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WEEKLY RECAP: No. 1 OREGON STATE (20-2) and No. 3. STANFORD (18-2) boast the two best winning percentages in the country at .909 and .900 respectively, and are the only teams remaining with two losses this season. OSU is ranked first in the USA Today Coaches Poll for the third consecutive week followed by No. 3 Stanford and No. 13 UCLA that has been consistently ranked since the preseason. The Beavers claimed their 14th consecutive Pac-12 Conference series after winning two of three games against Washington at home last week. Before dropping their second loss on Sunday, the Beavers opened the year at 20-1 for the second-straight season and only the third time in program history (1962).

The Cardinal has matched the program’s best start to a season since 1998 (16-1-1). Stanford collected its seventh-straight win against San Diego (3-0) on Tuesday and swept USC over the weekend during its Pac-12 opener. UCLA claimed its second Conference series against ARIZONA STATE with a 6-5 walk-off victory on Friday, followed by a triumphant 12-1 win on Saturday and closing the weekend with a 4-0 loss on Sunday.

Receiving votes in the USA today for the second-consecutive week, ARIZONA walked away with the series win against WASHINGTON STATE. Opening up the week with a close fought 5-4 win, the Wildcats then fell by a same score, 5-4, on Saturday before finishing the weekend with a solid 9-2 win on Sunday. Oregon won its first league series of the season, besting CALIFORNIA in two-of-three games before dropping a 5-1 loss to San Francisco.

PREVIEWING THE WEEKEND: OREGON and San Francisco will meet in the second of two games on Monday on April 2. The Ducks last played at San Francisco in 2014 when the teams split a two-game series. Washington State opens its Pac-12 Conference home slate with a three-game series against Arizona State, Thursday, Friday and Saturday, as all three games will be broadcast on Pac-12 Networks. Utah continues its homestand this weekend, hosting No. 1 Oregon State beginning on Thursday. Washington will take on USC in Los Angeles as both teams are in need of wins after each dropped its previous series last week.

NUMBERS GAME: Oregon State now leads the Conference in batting average, posting a .312 percentage after last week’s competition. Cal still holds the top spot in 11 statistical categories including slugging percentage (.474), on base percentage (.403) and runs scored (174). Arizona has the most triples in the league with 13. Stanford leads the country in earned run average (1.96) and USC continues to hold the best fielding percentage (.987).

STARS DELIVERING: California outfielder Andrew Vaughn, is among the top hitters in the country as he leads the national stats in slugging percentage (1.038), home runs per game (.57), on base percentage (.611) and ranks third in batting average (.468). The Sun Devils are led by Gage Canning’s nation-leading 46 hits, eight triples and a .460 batting average that ranks fifth in the country, while freshman Spencer Torkelson is tied for the fourth most home runs per game (.46). Oregon State’s Adley Rutschman ranks tenth in batting averaging at .438.

SENIOR CLASS AWARD: Two Pac-12 athletes have been named candidates for 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. Oregon State outfielder Jack Anderson has competed in 18 of the team’s 19 games this season and carries a .286 batting average. Anderson also performs in the classroom as a two-time Pac-12 All-Academic First Team member and was named CoSIDA Academic All-District last year. Oregon’s second baseman Kyle 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 in the Conference.

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.

GOLDEN SPIKES: The USA Baseball Golden Spikes Award Preseason Watch List features 50 amateurs, six of which are student-athletes from four different Pac-12 teams. With six players, the Pac-12 is tied for the third-most representatives among all conferences. California and Stanford are 2-of-6 total schools with two players on the watch 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 pitcher Trevor Bauer of UCLA in 2011.

USA Baseball Golden Spikes Watch 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

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)

Teams Pac-12 Record Overall Record #3 Stanford 3-0 17-2 #1 Oregon State 5-1 20-2 #13 UCLA 5-1 15-5 Washington 4-2 11-10 Arizona State 4-2 12-12 Oregon 2-4 14-9 Arizona 2-4 13-10 USC 2-4 11-9 Utah 1-2 4-18 California 1-5 13-9 Washington State 1-5 5-14

UPCOMING SCHEDULE

Thursday, March 29 #1 OREGON STATE at UTAH 5 p.m. Nicholls at ARIZONA 6 p.m ARIZONA STATE at WASHINGTON STATE P12N 6 p.m. WASHINGTON at USC 6 p.m. OREGON at #3 STANFORD P12+ 6:05 p.m. #13UCLA at CALIFORNIA 7:05 p.m. Friday, March 30 ARIZONA STATE at WASHINGTON STATE P12N 5 p.m. #1 OREGON STATE at UTAH 5 p.m. Nicholls at ARIZONA 6 p.m. WASHINGTON at USC 6 p.m. OREGON at #3 STANFORD 6:05 p.m. UCLA at CALIFORNIA 6:05 p.m. Saturday, March 31 ARIZONA STATE at WASHINGTON STATE P12N 12 p.m. #1 OREGON STATE at UTAH 12 p.m. Nicholls at ARIZONA 12 p.m. OREGON at #3 STANFORD P12+ 1 p.m. WASHINGTON at USC 1:05 p.m. #13 UCLA at CALIFORNIA P12N 3 p.m. Monday, April 2 WASHINGTON at San Diego State 1 p.m. Gonzaga at STANFORD 1:05 p.m. OREGON at San Francisco 3 p.m ARIZONA at New Mexico 5 p.m. Nevada at #1 OREGON STATE 6:35 p.m. Tuesday, April 3 USC at Santa Barbara 3 p.m. BYU at UTAH P12M 5 p.m. Gonzaga at WASHINGTON STATE P12W 5 p.m. Nevada at #1 OREGON STATE 5:35 p.m. #3 STANFORD at Santa Clara 6 p.m. #13 UCLA at Loyola Marymount 6 p.m. Cal State Fullerton at ARIZONA STATE P12N 6:30 p.m.

2018 PAC-12 PLAYER AND PITCHER OF THE WEEK