Andy Lopez and the Wildcats face ASU with the Pac-12 title – and more – on the line.
Photo by Cheryl Evans/The Arizona Republic

The final weekend of college baseball’s regular season is upon us.

In the Pac-12, every team faces its bitterest rival with five schools still having a chance to finish on top of the standings. In additional to the conference championship the Arizona Wildcats have a big goal that requires paying special attention to one other series outside the Pac-12.

Here’s the official RPI heading into this week for the 19 teams Arizona has faced this year:

Oregon and UCLA remain in the top five. Barring an epic collapse both will get national seeds giving the Pac-12 the inside track to get two teams to the College World Series for the second time in three years. The Pac has an active streak of 15 straight years putting at least one team in the CWS.

The latest polls:

BAS = Baseball America
COL = Collegiate Baseball
NAT = National Collegiate Baseball Writers
PER = Perfect Game
USA = USA Today/ESPN coaches’ poll

The Pac-12 has two consensus top-10 teams for the first time since the beginning of April. Everybody moved up a bit in the average rankings which is the direction you want to be going headed into Selection Monday.

TWIT-Pac says farewell to the regular season:

#18.8 ASU (35-18 / 17-10) at #11.6 ARIZONA (36-16 / 18-9)
The UA hasn’t won the season series against Arizona State since 2006. This is key series numero uno, and if the Cats are successful, the reward will be great.

#5.4 Oregon (42-14 / 19-8) at #22.2 OSU (35-18 / 15-12)
Oregon State hasn’t lost a series this month including beating Stanford in Corvallis. There is hope, Wildcat Universe, in the second most important series of the weekend.

USC (23-29 / 8-19) at #9.6 UCLA (39-14 / 17-10)
The Bruins are another team that has turned it on in May, posting an 11-2 record this month.

Cal (27-24 / 10-17) at #12.0 Stanford (37-14 / 17-10)
Eight straight wins and counting for Stanford. The Cardinal has allowed a mere 16 total runs in those eight games.

WSU (27-26 / 11-16) at Washington (28-24 / 11-16)
Just two weeks ago the Huskies had an RPI in the low 40s and looked like a lock for the NCAA tournament. Getting swept in consecutive conference series, however, is not a good way to impress the committee.

Utah (14-38 / 7-23) vs. UC Santa Barbara (25-27) & Cal State Bakersfield (22-29)
You see what you’re making the Utes do, Colorado? Turn some of those ski poles into baseball bats and get with the program.

Cal State Fullerton (33-18) at Long Beach State (27-25)
This may as well be a Pac-12 game as far as Arizona is concerned. In the third critical series Wildcat fans should be rooting for Long Beach, the second-place team in the Big West, to upset first-place Fullerton.

Why? Read on.

* * *

The most realistic way for Arizona to get into first place is taking two of three from ASU with Oregon dropping two of three at OSU. If that happens it may very well end up being a four-way tie for the Pac-12 title with UCLA and Stanford poised to deliver sweeps. Not that the Wildcats would complain after two decades without a conference championship. The bottom line is there are a lot of people rooting against Oregon this weekend.

Folks in Tucson will also be rooting against Cal State Fullerton.

As we discussed, the final regional hosting slot in all likelihood will come down to either the Wildcats or Titans. Why not both, you ask? Oregon, UCLA and Stanford have regionals locked up based on their RPI and overall profiles. In the past ten years the NCAA has put four regionals out west three times, three regionals out west six times, and once awarded just two western regionals.

There just won’t be five. College baseball’s tournament is still based on geography as much as possible. That’s also why if the UA hosts, New Mexico State will be in the Tucson bracket for sure. If New Mexico gets in the Lobos will also be at Hi Corbett.

In that way it’s an advantage for the UA that the co-champs in the WAC and Mountain West are located closer to the Old Pueblo than the O.C. But would the NCAA give the Pac-12 four regionals while making the Big West champion travel?

Here’s the full spectrum of possibilities for the BatCats this weekend:

- Pac-12 champions and regional hosts
- Regional hosts
- Beat ASU but don’t host
- Lose series and don’t host
- Get swept and get shipped off to play at #1 Florida State while the City of Tucson revokes the Hi Corbett agreement forcing next year’s team to play at Sportspark

So there’s a lot going on.

Here are the game times for the three series that matter to Arizona Baseball:

It will not be a dull Memorial Day weekend.

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Scott Terrell will have game updates on all three key series via Twitter with UA/ASU recaps on Facebook.

Robert Refsnyder and the BatCats will try to avoid getting tagged with a loss in Los Angeles.
Photo by Cheryl Evans/The Arizona Republic

The Arizona Wildcats went undefeated last week but got no help in trying to catch Oregon in the Pac-12 baseball standings. This week the Ducks play outside the conference which means the UA needs no assistance to get back where it wants to be.

