Trent Gilbert’s first experience in the UA/ASU rivalry was a good one.
Photo by Andy Morales

It is time for the Pac-12 baseball version of rivalry weekend.

Oregon State and Oregon are meeting to decide the conference championship while Arizona and Arizona State do battle for Territorial bragging rights.

Here are this week’s college baseball polls:

BA = Baseball America
CB = Collegiate Baseball
NC = National Collegiate Baseball Writers
PG = Perfect Game
US = USA Today/ESPN coaches’ poll

And then there were four. What’s bad for the conference is not only have Arizona and Stanford dropped out of the polls but they’ve slid so far it looks like the four ranked teams will be the only ones that make the tournament.

The good news for the Pac-12 is those four ranked teams are unanimous top-15 squads so there’s a solid chance all four end up hosting regionals. It’s a top-heavy league this year, as evidenced by the Beavers and Ducks making a run at a record-breaking conference record.

On to the penultimate series of the season:

ARIZONA (29-20 / 10-14) at #13.6 ASU (32-15 / 14-10)
The Sun Devils are battling roughly a dozen SEC teams for one of the final hosting slots. Game times are 6:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 12:30 p.m. on Sunday.

#4.8 OSU (41-8 / 20-4) at #7.8 Oregon (41-11 / 19-5)
I’m glad Pac-12 Network is broadcasting the games on Saturday (2 p.m. Arizona/Pacific) and Sunday (12 p.m.) but what is going on Friday night at 6 that is more important? Old basketball games? Old bad basketball games?? Oh, no, I have no interest in seeing a conference championship decided on live TV. I’d much rather watch a replay of Kevin O’Neill’s team shooting 18% from 3-point land.

#9.8 UCLA (34-15 / 17-7) at USC (19-30 / 10-14)
If the Bruins win their final two series (at Stanford next week) they’ll finish with a better Pac-12 record than last year’s co-championship-winning 20-10 mark…and UCLA will still probably end up in third place.

Stanford (26-21 / 11-13) at Cal (22-28 / 10-17)
The Cardinal took the first two games against ASU…and hasn’t won since. Six straight losses in May is a great way to reduce your postseason travel budget.

Washington (19-31 / 10-14) at WSU (21-27 / 8-16)
It took the Huskies six games to match the 23 runs they scored against Arizona on May 3.

Kansas (31-21) at Utah (17-29 / 6-21)
The Jayhawks are still waiting for the Andrew Wiggins of baseball.

* * *

With Pat Murphy back coaching in the state of Arizona this is a great time to look back at what’s gone on in the UA/ASU rivalry the last couple of decades.

Nineteen years ago Arizona State’s hall of fame baseball coach, Jim Brock, died of cancer three days after the season ended. The Sun Devils turned to Murphy, formerly of Notre Dame, to run the program.

Murphy started slowly, finishing fourth in the Pac-10 each of his first three seasons in Tempe. Then he got things moving, advancing to the College World Series championship game in 1998 and winning the Pac-10 in 2000.

In 2002 Andy Lopez was tasked with rebuilding the baseball program at the University of Arizona. Murphy took full advantage of his head start and beat Lopez’s Wildcats nine of the first 10 times they met.

When Lopez surprisingly took Arizona to the College World Series in 2004 it looked like the tide was turning in the rivalry. Lopez had as many trips to Omaha in three years at the UA as Murphy had in a full decade at ASU. The head-to-head also reflected the change as the Cats won six out of seven versus Arizona State from the end of 2004 to the beginning of 2006.

Then Murphy and the Devils went on a tear. From 2005-2009 ASU made three College World Series appearances and won three straight Pac-10 championships. The rivalry gap never looked wider than in 2009 when ASU swept five games from Arizona by a combined score of 63-17.

Murphy really had things going. The problem is the NCAA declared some of those things to be illegal.

ASU was found to have committed multiple major infractions, wiping out all its baseball wins in 2007 and banning the team from the postseason last year. Murphy was forced to resign in November of 2009.

When Murphy and Lopez did battle from 2002-2009, ASU’s coach ended up with the upper hand:

But when you summarize each coach’s overall legacy in the Grand Canyon State, it looks like this:

The next chapter in this storied baseball rivalry will be written this weekend.

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Scott Terrell is feeling Territorial. Stake your claim on Twitter and Facebook.

Johnny Field and the Wildcats are going the wrong way.
Photo by Andy Morales

Last year the Arizona Wildcats and UCLA Bruins met on college baseball’s biggest stage with Arizona prevailing 4-0 on the way to winning the 2012 College World Series.

