Regular season ends Sunday for Pac-12 Baseball – Pac-12.com

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BY THE NUMBERS

9 – For the ninth-straight week Oregon State tops the national rankings in the USA Today poll, NCWBA poll, Collegiate Baseball poll, and the Baseball America poll..

27, 3 – For the ninth-straight week Oregon State tops the national rankings in the USA Today poll, NCWBA poll, Collegiate Baseball poll, and the Baseball America poll.

13, 15 – For the thirteenth-straight USA Today poll and fifteenth-straight NCBWA poll Oregon State and Arizona are ranked. The two teams have been ranked since the preseason poll for both polls.

6 – Six student-athletes appear on the College Baseball Foundation semifinalist lists. Two appear on the Brooks Wallace Award watch list and four appear on the Pitcher of the Year watch list.

5, 2 – Pac-12 teams lead in the nation in five statistic categories. All five are held by No. 1 Oregon State, inlcuding ERA (1.87), hits allowed per nine innings (6.27), shutouts (11), WHIP (0.98), and WL percentage (0.918). Two individual Pac-12 players also top the national statistics.

NOTES

WEEKLY RECAP: No. 1 Oregon State leads the nation for the ninth-straight week after going 3-0 against Washington State. The Beavs have now set Pac-12 single-season mark for most league wins in a season with 27, beating ASU’s 1981 record of 26. They also set a new record for fewest league losses with 3 and best win percentage with .900 since the expansion to the Pac-10 for the 1979 season. Following the Beavs lead, No. 17 Arizona (vs. Arizona State), UCLA (vs. Utah), and No. 8 Stanford (vs. Washington) all ended their three game series’ 3-0. Oregon played USC and ended the series, 2-1. California played No. 7 TCU and came out with a win and two losses.

PREVIEWING THE WEEK: In the last few days of the regular season, Oregon State hosts Abilene Christian, Oregon hosts UCLA, USC plays at Washington, Arizona State plays at Utah, Stanford plays at Washington State, and California plays at Arizona. The Division I Baseball Committee will unveil its selections for the 2017 NCAA Division I Baseball Championship on Monday May 29 starting at noon ET on ESPNU.

NUMBERS GAME: No. 1 Oregon State currently leads the nation in five statistics categories: ERA (1.87), hits allowed per nine innings (6.27), shutouts (11), WHIP (0.98), and WL percentage (0.918). No. 1 Oregon State is also second in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.31) and seventh in walks allowed per nine innings (2.57). No. 17 Arizona is seventh in doubles per game (2.28) and 11th in scoring (7.9). Washington is third in fielding percentage (0.983). UCLA is eighth in sacrifice flies (31). Oregon is eighth in shutouts (8), second in strikeout-to-walk ratio (3.31), and tenth in walks allowed per nine innings (2.57). Arizona State is 10th in triples (22). 

INDIVIDUAL NATIONAL STATS LEADERS: Arizona’s JJ Matijevic is seventh in batting average (0.400), second in doubles (27), second in doubles per game (0.51), fourth in hits (86), fifth in hits per game (1.62), and 12th in total bases (143). Arizona’s Jared Oliva is fourth in doubles (24) and ninth in doubles per game (0.45). Oregon State’s Luke Heimlich is first in earned run average (ERA) (0.87), 13th in hits allowed per nine innings (5.57), and sixth in WHIP (0.81). Oregon State’s Jake Thompson is third in ERA (1.01) and fourth in hits allowed per nine innings (5.05). UCLA’s Griffin Canning and Arizona State’s Eli Lingos are tied for fifth in games started (15). Arizona’s Alfonso Rivas is 10th in on base percentage (0.496). UCLA’s Scott Burke and UCLA’s Nick Scheidler are tied for fifth in pitching appearances (33). Stanford’s Colton Hock is second (15) and Oregon’s Kenyon Yovan is fifth (14) in saves. Oregon’s David Peterson is fourth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (10.08), third in strikeouts (131), and sixth in strikeouts per nine innings (12.63). UCLA’s Canning is fifth (124) and Oregon State’s Heimlich is 11th (114) in strikeouts. Arizona State’s Gage Canning is second in triples (8) and fourth in triples per game (0.15). Oregon State’s Thompson is first in victories (12) and Oregon’s Peterson is third (11). 

COLLEGE BASEBALL FOUNDATION SEMIFINALISTS: Six Pac-12 baseball players appear on the Brooks Wallace Award and National Pitcher of the Year semifinalist lists. Stanford’s Nico Hoerner and Oregon State’s Nick Madrigal appear on the Brooks Wallace Award semifinalist list. Arizona’s JC Cloney, Oregon State’s Luke Heimlich and Jake Thompson, and Oregon’s David Peterson appear on the National Pitcher of the Year semifinalist list.

STOPPER OF THE YEAR: The Pac-12 has four student-athletes from four different universities on the NCBWA Midseason Stopper of the Year Preseason Watch List, the second most among all conferences: Stanford’s Colton Hock, 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 13th straight year in 2017. 

GOLDEN SPIKES: The 40 man USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List features five Pac-12 student-athletes, two from Oregon State, and one from UCLA, Arizona, and Oregon: Oregon State’s junior pitcher Luke Heimlich and sophomore infielder Nick Madrigal, UCLA’s junior pitcher Griffin Canning, Arizona’s junior infielder J.J. Matijevic, and Oregon’s junior pitcher David Peterson.

The USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List features 50 amateurs, seven of which are student-athletes from four different Pac-12 teams. With seven, the Pac-12 has the third-most representatives among all conferences. Stanford leads the way for most representatives by one team, with three Cardinal student-athletes featured, tying Florida and TCU. Now in its 39th year recognizing the top amateur baseball player in the country, seven former Pac-12 baseball players have won the award, most recently pitcher Trevor Bauer of UCLA in 2011. 

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

DRAFT: Every Pac-12 school had at least one student-athlete drafted in the 2016 MLB Draft: Arizona (7), Arizona State (5), California (7), Oregon (5), Oregon State (5), Stanford (4), UCLA (5), USC (12), Utah (1), Washington (3) and Washington State (3). ASU leads all NCAA schools with 414 total MLB draft picks, and at least one Sun Devil has been drafted every year since the draft’s inception in 1965.

FAMILIAR FACES IN THE DUGOUT: After welcoming three new coaches last season, all 11 coaches return for the 2017 season. Second year Arizona head coach Jay Johnson looks to match or beat his performance last season. The Wildcats made it all the way to Game 3 of the NCAA College World Series before falling to Coastal Carolina. Three other Pac-12 teams also made it to the postseason- Arizona State, Utah, and Washington.