The only thing required is perfection.

Oregon remains in first place but UCLA continues to have the best RPI among teams Arizona has played:

These rankings do not include Arizona’s convincing win over ASU on Wednesday so the Wildcats have a good start on another RPI-boosting week.

We had a great question on Twitter: How is Stanford considered a better hosting candidate than Arizona in some tournament projections when the Wildcats have the head-to-head sweep plus a higher perch in the Pac-12 standings? It’s just like UA and ASU basketball in 2008 when the Devils swept the season series and finished higher in the conference standings but Arizona had the better RPI, strength of schedule and “body of work” so the Cats got the tournament bid and ASU did not.

Both Arizona and Stanford are safely in the NCAA baseball tournament this year but when it comes to jockeying for hosting position some are giving the Cardinal the nod because of a superior non-conference schedule and record. If the Wildcats remain on the very edge of the hosting bubble you hope it comes down to selecting between the UA and Stanford because then the on-field results should come into play.

Speaking of Arizona and Stanford being close, here are this week’s polls:

BAS = Baseball America
COL = Collegiate Baseball
NAT = National Collegiate Baseball Writers
PER = Perfect Game
USA = USA Today/ESPN coaches’ poll

Wait, Oregon is No. 1? And the Ducks jumped over five teams to get there? Odd poll from Collegiate Baseball. But it does give the Pac-12 its first No. 1 ranking of the season.

Arizona has pulled dead even with Stanford in average ranking which shows how close this regional race is.

Last week was all about the sweep and TWIT-Pac again has the good teams paired up with not-so-good teams. One single loss could you get passed up in the standings.

#14.2 ARIZONA (34-15 / 16-8) at USC (22-25 / 7-17)
USC has lost eight straight and has scored more than three runs just once in its last 15 conference games. If Kurt Heyer brings his A-game tonight he may not relinquish that Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week award.

#11.2 UCLA (36-13 / 15-9) at Cal (26-22 / 9-15)
Think the collapse in the last Purdue game would slow down the Bruins? Nope. Five straight wins since then, all on the road.

#14.2 Stanford (33-14 / 14-10) at Utah (14-25 / 7-20)
Utah had its one shining moment on Tuesday when it snapped the 32-game win streak of Goose Kallunki and Utah Valley.

Washington (27-21 / 11-13) at #20.0 ASU (32-18 / 14-10)
These are Arizona State’s final three home games before trips to Tucson and then Sanctionville.

#22.4 OSU (33-17 / 13-11) at WSU (25-24 / 10-14)
The Beavers took two of three at Utah last week but all three games were decided by one run and two went into extra innings. Time to pick up momentum again before playing spoiler against Oregon.

Seattle (22-24) at #6.2 Oregon (38-14 / 19-8)
There will not be any one-run games in this series.

* * *

Arizona, UCLA and Stanford are all on the road this week before finishing at home next week. Oregon has its bye week before concluding the regular season away from home.

It’s very simple for the Wildcats. If Arizona loses this series it will not win the Pac-12 (or host a regional, for that matter). If the Cats take two of three there will still be a shot at the league title heading into the final weekend. If the UA sweeps in L.A. it’s going to be a lot of fun at Hi Corbett over Memorial Day weekend.

In addition to UCLA and Stanford, here are some bonus teams to root against to help the UA end that two-decade-long regional drought:

Virginia (RPI 13) at Maryland
Texas A&M (14) at Oklahoma State
Cal State Fullerton (15) vs. UC Riverside
Rice (19) at Central Florida

Game times for the USC series are 6 p.m. today, 2 p.m. tomorrow and 1 p.m. Sunday with all three games on 1290 AM radio in Tucson.

Today’s game is for first place. If the Cats win, tomorrow’s game will be for first place. Repeat, repeat, repeat, repeat.

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Scott Terrell is Scott Terrell. Repeat on Twitter and Facebook.

James Farris and the Cats will be wary of those treacherous pickoff throws.
Photo by Andy Morales

The Arizona Wildcats baseball team was hoping this week would start the home stretch toward a Pac-12 championship. The UA instead has to play catch-up and Oregon is the team looking to pad its lead in the standings.

There are just three weeks left in the regular season with nine teams holding onto tournament dreams and five schools hoping to host a regional. They don’t call it hardball for nothing.

Here are this week’s official RPI numbers from the NCAA for every team on Arizona’s schedule:

Not surprisingly, Oregon got a nice boost after going 4-1 on the week and taking the series in Tucson. The Ducks and UCLA Bruins are both building resumes worthy of a top-8 national seed. It would be a big win for the conference if both could secure home games all the way up to the College World Series.