After UCLA swept the UA this past weekend it looks like only one of the two teams will have a chance to make a return trip to Omaha.

The Wildcats were in desperate need of a series win in Los Angeles but the host Bruins weren’t interested in yielding even a single victory. UCLA won the three games by a combined score of 29-8 and it appears last year’s national champions will be hanging up their cleats before June even begins.

The games on Friday and Sunday were carbon copies of each other (or, for the kids, right-click-Make-a-Copy of each other). The Wildcats started out with a 2-0 lead in both games but things unraveled quickly as UCLA put together a huge inning (seven-run fifth in the opener, six-run third in the finale).

Saturday was just UCLA’s Nick Vander Tuig showing why he’s the Bruins’ leader in wins, innings, complete games, shutouts and ERA among starters. And he doesn’t pitch on Fridays. That’s how you go 34-14 without a single .300 hitter in your lineup.

Last week we said if the Cats were going to turn this around it would have to be the veteran players leading the charge. It hasn’t happened. In the past three Pac-12 series Johnny Field, Trent Gilbert and Brandon Dixon are a combined 22-for-104 at the plate for a .212 average. The trio only has two extra base hits between them over the last two weeks.

It hasn’t looked much better on the mound. Konner Wade and James Farris have averaged less than six innings per start the last three conference series, allowing 27 earned runs combined (34 total runs) for a 7.22 ERA. Looking at the numbers it’s no wonder the UA won just a pair of games over that span.

Are the juniors and experienced sophomores pressing? It’s hard for three or four guys to carry an entire lineup and it’s hard for starting pitchers to compensate for missing half a lineup. Add in the pressure of knowing what last year looked like and it’s not a very relaxing situation.

So where does this sweep leave Arizona? If Omaha is the goal, the Wildcats are somewhere in Yuma. West Yuma.

The UA’s RPI was 83 going into last Friday. Now it’s projected to be 87, or slightly higher than Cal, a team with a losing record.

The only chance at this point is for the Cats to win at least five of their remaining six games and hope the selection committee puts more weight on the .500 conference record (and Arizona’s reigning champion status) than the RPI.

And on top of all that, this week – oh, by the way – there’s that whole rivalry thing. Wildcats and Sun Devils. The in-state schools split the two non-conference games this season so the winner next week gets bragging rights for the year.

Last season was the first time in six years that Arizona won the season series from Arizona State. No matter what happens with the NCAA tournament it would be a significant achievement to make it two years in a row against the highly-ranked Devils.

Maybe a heated rivalry series is what this UA team needs to let go of the pressure of expectation and get back to execution. Forget about projections and focus on rejections, as in The defending state champions aren’t ready to relinquish that title just yet.

There is a lot on the line this week and that is easy to see, even from West Yuma.

- – - – -

Scott Terrell knows the rivalry is a season unto itself. Choose sides on Twitter and Facebook.

James Farris is scheduled to get his first Friday start against UCLA.
Photo by Andy Morales

The Pac-12 baseball Series of the Year is…not here yet.

Oregon and Oregon State will be meeting next week in a showdown that will more than likely determine the 2013 league champion. This week the key stories are UCLA and ASU trying to improve their chances to host regionals while Stanford and Arizona work to get added back onto the dance card.

Let’s see who the pollsters like this week:

BA = Baseball America
CB = Collegiate Baseball
NC = National Collegiate Baseball Writers
PG = Perfect Game
US = USA Today/ESPN coaches’ poll

Arizona is officially outside the top 25 for the first time in five weeks. Just in time to play a Bruin squad that two of the polls think is the second-best team in the conference.

Here are this weekend’s three-game sets:

ARIZONA (29-17 / 10-11) at #9.8 UCLA (31-13 / 14-7)
UCLA has lost four of their last five series finales. Can the Cats get to Sunday with a chance to win the weekend?

#5.6 OSU (37-8 / 17-4) at #22.2 Stanford (26-16 / 11-10)
Two ranked teams with some momentum. The Beavers have won eight straight and Stanford had an impressive series win at ASU last week.

#14.4 ASU (30-14 / 12-9) at Cal (21-26 / 9-15)
The Sun Devils had won five straight series before dropping two consecutive games to the Cardinal. Pac-12 Networks will be broadcasting Saturday’s game (7 p.m. Pacific/Arizona Time) under Cal’s new lights, as well as Sunday’s 12 p.m. game.

WSU (20-24 / 7-14) at USC (17-29 / 8-13)
This would be the worst series of the weekend if not for…

Utah (16-26 / 5-19) at Washington (16-29 / 8-13)
Watch the Huskies put up about seven total runs this weekend and really drive Wildcat fans crazy. The games on Saturday and Sunday will be on Pac-12 Networks, both at noon.

