After falling off the charts after a shaky non-conference start, the Beavers have started to creep up the Baseball America standings. Two mid-week losses to Gonzaga don't help the Beavers' hopes to climb even higher this week, but a series win against Washington State could make the trip to the Apple State a bit sweeter.
Before the trip to Spokane, the Beavers were 6 of their last 10 with a series loss to Stanford followed by series wins against Arizona State and Arizona. The Beavers were 20-14 heading into the Gonzaga series, but emerge with a record of 20-16. Here's where they stand in the rankings:
You'll remember that the Beavers played Vanderbilt in the first game of the season at the DeMarini invitational in Tempe. That was the same tournament that the Beavers played Arizona State for the first time of the season. The Beavers lost to both of those teams. Arizona State remains near the top of the rankings along with Stanford, but Vanderbilt has slipped from No. 3 all the way down to No. 22. You'll also see Michigan near the Beavers. Oregon State knocked the Wolverines out of the tournament last year with a Super Regional victory.
Here's a look at the Top 5:
Stanford, Arizona State, Cal, and Oregon State are the four Pac-10 teams in the Top 25 this week. You may have noticed that Arizona dropped out after the series loss to the Beavers. At 22-18, UCLA seems to be the Pac-10's next most deserving team. The Beavers will get a shot at the Bruins next week.
GO BEAVERS!
--JB--