The handful of college baseball polls:

BAS = Baseball America
COL = Collegiate Baseball
NAT = National Collegiate Baseball Writers
PER = Perfect Game
USA = USA Today/ESPN coaches’ poll

The bad news for the Wildcats is the RPI and rankings have reached a consensus that Arizona is the fourth-best team in the Pac-12, regardless of what the standings say. You don’t want to be at the bottom of the list when the regional bids are handed out. All the more reason to get back to winning ways starting today.

This Week in the Pac-12 (TWIT-Pac) previews all the winning ways around the league:

#15.2 ARIZONA (30-15 / 13-8) at Cal (25-19 / 9-12)
The Golden Bears are 7-2 in their last three series against teams not named Oregon.

USC (22-21 / 7-13) at #8.4 Oregon (35-14 / 16-8)
You’re going to have to wait an extra day to scoreboard-watch and root against the Ducks as this series runs from Saturday through Monday. A single Trojan victory would be a big plus for the Wildcats and Bruins.

#11.2 UCLA (32-13 / 12-9) at Washington (26-18 / 11-10)
The Huskies swept USC to get back in the NCAA tournament bubble discussion. Playing UCLA and ASU the next two weeks will give them opportunities for RPI-boosting wins.

WSU (24-20 / 9-11) at #14.4 Stanford (29-14 / 11-10)
The bad news for the Pac-12 coaches’ preseason pick to the win the conference is they’re in a three-way tie for fifth. The good news for Stanford is it finishes with three of the four teams below the logjam.

#20.6 OSU (30-16 / 11-10) at Utah (12-33 / 6-18)
Wildcat Universe should root for the Beavers to get red hot so they can do some damage against Oregon over Memorial Day weekend.

#21.4 ASU (29-17 / 14-10) at Gonzaga (29-17)
Gonzaga is 4-2 against Pac-12 teams (or 4-0 against Pac teams not named Oregon).

* * *

Coaches always talk about mental toughness and this is a weekend it gets put to the test for the BatCats. It’s human nature to be disappointed after coming up short in a big series like the Oregon showdown but Cal certainly doesn’t care about that.

The standings say Arizona is significantly better than the Bears but the stats say otherwise. California is third in the Pac-12 in hitting (the Cats remain first) and the Bears have a better team ERA (3.89) than the Wildcats (4.20).

If the UA is going to have success in Berkeley the offense needs to lead the way. Starting pitchers Kurt Heyer and Konner Wade have been less than dominating the last two series, giving up 18 earned runs in a combined 27 innings pitched (an ERA of 6).

Get the lead early, put pressure on the defense (Cal is the only Pac squad with a worse fielding percentage than Arizona) and give your pitchers some margin for error.

Cal doesn’t have lights on its home field so it’s all day games this weekend. Today’s contest starts at 3:30 so you can take a break from listening to Pitbull on i97.5 at work and switch over to Brian Jeffries on 1290 AM in Tucson. Saturday and Sunday’s games both start at 1 p.m.

¡Dale!

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Scott Terrell is worldwide on Twitter and Facebook.

And it all starts in Tucson tonight at 6.

The updated RPI numbers testify to the strength of the Pac-12:

The rankings show the battle for regional hosting slots is fierce:

BAS = Baseball America
COL = Collegiate Baseball
NAT = National Collegiate Baseball Writers
PER = Perfect Game
USA = USA Today/ESPN coaches’ poll

TWIT-Pac is ready for the showdown:

#10.8 Oregon (32-13 / 14-7) at #11.6 ARIZONA (29-13 / 12-6)
Uno vs. Dos.

#9.0 Stanford (28-12 / 10-8) at #23.2 OSU (28-14 / 9-9)
Do not ignore this series, Wildcat Universe. Stanford’s schedule eases up after this one so if the Cardinal doesn’t lose this weekend it might not lose the rest of the way.

Utah (12-30 / 6-15) at #23.0 ASU (26-17 / 11-10)
The Sun Devils are now counting down the days until their College World Series the final weekend of the season in Tucson.

Washington (23-18 / 8-10) at USC (22-18 / 7-10)
As an Arizona basketball fan the last few years you’ll recognize this matchup as a “bubble buster” series. Both the Huskies and Trojans have decent but not great PRIs. Neither is high enough in the Pac-12 standings to feel safe. It won’t get the headlines of Oregon/Arizona but this should be a very intense series in L.A.

Cal (23-18 / 7-11) at WSU (22-18 / 8-9)
Washington State and Cal aren’t completely out of the postseason picture but they have to win series just to get back onto the bubble.