#8.0 Oregon (37-11 / 19-5) at Ohio State (32-14)
The Ducks are preparing for their showdown with OSU by playing OSU. Friday’s game will be televised on Big Ten Network at 4 p.m.

* * *

If you look at the full-season stats it looks like this is a matchup of strength versus strength. Arizona still leads the Pac-12 in team batting average (.305) and UCLA is second in the conference in team earned run average (2.72).

The power shifts, however, when you look at the numbers for Pac-12 games only. The Bruins are still a strong third in the league in team ERA (2.88) but the Wildcats only rank tied for sixth in batting (.275).

If the Cats are going to pull this off it has to be like the Oregon series where two of the games were decided by one run. But this time someone has to rise up and get that extra hit with a man in scoring position and someone else has to record outs to leave one additional runner on base.

The ideal UA weekend is James Farris and Konner Wade both turn in quality starts, Johnny Field and Brandon Dixon give the Wildcats late leads and Mathew Troupe nails it shut.

Last week Arizona faced a “small” team and played small. This series is, as they say, big on big.

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Scott Terrell will be watching the bigness of May. Tune in on Twitter and Facebook.

Mathew Troupe’s strong series wasn’t enough to beat the Huskies.
Photo by Andy Morales

The Arizona Wildcats lost a head-spinner and then a heartbreaker to the Washington Huskies over the weekend at Hi Corbett Field. The series defeat likely moved the UA to the wrong side of the NCAA tournament bubble.

There are nine games left and the Cats will have to win most of them to get a shot at defending their national title.

Friday night was one of those once-in-decade games where absolutely nothing goes right. It was like a Little League contest where your two best pitchers are on a fishing trip and another kid comes down with pink eye. You stand in the outfield watching run after run cross the plate and you know you’re not getting any ice cream.

Sunday was a solid win for the home team so that leaves game two as the deciding factor. Arizona got great pitching Saturday night from James Farris and Mathew Troupe but Washington’s combo of Austin Voth and Trevor Dunlap was one run better. And now the Wildcats’ NCAA tournament hopes have something far worse than pink eye.

Things change that much over a single loss? One run is all that separates “staying the course” from “where’s the panic button?” It sounds harsh but that’s the reality for a young team carrying the title of Defending National Champions.

Last week the Cats’ RPI jumped from 64 to 45 after sweeping a team with a winning record. This week it’s projected to drop all the way into the 80s.

To make matters worse, Stanford took two of three from top-15 Arizona State, allowing the Cardinal to leapfrog Arizona in the RPI. Add in Stanford’s head-to-head series win and the Pac-12 pecking order is clear. If the selection committee draws the line at five Pac teams (the number that got in last year), the UA is the odd team out.

The bad news is the Wildcats now play six straight road games against quality opponents. The good news is winning those games would do wonders to the UA’s tournament profile.

With the number of automatic bids the general thinking is you need an RPI in the mid 40s to have a realistic shot at an at-large bid. Can the Cats still get there? According to Boyd’s World, home of one of the great college baseball math guys, Arizona needs to go 7-2 in its final nine games to get back in the RPI top 45.

The easiest path is to take two of three at both UCLA and ASU and then sweep USC in Tucson. I suppose that “easiest” should be in quotes because winning the final three series will be all kinds of of difficult.

That’s what happens when you pick a terrible time for your worst weekend of the season. Getting swept by Oregon State and Oregon is forgivable because both those teams could be national seeds. Dropping two at Stanford isn’t the end of the world either. But losing a home series to a Washington team creeping up on 30 losses just can’t happen, especially when you were already considered by some to be the last team in the NCAA tournament field.

So the Cats need to go from staggering to streaking right this second. What has to happen to make it happen? It sounds simple but the experienced players need to lead the way. On the mound that’s Farris, Troupe and Konner Wade. At the plate it’s Johnny Field, Trent Gilbert, Brandon Dixon and Riley Moore.

Field was red hot coming into the Washington series but the Huskies held him to one hit in 11 at-bats. Gilbert was also 1-for-11 in the series. With nobody in the bottom half of the lineup slugging above .400 it’s going to be up to the top half to string hits together and generate runs.

On the pitching front, what’s scary is Andy Lopez is so concerned about Wade’s struggles that he’s shuffling his starting rotation this late in the season. One of the keys to 2012’s success was the Cats were able to use the exact same weekend rotation the entire year. For all 15 weeks of the regular season it was Kurt Heyer, followed by Wade and Farris.

