Pac-12 Weekend Recap (March 22nd-24th)

Arizona State at Oregon State

Oregon State took two out of three from Arizona State over the weekend. On Friday the Beavers, beyond LHP Matt Boyd, won the opener by a final of 5-0. Boyd went the distance and only allowed one hit. He struck out a career high 11 batters. Outfielder Michael Conforto led the Beavers with three hits, while designated hitter Dylan Davis drove in two RBI. While Boyd’s outing on Friday was impressive, the most outstanding performance of the weekend took place Saturday, as LHP Ryan Kellogg threw a no-hitter in the Sun Devil 4-0 victory. Kellogg struck out three and did not walk a batter. The no-hitter was the first against Oregon State since March 27, 1994 when Lewis and Clark State accomplished the feat. Arizona State had two errors to spoil the perfect game. Four Sun Devils had multi-hit games, while outfielder Jake Peevyhouse drove in two RBI. One of the RBI came on the outfielder’s first home run of the season. On Sunday, the Beavers were able to bounce back and claim the series victory with a 4-3 victory. Neither starter worked past the fifth, while a Michael Conforto sacrifice fly gave the Beavers the lead. The Oregon State bullpen was able to work around walks in the later innings to seal the victory.

Oregon State: 21-2, 5-1

Arizona State: 13-7-1, 2-4

California at UCLA

The other battle of undefeated conference foes took place at UCLA this weekend. In the first game, California was able to get RHP Plutko, to the tune of five runs through 6 2/3 innings. The Bears were led by Devin Pearson. The centerfielder had three hits in the 5-1 California victory. Freshman RHP Ryan Mason improved to 4-0 after going eight innings and allowing a run. He struck out five and only allowed five hits. UCLA evened the series Saturday with an 8-3 win. Shortstop Pat Valaikia had three hits and drove in four RBI in the victory. The Bruins took the series Sunday behind a 10-2 victory. Six Bruins had multi-hit games, while first baseman Cody Regis led the Bruins with three hits. LHP Grant Watson went seven strong innings while striking out five. The lefthander only allowed one earned run on five hits.

UCLA: 17-4, 5-1

California- 14-10, 4-2

Arizona at Oregon

It’s getting late awful early for the defending National Champion, Arizona Wildcats. Oregon was able to secure a 2-1 Friday victory behind six strong innings from RHP Jake Reed. Reed allowed one run on six hits while striking out three. Outfielder Tyler Baumgartner put the Ducks ahead, 2-1, with an RBI ground-rule double to right in the bottom of the sixth. The Oregon pen, led by LHP Christian Jones and RHP Jimmie Sherfy, did not allow a hit over the final three innings. On Saturday, the Ducks were leading the Wildcats 2-1 in the bottom of the eighth, when first baseman Ryon Healy hit a line drive three-run home run to left, to give the Ducks a 5-1 lead and series victory. On Sunday, in a must win for the Wildcats, Oregon was able to hang on and win by a final of 7-6. The Wildcats rallied in the ninth off Ducks closer Jimmie Sherfy, who allowed two earned runs, before getting Zach Gibbons on a ground out to end the game. Four Ducks had multi-hit games, while catcher Josh Graham drove in three RBI. The Wildcats have not been swept in conference on back-to-back weekends since 1999.

Oregon: 18-6, 5-1

Arizona: 15-11, 0-6

Utah at Stanford

In the most surprising results over the weekend, Utah was able to take two out of three from Stanford on the road. In game one, Stanford was able to secure a 6-4 win behind eight innings from RHP Mark Appel. Appel recorded 11 strikeouts and only allowed one earned run on six hits. Designated hitter Justin Ringo had three hits, while driving in three RBI. On Saturday, Utah and Stanford headed into extra innings tied 2-2. In the top of the tenth, Dallas Carroll singled and scored the go-ahead run on a Trey Nielsen RBI double. Utah was able to hold on for a 3-2 victory. In the series finale, Utah jumped out to a 6-0 lead behind a three-run home run from Trey Nielsen. Stanford attempted to rally in the eighth, but was not able to get it all back as the Utes held on for a 7-5 victory. Centerfielder Braden Anderson and second baseman Koby Davis each recorded four hits for the Utes.

Utah: 11-10, 2-4

Stanford: 11-7, 1-2

USC at Washington

The Washington Huskies were able to get things turned around this weekend by taking two out of three from USC. In game one on Friday, USC was able to claim the victory 5-4, behind a 3-5, two RBI effort from James Roberts. Blake Lacey for USC also had two RBI in a 2-4 night. On Saturday, Washington evened the series with a 3-1 win. RHP Austin Voth went eight innings and struck out six. Voth only allowed one run on four hits. Right fielder Brian Wolfe had two RBI in the Husky victory. In the series finale on Sunday, Washington was able take to the series by a final of 8-3. Four Huskies had multi-hit games, while three players each had three hits apiece. Catcher Ryan Wiggins drove in three.

USC: 9-15, 2-4

Washington: 6-16, 2-4

Brown at Washington State

This series is not a conference matchup; therefore, the recap will be short. In game on one Thursday, the Cougars won by a final of 8-2. LHP Joe Pistorese improved to 3-1 on the season. Pistorese struck out seven in seven innings. On Saturday, Washington State defeated Brown by a final of 14-0. The Cougars had 18 hits on the day. Sunday saw the Cougars also defeat Brown by a final of 20-1. With the victory, Washington State improves to 7-0 all-time against members of the Ivy League. The final game of the series will take place Monday at 6:00 p.m.

Pac-12 Power Rankings

1. Oregon State
2. UCLA
3. Oregon
4. California
5. Arizona State
6. Washington State
7. Utah
8. Stanford
9. Arizona
10. Washington
11. USC

Five Takeaways from the Weekend

1. What has happened to Arizona? The defending National Champions are in trouble in the conference after back-to-back sweeps by Oregon State and Oregon. Arizona will take on Utah next weekend in what most certainly has to be considered a must-win series.
2. On the same note, Oregon had a strong weekend. The Ducks play outstanding defense (lead the conference in fielding percentage at .989) and sit fourth in the conference with a 2.82 ERA. If Oregon can continue to creep into the middle of the conference offensively, right now they set at .239 batting average, they could make a case to be considered with UCLA and Oregon State.
3. Freshman LHP Ryan Kellogg upstages LHP Matt Boyd. On Friday night in Corvallis, college baseball fans witnessed Beaver starter Matt Boyd throw a one-hitter against the Sun Devils to improve to 5-0. On Saturday, LHP Ryan Kellogg answered Boyd by throwing a no-hitter against a potent Beaver lineup. Kellogg now sits at 5-0 and outdueled another top conference freshman RHP Andrew Moore. Speaking of, how good are the freshman arms in this conference? Kellogg is 5-0, Moore is 5-1, and California’s Ryan Mason is 4-0.
4. Oregon State and UCLA continue to stand atop the conference. Although California and Oregon are tied at 4-1 with Oregon State and UCLA, there is a general feeling that the Beavers and UCLA are the most complete teams from top to bottom. In two weeks the Beavers and Bruins meet in UCLA.
5. Utah heading into the Sunken Diamond and taking two of three from Stanford. In most cases, every Friday when Mark Appel is on the mound, the Cardinal will be favored. For the Cardinal to be successful, their season will come down to winning either the Saturday or Sunday matchup. Although Utah won in extra-innings on Saturday, the Cardinal starters continue to struggle with consistency.