Pac-12 Baseball Notebook: Arizona State join the Beavs at 8-0

Two weeks of baseball season are already in the books. Not one, but two Pac-12 teams are a perfect 8-0 to start the season. If you’re already here, you’ll be happy to know that the Oregon State Beavers are one of those teams alongside the Arizona State Sun Devils.

Not every game has been close, but there’s still been some excitement throughout the league. Below, find our latest power rankings heading into the third weekend of 2019 and some notes about which players are making waves for their respective clubs.

Power Rankings

1. Oregon State Beavers: Golden Spikes candidate and likely top MLB pick Adley Rutschman leads the league in home runs with four and (somehow) reliever Brandon Eisert leads the league in wins with four. After sweeping both weekends, the Beavs are ranked as high as #2 in the nation (Perfect Game).

2. Arizona State Sun Devils: ASU has offense on their side this year. The Pac-12’s other 8-0 team, ASU hung 46 runs on Notre Dame in three games opening weekend. Catcher Lyle Lin leads the Pac-12 in RBIs followed closely by infielder Spencer Torkelson with 15.

3. UCLA Bruins: The young and talented Bruins are 7-1 with the one loss coming on the road against Georgia Tech. They’re ranked as high as number three by Baseball America. Pitchers Nick Nastrini and Kyle Mora are tied for the league lead in strikeouts with 17.

4. Stanford Cardinal: The 6-1 Cardinal are a top 25 team in every major poll following the first two weeks of the season. They’re 6-1 to start the year with a home loss to UNLV the lone blemish on their record.

5. Arizona Wildcats: 6-2 Arizona lead the league in runs with 102 in eight games. They’re off to a 6-2 start following this past weekend where they dropped to a solid Houston club. Outfielder Ryan Holgate is one to watch with 15 RBIs on the young season.

6. Washington Huskies: Coming off of a trip to Omaha, UW has looked more or less like their usual offensive-minded selves in the early part of the season. They stumbled a bit with two losses against UC-Irvine opening weekend, but put up 38 runs in three games against Northern Colorado, including a 35-8 victory on February 20th.

7. Oregon Ducks: The Ducks are 4-2 to start the year with two games being cancelled due to inclement weather. They looked wobbly against a strong Texas Tech team to start the season, but bounced back with a sweep of St. Mary’s the second weekend. They have Loyola Marymount in Eugene this weekend.

8. California Golden Bears: Last year’s Golden Spikes Award winner is off to another hot start. Andrew Vaughn earned conference player of the week honors this past week with two HR and six RBI while reaching base 15 of twenty times. The Bears are just above .500 at 4-3.

9. USC Trojans: USC took their opening weekend series against Omaha and snuck one by Arkansas to get to get to 3-4 on the season. Lefty pitcher John Beller could be one to watch with 11 strikeouts and just three walks in two starts.

10. Utah Utes: The Utes are a mixed bag at 3-4. They are coming off of a 16-7 win against UNLV, however, that could give them some positive momentum going into this weekend in North Carolina, where they will play two always-dangerous sides in ECU and Wright State.

11. Washington State Cougars: At 2-6, the Cougs haven’t had much to celebrate in the first two weeks. Pitcher Brandon White, however, did earn himself a Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week nod after throwing six no-hit innings against Santa Clara: one of their two wins and White’s first career start.