#12.0 Purdue (34-7) at #13.6 UCLA (29-12 / 12-9)
Most Pac-12 teams have been using their “bye week” to play someone they can score 51 runs against. The Bruins will instead face a top-15 team in contention for a national seed. The entire Pac-12 should be rooting for UCLA as a series win would boost the conference’s profile and could help get an extra team in the field of 64 and/or increase the chances of hosting an extra regional.

* * *

Usually when there’s a battle for 1st place you have two balanced teams. Many strengths, few weaknesses.

Not here.

Oregon leads the Pac-12 in team ERA and fielding percentage but is 10th in team batting average. Arizona leads the league in hitting but the Wildcats are 9th in ERA and 10th defensively.

There is no question about what each team does well. When you look at the Pac-12 individual stats an Arizona player leads the conference in batting average, hits, triples, total bases and walks…and it’s five different guys.

Inspecting the top ERAs in the Pac among pitchers who have started at least 10 games you have Oregon’s Alex Keudell first at 1.87 and Jake Reed fifth at 2.26

The baseball axiom is good pitching beats good hitting. The Ducks also have confidence knowing they’ve already beaten UCLA and Stanford on the road.

The Cats have Hi Corbett Field and a revitalized fan base behind them.

It’s worth noting that Oregon has won five of its last six weekend series and each time it did so by winning the first two games. The Ducks have won the first game of six straight series but are just 2-4 in the third game of those series.

Kurt Heyer is the key. He’s the only Wildcat pitcher with the stats (8-1, 2.42 ERA) to match Oregon’s hurlers. Tonight should be a classic pitchers’ duel and you hope Arizona’s superior bats can be the difference. Two-out hitting with runners in scoring position will be big.

Big, big, big.

This is the type of series in the type of season you wait for as a fan. Quality players going head-to-head with big things on the line.

BIG.

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Scott Terrell prepares for the bigness on Twitter and Facebook.

The Ducks and Bruins hope to race back to the top of the standings.
Photo by Thomas Patterson/Statesman Journal

The three-way tie at the top of the Pac-12 baseball standings has been broken, at least for the time being.

The UCLA Bruins and Oregon Ducks look to close the gap on Arizona while holding off challenges from Stanford and Oregon State. The 1st-place Wildcats step out of conference and hope to find answers for their bullpen woes.

With another college baseball weekend upon us here is the updated RPI for all the teams Arizona plays this year and the UA’s record against them:

Oregon hurt itself the most among Pac-12 teams last week with the home series loss to a Washington State team outside the top 70. Don’t undervalue Arizona’s win at Washington as the Cats took two of three from a team that sits solidly in the RPI top 50.

On to the polls:

BAS = Baseball America
COL = Collegiate Baseball
NAT = National Collegiate Baseball Writers
PER = Perfect Game
USA = USA Today/ESPN coaches’ poll

Stanford vaulted from fourth in the average rankings to first after sweeping Arizona State. How tough is this conference? Four different teams are ranked as the best Pac-12 team in at least one of the five polls. I like how Baseball America just grouped the foursome in succession. But if you’re going to do that, wouldn’t it make sense to order them, you know, according to the Pac-12 standings?

This Week in the Pac-12? TWIT-Pac is glad you asked:

#10.8 Stanford (26-10 / 8-7) at #11.0 UCLA (27-10 / 11-7)
If – and it’s a very large if – Stanford could somehow sweep UCLA the Cardinal would be just a game behind Arizona and back in this race. The ideal scenario for UA fans is Stanford wins exactly two out of three.

Cal 23-15 / 7-8) at #12.8 Oregon (27-13 / 11-7)
The Bears have won seven of eight, all at home, but now face six straight on the road. Is it too much to ask to have the Ducks lose a second straight home series to a team with a losing Pac-12 record? Wildcat Universe is asking anyway.

#24.4 ASU (24-16 / 9-9) at WSU (21-16 / 7-7)
Not only did the UA’s Sunday loss to Washington cost the Cats a game in the standings, it prevented the second Wildcats sweep, Sun Devils get swept weekend of the year. ASU is now 1-8 in Pac-12 road games.

OSU (27-12 / 8-7) at USC (20-16 / 5-9)
After an upset series win against UCLA the Beavers are in the same position as Stanford but with a smoother runway. If Oregon State can sweep struggling USC, OSU will be one game behind Arizona.

Washington (21-17 / 6-9) at Utah (11-28 / 5-13)
The Huskies have a chance to get to .500 in conference play which would be big for a team on the NCAA tournament bubble.

(By the way, everybody is projecting New Mexico State to be the 2-seed in Arizona’s regional, which makes sense geographically. If the Cats have been wanting another crack at the Aggies with their frontline pitching, things are lining up for them to get it.)

East Tennessee State (19-21) at #12.4 ARIZONA (26-13 / 12-6)
The Buccaneers are 9th in the 10-team Atlantic Sun Conference but they feature Matthew Scruggs, the nation’s co-leader with 16 home runs. That’s six more than the entire Arizona team.