This year it took half the season to get Tyler Crawford fitted into the Sunday slot and now Lopez is trying to pull a new ace from the deck.

So playoff baseball starts early for the Cats. This week feels like a regional in that the UA can only afford one loss. Find a way to take two of three from the Bruins and go from there.

The pressure of the postseason brought out the best in last year’s team. We’ll soon found out if the same can be said about this group of Wildcats.

- – - – -

Scott Terrell finished many a Little League game without ice cream. Stay up to date on the BatCats via Twitter and Facebook.

Arizona coach Andy Lopez had to make too many trips to the mound Tuesday night.
Photo by Bruce Thorson-USA TODAY Sports

They say it’s better to give than to receive but that’s certainly not the case when you’re on the pitcher’s mound.

Arizona State took advantage of gracious Arizona hurlers to beat the Wildcats by a score of 7-5 Tuesday night in a four-hour-plus baseball game at Hi Corbett Field.

The UA had leads of 3-0 after one inning and 5-4 after the fifth but it wasn’t enough on a Tucson night when the home team allowed eight bases on balls and hit five other batters.

The Sun Devils produced 10 hits, including Jake Peevyhouse’s solo home run in the third inning, but just three of ASU’s seven runs were driven in with a hit. The winning runs were scored via a wild pitch and bases-loaded walk against UA closer Mathew Troupe in the eighth.

Troupe threw just nine pitches and one strike before being pulled for Augey Bill. It was the second time in five appearances that the sophomore had to be removed from a game after losing contact with the strike zone. Tyger Talley closed out the Apr. 13 win at Washington State.

Arizona State bounced back from its come-from-ahead defeat two weeks ago to even the season series at a game apiece. This year’s bragging rights will be settled May 17-19 in a three-game Pac-12 series in Tempe.

Wildcat Universe hopes the UA pitchers won’t be so nice the next time around.

* * *

Here’s your weekly look at the Pac-12 in the polls:

BA = Baseball America
CB = Collegiate Baseball
NC = National Collegiate Baseball Writers
PG = Perfect Game
US = USA Today/ESPN coaches’ poll

Oregon reclaimed its spot as the second-highest ranked Pac team after sweeping Stanford. Not surprisingly, the Cardinal took the biggest tumble, dropping out of two polls and barely hanging on in another.

This week’s series:

Washington (14-28 / 6-12) at #24.6 ARIZONA (28-15 / 9-9)

#25.0 Stanford (23-15 / 9-9) at #11.8 ASU (29-12 / 11-7)
TV: Friday, 7 p.m. Arizona/Pacific Time on ESPNU

Cal (20-23 / 9-12) at #5.6 OSU (34-8 / 14-4)
TV: Saturday, 2 p.m. on Pac-12 Network

#8.4 Oregon (33-10 / 16-5) at WSU (20-20 / 7-11)

Utah (16-23 / 5-16) at #10.8 UCLA (27-13 / 11-7)

TCU (20-23) at USC (16-26 / 8-13)

* * *

The midweek loss to ASU kept the Wildcats one day short of a perfect April at home. The UA’s last loss at Hi Corbett had been Mar. 17, the final game of the Oregon State series.

Now there are just two home series left, wrapped around two road trips. And those away games won’t be easy. Both UCLA and ASU are in the top 10 in a couple polls and looking to lock up regional hosting slots.

The Cats remain on the tournament bubble and need to post a big win total in these final six home games. Washington comes to town this weekend fresh off a series loss against Cal.

The Huskies’ season highlight can be boiled down to a single day. On Apr. 20 UW shockingly swept a double-header from Oregon State. Washington had lost five of six conference games before that and has lost three of four since.

With the final midweek game in the rearview mirror the UA pitchers can get settled into their weekend roles. Starters Konner Wade, James Farris and Tyler Crawford go as deep as they can and relievers Talley, Bill and Troupe close it out. Tyler Hale and Cody Moffett will be available to provide extra righty/lefty options if needed.

When the calendar turns to May the temperatures hit triple digits in Arizona. It gets even hotter in college baseball with tournament bids at stake.

- – - – -

Scott Terrell is ready for the stretch fun. Follow along on Twitter and Facebook.

Johnny Field and the Wildcats are eyeing a return to the postseason.
Photo by Andy Morales

The calendar is about to flip to May, which means the Arizona baseball team is about to hit the home stretch of the 2013 season.

The goal is to get the engine firing on all cylinders, get hot and make a run at defending last year’s national championship.

That is, if the Cats make it into the NCAA tournament at all.

