Cougs slip and Trojans soar in latest Pac-12 baseball standings

WSU suffered two-game losing streak to drop to sixth

JAKE HULL, Evergreen reporter

After the first week of Conference baseball, the Cougs were top of the table with a 2-1 record. After the second weekend, WSU now sits in sixth place with a 3-3 Conference record. 

Meanwhile, the USC Trojans, who hold only a 10-8-1 record overall have a 4-2 Conference record, placing them tied for second-best in the Conference. 

PAC-12 leaders for RBIs so far this season are Kiko Romero with 25 and Mac Bingham with 24. Both Romero and Bingham play for the Arizona Wildcats. Romero is also second in the Conference with a batting average of .397. 

Home run leaders in the PAC-12 are led by five players who have seven homers. Chase Davis from the University of Arizona is one of the hitters with seven homers and Bingham is in second with six. The Wildcats are one of the strongest offensive teams so far this season. 

As a team, the Cougs still lead the Conference with 157 runs scored and Stanford is close behind with 152. Both the Arizona schools lead the Conference in total hits as the Sun Devils have 210 and the Wildcats have 198. 

The Cougs still lead the PAC-12 with 148 RBIs, followed by Stanford with 144. WSU is in the middle of the pack with a total batting average of .291. The Sun Devils lead the Conference with .308.

UCLA, 15-3, 5-1

There is a new number one in the Conference as the UCLA Bruins hold a 5-1 Conference record after two weeks of PAC-12 play. After losing their first Conference game of the season to the Oregon Ducks, the Bruins went on a five-game winning streak, including a three-game sweep of the Arizona Wildcats as the Bruins allowed only 10 runs in three games combined. The last game of the series against the Ducks saw the Bruins shut out Oregon 16-0. 

USC, 10-8-1, 4-2

Last week the Trojans were last in the Conference, now they hold the second-best Conference record as they are 4-2 after two weeks. USC took two games of the Stanford Cardinal, then won a game against the Cal Golden Bears. USC seems to be starting to hit their stride as they head into the third week of Conference play as they will host the Cougs for three games starting Friday. 

Utah, 8-11, 2-4

One team trending in the wrong direction is the Utah Utes, who have a record of 8-11 and are 2-4 in Conference play. After losing two games against the Washington Huskies the Utes pulled one game back after defeating the Huskies 3-0, giving the Utes their first shutout win of the season. 

Their second non-Conference series of 2023 saw the Utes take on the Arizona State Sun Devils. Although the Utes won the last game of the series, Utah still lost the series as the Sun Devils bested Utah in the first two games. The second game of the series saw the Sun Devils win 15-9, the most runs the Utes have allowed so far this season. 

The Utes will play Northern Colorado for two games starting Tuesday before taking on the Stanford Cardinal for a three-game series starting Saturday. 

Oregon State, 12-8, 1-5

Potentially the most shocking record of the 2023 season so far is that of the Oregon State Beavers, who hold a whopping 1-5 Pac-12 record. They lost their opening series to the Washington State Cougars, who took two games off the Beavers, including holding Oregon State to just one hit in the final game of the series. 

The Beavers were just swept in three games by the Stanford Cardinal over the weekend to give Oregon State their 1-5 Conference record. The next Pac-12 series starts Friday for the Beavers as they take on Cal, who also have a 1-5 Conference record.