* * *

If the Ducks or Bruins sweep this weekend they would move ahead of Arizona in the games-back column but the Wildcats are assured of having the fewest conference losses heading into next week. Every loss by UCLA, Oregon, Stanford, OSU and even WSU gives the UA a little more breathing room.

Based on RPI, anything less than a sweep this weekend will be a hit to the Wildcats’ resume. The real question is how Andy Lopez handles his bullpen. Will he ride his three starters as long as possible like a conference series or will he run other guys out there in hopes they relocate the strike zone and find some success?

Me? I tell Matt Troupe he’s pitching the 9th inning tonight. Then, no matter the situation, I put him on the mound and tell him to zero in on the hitter and get three outs. This series is the last chance to do any tinkering with the pitching roles. After this it’s 13 games in four weeks, all against Pac-12 teams.

Speaking of tinkering with roles, we learned something new during the Washington series. With fourth outfielder Bobby Brown DH-ing and fifth outfielder Joe Maggi playing first base, it turns out the UA’s sixth outfielder is left-handed pitcher Vincent Littleman. The junior has only made two appearances on the mound this month but with Joey Rickard’s injury in Seattle last week Littleman got into two games in left field.

Pitchers playing other positions isn’t rare in college baseball but Littleman hasn’t had a single at-bat in his three-year career. Just another example of how this really good team is an oddly constructed really good team.

The game times for ETSU are 6 p.m. today, 4 p.m. tomorrow and noon Sunday. Note the random 4 o’clock Saturday start so you don’t show up in the 6th inning and wonder where all the beer vendors went.

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Scott Terrell brings you Pac-12 baseball score updates on Twitter and all-around good times on Facebook .

Seth Mejias-Brean’s 3-run homer wasn’t enough for Arizona against ASU.
Photo by David Kadlubowski/The Arizona Republic

The Pac-12 baseball season is five weeks old and up to this point there has been a head-to-head battle for 1st place every single week. Finally, the three leaders of the Pac get a couple weeks away from each other.

The Arizona Wildcats, Oregon Ducks and UCLA Bruins all hope to keep pace with each other and create some separation with the rest of the league.

But first, here’s the updated RPI of every team on Arizona’s schedule plus the UA’s record against said teams:

UCLA was rewarded for going 3-1 against Arizona and Cal State Fullerton last week. The Wildcats’ RPI actually inched upward are losing to the rising Bruins. Stanford is also riding high. Seventh place in the Pac-12 pays a lot better than it used to.

This is what we know about the polls:

BAS = Baseball America
COL = Collegiate Baseball
NAT = National Collegiate Baseball Writers
PER = Perfect Game
USA = USA Today/ESPN coaches’ poll

Since Oregon beat UCLA who beat Arizona, that’s how I’d rank the tri-leaders but the national folks do have the Ducks moving in the right direction compared to last week.

No top-10 clashes this week. But TWIT-Pac says the way to look at it is you get three series with 1st place on the line instead of one.

#12.6 ARIZONA (24-12 / 10-5) at Washington (19-15 / 5-7)
The Huskies started the season strong with wins in five of their first six weekend series but they’ve lost the last three.

#8.2 UCLA (25-8 / 10-5) at #23.6 OSU (24-11 / 6-6)
Oregon State has the longest active winning streak in the conference at six games, but none are against Pac-12 foes.

WSU (18-15 / 5-6) at #10.0 Oregon (26-10 / 10-5)
Oregon has the longest active no-hit innings streak at 11. With a stat like that it doesn’t matter who you’re playing.

#21.2 ASU (24-13 / 9-6) at #12.8 Stanford (22-10 / 5-7)
The Devils have won five straight but are just 1-5 in Pac-12 road games. Their next two conference series are away from home.

Utah (10-25 / 5-10) at Cal (20-15 / 4-8)
Cal won its first conference series of the year last week against Washington. The Utes better pray for rain as they have not won on consecutive days all year.

USC (20-15 / 5-9) – bye
Southern California says, “Oh, no league games this week? Fine, we’re not going to be play anybody.”

* * *

It was the best of innings, it was the worst of innings for the Wildcats against Arizona State Tuesday night. Seth Mejias-Brean’s three-run home run highlighted a six-run 5th but it was countered by the Sun Devils’ touchdown (and extra point) in the 7th. ASU has now won five straight and 13 of 16 against Arizona dating back to 2009.

The UA’s midweek woes continue as the Cats haven’t won a non-weekend game in over a month. The good news is Arizona only has one midweek game left the rest of the way. The bad news is that one’s against ASU too.