Wait…what?! you say. How would the defending champs not get into the tournament? No, they’re not leading the Pac-12 like last year, but the Cats still have 28 wins and counting!

It’s true that if you just look at the standings everything looks fine:

(Based on Pac-12 loss column)

You can eliminate anyone without a winning overall record so that leaves six Pac-12 teams with a win percentage north of .600. Five Pac teams got into the tournament last year, six the year before that and a conference-record eight in 2010.

The problem comes when you rank those six teams by RPI:

That’s a big drop between teams four and five. What’s the deal? Why is ASU’s 28-12 so much better than Arizona’s 28-14?

It’s the same thing that had UA fans giggling at Herb Sendek’s three Sun Devil hoops squads that won 20 games only to play in the NIT: strength of schedule.

Arizona’s non-league slate consisted of more teams with RPIs worse than 200 (Coppin State, San Jose State, Alabama State) than schools with an RPI better than 100 (San Francisco at 91).

ASU has six wins over top-100 teams and that’s not including a combined 5-4 record against Oregon State, Oregon and UCLA.

But 28 wins are still 28 wins, right? Not anymore.

The NCAA changed its baseball RPI formula before this season and Arizona took a hit. The old RPI was blind to location so there was zero incentive for warm weather schools to play road games. The UA took full advantage, playing 75% of its out-of-conference games at home in 2011 and 80% at Hi Corbett Field last year.

That percentage actually got even higher this year with 88% of the Wildcats’ non-league games in Tucson, even though the new RPI formula makes a home win almost half as valuable as a road victory.

So instead of being in the running to host a regional, this year’s UA team is just trying to make a regional.

It’s far too soon to write Arizona off, however, because you don’t have to go back very far – or leave this conference – to find proof that anything can happen if you get into the tournament. Oregon State won the 2006 College World Series, lost nine players to the draft and slumped to sixth place in the Pac-10 in 2007. The Beavers barely made the tournament, got shipped off to Virginia, rediscovered the magic and went 11-1 in the postseason to win their second straight national title.

At the end of the day, I believe the Cats will get an at-large bid next month. We’re not dealing with BCS computers here; it’s a human selection committee under a much more forgiving microscope than their basketball counterparts. Even if Arizona’s RPI stays where it is, I expect the defending champs to get the benefit of the doubt. It’s good for the tournament and good for the sport to have a name-brand team with some 2012 CWS heroes playing in a regional somewhere with a big bullseye on their chests.

That said, Arizona certainly shouldn’t play like its invitation is already in the mail, which brings us to this Tuesday’s game. ASU makes its second and final visit to Hi Corbett in 2013 at 6 p.m. on Apr. 30. The Wildcats’ comeback two weeks ago remains the UA’s best win of the season (by far) and a second victory over the top-20 Devils would be a nice resume booster.

The Cats have 13 games left in ’13. Thirteen games to decide if they’re going to get to put on the bullseye and go hunting for that magic.

- – - – -

Scott Terrell sees no reason for the season to end in May. Get game updates on Twitter and previews and commentary on Facebook.

Brandon Dixon and (beardless) Mathew Troupe had reason to celebrate against ASU.
Photo by Harry How/Getty Images Sport

You’ve got to be able to score runs in midweek games and the Arizona Wildcats couldn’t get anything going in an ugly display against Arizona State.

That’s what I would have written if Tuesday’s contest ended after five innings.

Things turned around in a big way for the home team and the UA rallied to score eight runs in its final three at-bats to beat ASU by a score of 10-9. The late-night drama produced the Cats’ best 2013 win to date.

The Sun Devils got off to a fast start against UA starting pitcher Nick Cunningham, who was seeing his first action since Mar. 29. After five innings the Wildcats had only three hits off ASU starter Zak Miller and the Devils had a 7-2 lead. Arizona State tacked on another run in the top of the 6th to make the margin six, the Cats’ largest deficit of the night.

From there the Hi Corbett Heroes picked up six hits, five walks and cashed in on three ASU errors to score three in the 6th, three in the 7th and a pair in the 8th take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-five season series.

This particular meeting was a non-conference game that doesn’t count in the Pac-12 standings but don’t tell that to the 5,396 fans in attendance, including a “Take Me Out to the Ballgame”-singing Dick Tomey.

It looked like a Little League game at times with guys running all over the basepaths as throws went into the bullpen or toward the dugout. In the 6th inning Arizona scored two runs on ASU second baseman James McDonald‘s two-out throwing error. In the 7th Scott Kingery came around from first on a single when Joe Maggi got caught in a rundown between first and second, signaling for Kingery to make a dash for home. In the 8th it was Brandon Dixon taking extra bases, stealing third and scoring when R.J. Ybarra’s throw went into left field.

