helped then-No. 1 Washington finish 4-1 at the Clearwater Elite Invitational tabbing four wins over ranked opponents (then- No. 9 Alabama, No. 5 Florida State, No. 18 South Carolina and No. 17 Texas Tech). Became the second Husky freshman to hit a home run and pitch multiple shutout innings in the same game. Joins Kaitlin Inglesby who did the same in 2011 and was the fourth time in school history, regardless of age. Four-game RBI streak, with three of those four games against ranked opponents. Scoreless appearances in the circle in 7-0 victory over FSU (5.1 IP) and 5-4 over South Carolina (2.0 IP).