After combining for 11 innings without allowing an earned run, UA relievers Stephen Manthei and Mathew Troupe (a.k.a., Andy Lopez’s entire bullpen) have given up 9 earned runs in the last two games. Each guy has surrendered five walks in his last four appearances.

But the message today is the same as four days ago: Tied for 1st place. All is right in the world again if Arizona can win the series in Seattle.

The Cats need to leave the last two weeks in Tucson and start over fresh. The relievers need to ignore the last two months and come to the ballpark ready to give Manthei and Troupe some help (and they need to be given that chance). With the upcoming three-week break from midweek games it’s time to give Tyler Crawford a shot in middle relief. Lucas Long should get another look after having some success early in the year. Augey Bill looks like he can be a 6-foot-9 change of pace. A team with a five-man pitching staff is not going to stay in contention.

This Washington series feels like a crossroads for the 2012 BatCats. The UA plays out of conference next week so the results of this weekend will linger for two weeks. You want to go into the Oregon series confident, not smelling of desperation.

The game times at Husky Ballpark are 5 p.m. today, 2 p.m. tomorrow and 1 p.m. on Sunday. Listen on 1290 AM radio or follow me on Twitter for game updates.

Tied for 1st place… Tied for 1st place… Tied for 1st place…

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Scott Terrell is on Facebook too!

Ricky Oropesa and USC slapped ASU.
Photo by Crystal Ochoa/The Arizona Republic

It wasn’t easy but the Arizona Wildcats won a Pac-10 baseball series away from home for the first time this season.

Elsewhere in the Pac-10, Oregon State got some help from its friends to extend the Beaver lead in the conference race.

In the stat department, the top of the league batting chart is getting crowded with Cats.

The weekend started poorly for the UA as Kurt Heyer couldn’t hold a 4-run lead in the opener. Arizona rallied in the 9th to force extra innings but Washington State won it in the bottom of the 10th when Matt Chaffee went from a two outs, bases empty situation to walking in the winning run.

Kyle Simon kept the series alive for the Cats with a complete game victory on Sunday. He was named the Pac-10 Pitcher of the Week for his efforts.

The Saturday-to-Monday series didn’t allow Arizona to take advantage of its Friday magic but maybe the Wildcats are just as comfortable on Mondays. The UA took the series by moving to 2-0 on the season when playing on the first day of the work week.

Let’s work our way around the Pac-10:

ARIZONA won two of three at WSU.
Scores: 6-7 (10 inn.), 8-1, 6-4
At 11-10 in Pac-10 play, the Wildcats are now above .500 for the first time since starting 1-0.

OSU won two of three at Washington.
Scores: 6-4, 9-3, 6-7
Oregon State had to play another double header and settled for another split. But there were no sweeps around the conference so no one gained any ground. In fact…

USC won two of three vs. ASU.
Scores: 5-1, 4-7, 6-2
The Sun Devils had gone 13-2 since getting swept by OSU but losing this series should put an end to their quest for a 5-pete.

Oregon won two of three vs. Stanford.
Scores: 6-2, 8-9, 6-5
Stanford’s loss gives the UA sole possession of 5th place.

UCLA won two of three vs. Cal State Bakersfield.
Scores: 1-5, 10-1, 3-2
The Bruins had lost three straight games to three different California schools – Long Beach State, UC Santa Barbara and Bakersfield – before rebounding behind – you guessed it – Trevor Bauer.

Cal didn’t win.
All that nothing for nothing.

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How the Pac-10 stacks up in the eyes of the college baseball world:

BAS = Baseball America
COL = Collegiate Baseball
NAT = National Collegiate Baseball Writers
PER = Perfect Game
USA = USA Today/ESPN coaches’ poll

UCLA dropped out of another poll but everyone else stayed in the polls they were in last week and stayed out of the polls that had previously omitted them. The Pac-10 composite pecking order remained the same as well.

There was no change in the conference batting race either. Both Joeys saw their average drop over the weekend by Arizona’s Rickard’s dropped less so he closed the gap on ASU’s DeMichele.

The real change was at the bottom of the top 10 where a red-hot Alex Mejia moved in giving the Wildcats half of the ten best hitters in the conference:

If all five Wildcats keep hitting the odds of staying above .500 in Pac-10 play go way up.

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Scott Terrell has opposite-field power. Drive one the other way on Twitter and Facebook.

Joey Rickard has been sliding in the Pac-10 batting race.
Photo by Crystal Ochoa/The Arizona Republic

It wasn’t a surprise that the Arizona Wildcats baseball team swept Alcorn State. It wasn’t a surprise that none of the three games were close.

It was a surprise who contributed.

‘Tis a tale as old as sport. A lightly-used player finally gets his opportunity and makes this most of it.

Sport, meet Bobby Rinard.