Any win over your rival is sweet and snatching away one they thought they had won is delectable.

From a big-picture standpoint the most important thing is this was Arizona’s first win over a ranked team this year. Beating good teams is imperative as the Wildcats continue to try and enhance their bubblish tournament resume.

UA pitcher Mathew Troupe returned to the mound for the first time since being pulled last Saturday at Washington State without recording an out. The clean-cut closer, having just shaved off his trademark beard, had a clean appearance for the first time in a month to the day, Mar. 16 against Oregon State.

Razor’s edge = Rivalry edge? Just like Tuesday’s comeback, it might not make much sense, but it sure looked good.

* * *

The Cats are off to a great start this week in getting into more of these polls:

BA = Baseball America
CB = Collegiate Baseball
NC = National Collegiate Baseball Writers
PG = Perfect Game
US = USA Today/ESPN coaches’ poll

Arizona inched up in one poll and reentered two others. Winning eight of nine (now nine of ten) will do that to you.

Now for this week’s conference series (plus one):

#24.6 ARIZONA 24-12 / 8-7) at #23.8 Stanford (20-11 / 7-5)
The games on both Friday and Sunday are slated to be televised on Pac-12 Networks. Game times are 7 p.m., 2 p.m. and 2 p.m.

#11.8 UCLA (23-10 / 7-5) at #8.2 Oregon (28-8 / 12-3)

USC (14-22 / 6-9) at Utah (15-17 / 4-11)

#5.2 OSU (28-6 / 10-2) at Washington (9-25 / 3-9)

WSU (18-16 / 5-7) at Cal (16-20 / 5-10)

Valparaiso (13-21) at #15.2 ASU (22-11 / 8-7)

* * *

Arizona ace Konner Wade showed signs of regaining his May 2012 form when he came within one out of a complete game against Cal but he took a step backwards against Washington State last week, allowing seven runs (five earned) in seven innings.

Now he squares off against a guy who’s on the shortest of short lists of best players in the college game. Stanford pitcher Mark Appel is the Andrew Luck of baseball in that he was a top-10 draft pick last year but he returned to school to dominate another season.

One more road trip before the UA can come home for a couple weeks. If the Wildcats can take care of business at Stanford they could put up a really big win number before leaving Tucson again. It will be a postseason-like atmosphere in Palo Alto as both teams are fighting to ensure a ticket to the tournament.

Nine wins in 10 games is exactly what Arizona needed. Now, after a big rally against ASU, the Cats look to keep their season rally going.

- – - – -

Scott Terrell says comebacks are bad for the heart but good for the soul. Philosophize on Twitter and Facebook.

Johnny Field and the UA bats have started clicking.
Photo by Andy Morales

The Pac-12 takes a week off from heavyweight battles as there are no series between ranked teams.

That’s just fine with the Arizona Wildcats who look to keep their season-long six-game winning streak alive on the road.

The polls are a little more welcoming to the Pac-12 this week:

BA = Baseball America
CB = Collegiate Baseball
NC = National Collegiate Baseball Writers
PG = Perfect Game
US = USA Today/ESPN coaches’ poll

Arizona and Stanford each snuck into the 25 slot in one poll this week after a one-week hiatus for the Cardinal and a two-week departure for the Cats.

Here are this week’s matchups:

#25.8 ARIZONA (21-11 / 6-6) at WSU (17-13 / 4-5)
The Pac-12 site is saying there will be a live video stream of all three games in Pullman. Start times are 6 p.m. Friday, 2 p.m. Saturday and noon Sunday.

Utah (14-14 / 4-8) at #6.2 OSU (25-6 / 7-2)
The Beavers further established themselves as the team to beat in the Pac-12 by taking two of three at UCLA. Oregon State held the Bruins to five total runs in the series.

#11.8 Oregon (24-8 / 9-3) at Cal (16-16 / 5-7)
The Bears have now lost eight of their last nine games against Pac-12 teams after starting 4-0 in conference play.

#19.0 ASU (19-9 / 6-6) at USC (12-20 / 5-7)
The Wildcats and Sun Devils are tied in the Pac-12 standings but in any sort of power rankings you’d have to give ASU the edge due to series wins over both UCLA and Oregon.

Washington (8-22 / 2-7) at #25.8 Stanford (17-10 / 5-4)
The Cardinal has won the first game in each of its Pac-12 series behind pitcher Mark Appel but Stanford is winless in the three weekend finales.

