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The Daily Wildcat

The Daily Wildcat

 

Baseball Pac-12 power rankings: Arizona back near the bottom

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Carlos Herrera
Carlos Herrera / The Daily Wildcat Junior catcher Riley Moore (6) warms up with sophomore pitcher Tyger Talley (19) before Arizona’s 6-5 win against UCLA at Hi Corbett Field on April 13. Talley has been named the Wildcats’ Sunday starter for now.

1) No. 11 Washington (27-8-1, 14-4 Pac-12 Conference)
Not that impressive of a weekend for the Huskies — they won a three game series against California, but UW keeps jumping up the rankings and looks like it could be in the top 10 of the NCBWA by next week.

2) No. 4 Oregon State (28-8, 11-4)
The Beavers gave Sacramento State (25-15) its greatest win of 2014 on Monday in a 7-6 heartbreaker. Oregon State’s upcoming heavyweight series against in-state rival Oregon is going to be a lot of fun to watch.

3) No. 7 Oregon (31-10, 10-5)
Oregon’s pitching staff took a huge blow Monday as its standout freshman lefty Matt Krook (2-1, 1.79 ERA) underwent Tommy John surgery on Tuesday and will miss the remainder of the season. But the Ducks have arguably the most momentum in the Pac-12, and are currently on a nine-game win streak.

4) No. 27 UCLA (21-16, 9-6)
It was a mum weekend for UCLA, which beat Utah in two out of three games. The season is winding down, and there’s a high chance the defending national champ won’t make the playoffs this year if it can’t get hot these last several weeks.

5) USC (20-17, 9-9)
Mid-April has treated the Trojans kindly. They’ve won five consecutive contests, including a home sweep over Arizona. As a team that’s probably not making the playoffs, USC has nothing to lose as it tries to spoil rival UCLA’s postseason hopes this weekend.

6) ASU (21-16, 10-8)
The Sun Devils are looking a lot more like pretenders than contenders after dropping a three-game series to Stanford. A weekend series against Arizona is just what the doctor ordered for ASU to stay alive in the playoff hunt.

7) Stanford (15-17, 6-9)
Among the Pac-12 teams playing out the season for pride at this point, Stanford looks to be the best of them. The Cardinal’s schedule for the rest of April should be easy enough for it to enter May above .500.

8) Cal (16-19, 5-10)
Even though it lost, Cal gave Washington a tough series over the weekend. This team needed that six-run win over the Huskies on Saturday to gain a little confidence.

9) Washington State (17-19, 7-8)
Swept out of town by Oregon, Washington State fell back below .500. WSU’s athletic director should try to schedule more games against Gonzaga for next season.

10) Arizona (17-23, 6-12)
Just two years ago, this program was preparing for a national title run. Now, it’s arguably the worst in the Pac-12. However, winning the upcoming weekend series against ASU to capture the baseball point for the Territorial Cup would make the season a lot less painful for the Wildcats.

11) Utah (12-23, 3-15)
Another weekend, another series loss. The football team is going to be decent this year though, right? Maybe?

—Follow Joey Putrelo @JoeyPutrelo

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