The senior outfielder from Indiana by way of Yavapai Community College had started just two games all season. He got the call only because Bobby Brown was hurt, who had only been playing because Steve Selsky was hurt.

Rinard took the three weekend starts and went 8-for-12 (.667) at the plate with two doubles, three RBIs, five runs scored and a stolen base.

“Rinard’s done a good job,” UA coach Andy Lopez said. “I’m really happy with him. Good to see a guy who doesn’t play a lot get a chance and – boom – jump right in and take advantage of it.”

The right-handed hitter almost doubled his season at-bat total and bumped his batting average up to an even .500 for the year.

“You can’t really take time off in practice,” Rinard said. “You’ve got to prepare yourself like you’re going to (get a shot) and that’s what I’ve been doing.”

Here are the other weekend shots from around the Pac-10:

OSU won two of three vs. Cal.
Scores: 3-0, 2-6, 4-2
The Beavers had to play a doubleheader on Saturday and ended up with a split. Oregon State’s lead over ASU is now down to a single game.

UCLA won all three at Oregon.
Scores: 7-1, 3-1, 4-0
The Bruins’ pitchers dominated to solidify their hold on 3rd place.

Stanford won all three vs. Washington.
Scores: 6-2, 8-7, 7-2
Mission accomplished for the up-and-down Cardinal who have now matched Arizona’s 9-9 Pac-10 record.

ARIZONA won all three vs. Alcorn State.
Scores: 10-2, 8-2, 15-2
The Braves were held to just a safety in each game.

ASU won all three vs. Long Beach State.
Scores: 6-3, 9-2, 17-9
It was no day at the beach for the Dirtbags.

WSU lost two of three vs. UNLV.
Scores: 1-4, 4-3, 3-6
The Cougars couldn’t maintain the momentum following their 9th-place showdown with Washington.

USC didn’t lose.
Sometimes the only way to win is to not play.

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What this week’s polls think of the Pac-10:

BAS = Baseball America
COL = Collegiate Baseball
NAT = National Collegiate Baseball Writers
PER = Perfect Game
USA = USA Today/ESPN coaches’ poll

The Beavers moved up in one poll to #2, and down in another poll to #10. NCBW has six Pac-10 teams ranked; Perfect Game (the poll formerly known as Rivals) only has two. I have no idea either.

I do know a batting race when I see one. Arizona’s Joey Rickard had been leading the league in hitting for most of the year but Pac-10 pitching has been eroding his lofty average.

The Wildcat leadoff man was passed over the weekend by another Joey. ASU’s DeMichele (pronounced “DeMichael”) torched LBSU with a 9-for-14 (.643) showing including going 5-for-5 Saturday night. The top Sun Devil’s season average is now .406 while Rickard’s has dropped to .390.

Cats and Devils make up 7 of the 10 leading hitters in the Pac-10 with the UA’s Cole Frenzel (.379) 3rd, Bryce Ortega (.355) 6th and Robert Refsnyder (.344) 8th, while ASU’s Austin Barnes (.362) is 5th and Deven Marrero (.340) is 9th.

It’s 8 of 10 if you include Bobby Rinard.

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Scott Terrell believes he hit a solid .328 with this article. Barrel up on Twitter and Facebook.

You’d better believe in the Beavers.
Photo by Pat Shannahan/The Arizona Republic

The Arizona Wildcats are feeling a lot better about themselves after sweeping USC, but the biggest statement was made by Oregon State, the leaders of the Pac.

Here are the Pac-10 baseball results from last weekend:

OSU won two of three at UCLA.
Scores: 7-5, 2-0, 2-5
OSU didn’t just take care of business against UCLA, they did it in style. How do you beat the best pitcher in the Pac-10? You throw a no-hitter against him.

(Link to the game recap with video of the final inning.)

I’m going to guess the Pac-10 champs don’t often go hitless so cross off UCLA as a contender. That leaves Arizona State as the last remaining challenger to the Beavers.

ASU won two of three vs. Stanford.
Scores: 12-10, 4-6, 7-1
It wasn’t a sweep and that might not cut it in the quest to catch OSU. The Beavers finish with: Cal, at Washington, USC, at Oregon. The Sun Devils go: at USC, at Washington, UCLA. UCLA is better than Cal so ASU’s only advantage is having to play three fewer games. Oregon State and their two-loss lead look strong.

Cal won two of three vs. Oregon.
Scores: 2-1, 3-4, 5-4
How close is close? Three one-run games with two of them decided in the bottom of the 9th.

ARIZONA won all three vs. USC.
Scores: 4-3 (10 inn.), 20-4, 8-5
When you’re the only team to sweep you gain ground on everybody. The Cats went from 7th place to 5th place and are now just a couple games out of 3rd. The UA is also back to having the third-highest win total in the Pac-10 with 27 (OSU and ASU have 32 wins apiece).