LMU (17-15) at #14.8 UCLA (20-9 / 7-5)
The Bruins spend the week outside of conference play after losing their last two Pac-12 series.

* * *

The BatCats are officially the hottest team in the Pac-12. Nobody else has a current win streak longer than two games.

Junior outfielder Johnny Field says the offense was to blame for the poor start in conference play.

“The first six games we weren’t executing at all at the plate,” Field said. “We weren’t getting bunts down, weren’t moving guys over when we had to.”

The run production has improved but Arizona is still leaving a lot of runners on base. Even in sweeping Cal the UA stranded 30 men in the three games. If the team is going to continue its upward climb the Cats will have to cash in on those opportunities for big innings.

“It’s all about finding ways to string hits together,” Field said.

Look for both teams to put runs on the boards as the Cougars and Wildcats are first and second in the Pac-12 in team batting average and second and first, respectively, in runs scored.

The UA doesn’t play another conference home game this month so the Cats would be wise to stuff their suitcases with as many runs as possible.

- – - – -

Scott Terrell isn’t one for traveling light. Unload your baggage on Twitter and Facebook.

Mathew Troupe has remained dogpile-worthy in 2013.
Photo by Rob Schumacher/The Republic

There are just three games left in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament and the Pac-12 won’t be playing in any of them.

Batter up.

This Week in the Pac-12 (TWit-Pac) now shifts full-time to baseball. Read on for a summary of the polls and the weekend’s schedule, including the Arizona Wildcats on TV.

Here are the Pac-12 teams in the five college baseball polls with each squad’s average ranking:

BA = Baseball America
CB = Collegiate Baseball
NC = National Collegiate Baseball Writers
PG = Perfect Game
US = USA Today/ESPN coaches’ poll

Stanford lost its hold on the last two polls, leaving the Pac-12 with just four ranked teams for the first time this year.

Here are this week’s three-game series:

Cal (16-13 / 5-4) at ARIZONA (18-11 / 3-6)
Game times at Hi Corbett: 6 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, 1 p.m. Sunday, with the finale broadcast live on ESPNU.

#6.8 OSU (22-4 / 5-1) at #10.6 UCLA (18-6 / 6-3)
The series of the week in the Pac-12. The Beavers slipped a bit in the polls after dropping a non-conference series last week but this showdown between top-10(ish) teams will factor heavily in the league race.

#8.4 Oregon (22-6 / 8-1) at #23.2 ASU (15-8 / 4-5)
Arizona State surprisingly lost its first two Pac-12 series but bounced back to take two of three from UCLA last week.

Stanford (14-9 / 3-3) at USC (11-16 / 4-5)
The Cardinal started the season 10-2 but hasn’t recovered from UNLV sweeping a series in Palo Alto. Stanford is just 4-7 over the last three weeks.

WSU (16-10 / 3-3) at Utah (12-13 / 2-7)
Washington State is off to a better-than-expected start including winning a series in Tempe. The Cougars lead the conference with a .323 team batting average.

Washington (6-19 / 2-7) at Pepperdine (15-11)
The Huskies have played weekend series against three ranked teams, LSU, UCLA and Oregon. All nine games were on the road and Washington didn’t win any of them.

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Sweeping Utah was a positive step for Arizona but there is no time to let up. This will be the BatCats’ third home series over the first four weeks of the conference season and the UA needs a sweep to avoid a losing record in that stretch. After Cal the Cats play four of their next five Pac-12 series on the road.

The Bears swept Utah to open league play but lost two of three to both UCLA and USC the last couple weeks. Cal also dropped a non-conference game against Stanford on Monday leaving the Bears 3-6 since departing Salt Lake City.

Cal’s pitching rotation has been unsettled with only senior Justin Jones making more than four starts on the year. Freshman right-handed Ryan Mason became the Bears’ Friday night starter three weeks ago and he has a 4-0 record with a 2.37 ERA.

The UA’s strategy last week was take the lead into the 8th inning and hand the ball to closer Mathew Troupe. The sophomore is 6-for-6 in save opportunities and batters are hitting just .130 against him in 20 innings.

I’d say it’s a good strategy.

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Scott Terrell is all baseball, all the time. Except for spring football and basketball recruiting. And referee bounty scandals. Keep track on Twitter and Facebook.

Things could get a Thad heated in L.A.
Photo by Steve Dykes-USA TODAY Sports

What was the best part of Arizona Basketball’s great week? Was it the two convincing wins leading to the school’s 16th Sweet 16? Was it the national exposure that comes with tournament victories, or the oh-by-the-way extra revenue?

Or maybe – just maybe – was it earning another week of TWit-Pac hoops?

Read on for the March Madness TV schedule (all times Arizona/Pacific) and – uh oh – Pac-12 baseball.

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WEST

#2 Ohio State (28-7) vs. #6 ARIZONA (27-7)
Thad Matta is in his fourth straight Sweet 16 at Ohio State. He’s trying to advance to his second consecutive Final Four and third in seven years. Not a bad guy for Sean Miller to emulate.

If they win they play…
#9 Wichita State / #13 La Salle winner. La Salle could become the first 13-seed to ever make the Elite Eight and no one’s talking about them because of that team from Fort Myers. It’s all about marketing, Explorers.

MIDWEST

#1 Louisville (31-5) vs. #12 Oregon (28-8)
In Oregon’s last seven games the Ducks are 5-0 when they hold their opponent to fewer than 70 points and 0-2 when they don’t. That’s bad news against a team averaging 76 points in its last six games. Bonus note: Louisville hasn’t lost in fewer than five overtimes since January.

If they win they play…
#2 Duke / #3 Michigan State winner. If the Ducks somehow pull this off they should get to hang two Final Four banners.

* * *

It isn’t four straight years like Matta but Sean Miller is starting to make a habit of reaching the Sweet 16. Going back to his Xavier days Miller has made it to the second weekend the last four times he’s coached in this tournament. Lasting into weekend number three is still an unreached goal.

If you’re an Arizona fan do not apologize for beating two double-digit seeds to get here. Never ever talk about being lucky. San Diego State got a break in playing a 15-seed in the round of 32. How’d that work out for them?

Do North Carolina fans feel better because they played two name teams in Villanova and Kansas? No, they feel eliminated.

Sometimes upsets happen in front of you. And sometimes you’re Oklahoma State and St. Louis and you think you’re getting a regular 12-seed but instead you’re getting a top-25 BCS cash machine that won its major-conference tournament. You play the hand you’re dealt and you stack your chips every time you win.

Now the Cats are at the high-roller table.

Ohio State is undefeated in March, having won 10 straight dating back to Feb. 20. The Wildcats, on the other hand, still haven’t beaten a ranked team this calendar year.

As well as Mark Lyons played last week you wish the next round would’ve started on Monday. The UA guard shot a dominant 63% from the field, his best two-game stretch the entire season. Solomon Hill filled it up at a 58% clip so the two Arizona closers certainly earned their coffee in Salt Lake City.

Sometimes it’s that simple. You can talk about matchups and schemes but I think the Cats need someone to make three or four 3-pointers to open things up a little. Iowa State had Korie Lucious (5-of-7) and Tyrus McGee (3-of-5) on from the outside and the Cyclones took OSU to the wire.

If Miller wants to get to his third career Elite Eight he needs to keep Matta from getting to his fourth.

* * *

Did the BasketCats take all the athletic department’s magic dust when the tournament started? The second week of the Pac-12 season didn’t go any better for the UA baseball team than the first.

Here are the updated polls:

BA = Baseball America
CB = Collegiate Baseball
NC = National Collegiate Baseball Writers
PG = Perfect Game
USA = USA Today/ESPN coaches’ poll

How tough has it been for the teams from the Grand Canyon State? The Sun Devils had a freshman pitcher throw a no-hitter at Oregon State and they still lost the series.

On to this week’s games. All the series are Thursday through Saturday due to Easter.

Utah (12-10 / 2-4) at ARIZONA (15-11 / 0-6)
Game times at Hi Corbett Field: Thursday and Friday at 6, Saturday at noon.

UCLA (17-4 / 5-1) at ASU (13-7 / 2-4)

OSU (21-2 / 5-1) at San Diego (16-9)

You knew there would be a learning curve for the young Wildcats after losing so much experience from last year but no one expected the worst Pac-12 start in program history. The previous bottom was an 0-5 start to conference play in 1994.

But it’s not like the Cats are getting blown out, even against two of the three top-10 teams in the Pac-12. Half of the six losses have been by one run. A couple more two-out hits here or a few more big pitches with men on base there and things look a lot of different.

The problem is if you dig too big a hole you run out of time to come back even if you put the right pieces together. Getting into the NCAA tournament is dicey if you end up with a losing conference record and Arizona now needs to go 15-9 the rest of the way to break even.

The UA doesn’t play the third top-10 team in the league (UCLA) until the second week in May so if this thing’s going to get turned around it has to start this week at home.

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Scott Terrell wouldn’t mind another week of multiple sports. Double up on Twitter and Facebook.