WSU won two of three vs. Washington.
Scores: 5-2, 11-6, 5-6
These are the two worst teams in the league but the Huskies are a little worser.

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rankings:

BAS = Baseball America
COL = Collegiate Baseball
NAT = National Collegiate Baseball Writers
PER = Perfect Game
USA = USA Today/ESPN coaches’ poll

Only three Pac-10 teams are found in every poll, a season low.

The UCLA enigma, however, has reached a new high. The Bruins’ range stretches from #13 in one poll to completely unranked in two others.

For Arizona, with Steve Selsky hurt and Jett Bandy still below .300 the Cats have been dying for some production out of the middle of their lineup. Robert Refsnyder – .455 average with a double, triple, 2 home runs and 8 RBIs against USC – might be the answer.

The only answer to extending the good feelings is to keep winning.

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Scott Terrell has a firm grasp of the obvious. Learn more of what you already know on Twitter and Facebook.

The Arizona Wildcats are out…of excuses.
Photo by Crystal Ochoa/The Arizona Republic

Read one, get one free!

Since the Pac-10 isn’t interested in trying to get people to come to a college baseball game on Easter Sunday, this week’s series all run Thursday through Saturday.

That means TWIT-Pac is early, which means – right this minute – you get all your Pac-10 hardball info in one place.

Less talking! More info!

Last weekend’s RESULTS!

OSU won all three at Stanford.
Scores: 1-0, 8-1, 6-4
Say hello to the team to beat. Arizona has struggled through a stretch of four straight ranked teams. Well, the Beavers have played three straight…and gone 8-1.

Cal won all three at Washington.
Scores: 6-2, 8-2, 4-3
If you beat up on the bad teams you don’t have to win as many against the good teams.

UCLA won two of three vs. ARIZONA.
Scores: 4-5, 4-0, 8-5
The Cats can beat everybody behind Kurt Heyer. They can’t beat anybody behind anyone else. It’s consistency, but not the kind you want.

ASU won all three vs. WSU.
Scores: 3-1, 8-2, 10-4
The Devils last three series have all been sweeps. The games at home were W’s, the ones on the road were L’s.

USC won two of three vs. Oregon.
Scores: 2-4, 9-2, 3-1
The 16-20 Trojans now sit above two ranked teams in the Pac-10 standings.

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This week’s RANKINGS!

BAS = Baseball America
COL = Collegiate Baseball
NAT = National Collegiate Baseball Writers
PER = Perfect Game
USA = USA Today/ESPN coaches’ poll

The polls now reflect the top of the Pac-10 standings (in four out of five of them, anyway). Stanford dropped out of three of the polls after getting swept, and the Cats slid closer to a similar fate after another series loss.

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This week’s SCHEDULE!

#23.4 ARIZONA (23-13 / 5-7) at Oregon (19-16 / 2-7)
The Wildcats are now done with the four best teams in the league. If they’re going to turn things around, now is the time. Can UA baseball do the opposite of the football team?

WSU (14-17 / 2-10) at #8.4 OSU (27-7 / 8-1)
First place hosts last place. The Sam Gaviglio no-hitter watch starts now.

#17.6 UCLA (20-12 / 9-3) at #28.4 Stanford (17-12 / 3-6)
The Cardinal has lost five straight Pac-10 games. Don’t worry; they have four weeks to get better before facing Arizona.

#9.8 ASU (25-9 / 8-4) at #18.2 Cal (24-9 / 9-3)
Now we’ll start to see if the Bears are for real. The Sun Devils aren’t used to residing in 4th place.

USC (16-20 / 6-6) at Washington (11-23 / 2-7)
At the moment the Pac-10 is shaped like a swimsuit model: Full on top and at the bottom but thin in the middle. USC is the belly button.

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It’s not surprising that Arizona gets better pitching when Kurt Heyer is on the mound. But it’s the run-support numbers that make the UA’s one-win-forward-two-losses-back routine even more puzzling.

The Wildcats have scored 34 total runs in Heyer’s Pac-10 starts. Kyle Simon has gotten just 15 runs of support while Tyler Hale has been backed by 20.

Even if you drop the 18-0 game down to 8-0 the UA still averages a full run more per game against the other team’s best starter than they do against the #3 starters, and two runs per game more than against the #2 guys. It makes no sense.

The Oregon Ducks have the third best team ERA in the Pac-10 and they move up to second if you only look at conference games. This will not be an easy series for Arizona, especially on the road, but if the Cats want to be a ranked team, if they want a decent seed in the NCAA tournament, the wins need to start happening right now.

WINS!

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Scott Terrell strives for literary fuel efficiency. Save the planet on Twitter and Facebook.