Utah at Oregon State
The Utah Utes travel to Goss Stadium over the weekend to take on the No. 7 ranked Beavers. Utah enters the weekend 14-14 and 4-8 in conference play. Last weekend, Utah was able to take two out of three against Washington State. The Utes Tuesday game against BYU was postponed. Oregon State is 15-6 and 7-2 in conference play. The Beavers took two out of three last weekend against UCLA, but then lost the midweek game against state rival Oregon by a final of 6-3. This should be a series in which the Beavers should dominate. Oregon State sits atop the conference in team ERA with a 1.95 ERA. Utah, on the other hand, ranks sixth in the conference with a 3.74 ERA. Look for the combination of Boyd, Moore, and a healthy improving Wetzler to control the series. It will also be interesting to see if the Beavers get back shortstop Tyler Smith. He has been out with a hand injury for a couple weeks.
Series Prediction: Oregon State Sweeps Utah
Friday, April 12 – 5:30 p.m. PT
Utah- Mitch Watrous RHP (2-1, 3.70 ERA)
Oregon State- Matt Boyd LHP (6-1, 1.81 ERA)
Saturday, April 13- 2:00 p.m. PT
Utah- Dalton Carroll RHP (3-2, 3.40 ERA)
Oregon State- Andrew Moore RHP (6-1, 1.28 ERA
Sunday, April 14- 12:00 p.m. PT
Utah- Joe Pond RHP (2-4, 6.37 ERA)
Oregon State- Ben Wetzler LHP (1-1, 2.10 ERA)
Washington at Stanford
The Washington Huskies travel to Stanford over the weekend to see if they can get their season turned around. The Huskies arrive in Palo Alto with an 8-22 overall record and 2-7 conference record. Washington dropped two out of three last weekend against Pepperdine. The Huskies then lost their midweek game against Cal State Northridge by a final of 8-7. Stanford comes into the weekend ranked No. 25 in the latest NCWBA poll. The Cardinal are 17-10 and 5-4 in conference play. Stanford took two out of three last weekend against USC and then followed up a 10-8 midweek victory at San Jose State. This weekend does not look to get any easier for Washington as the Huskies, and their .244 batting average, which ranks last in the conference, faces Mark Appel Friday. The key to the series will be which team has a better performance from their starters on Saturday and Sunday. Look for right fielder Austin Wilson to see more regular time this weekend. The junior saw limited action last weekend, but did have two hits during the game against San Jose State.
Series Prediction: Stanford takes two out of three
Friday, April 12 – 5:30 p.m. PT
Stanford- Mark Appel RHP (5-2, 1.13 ERA)
Washington- Jared Fisher RHP (0-1, 4.11 ERA)
Saturday, April 13 – 1:00 p.m. PT
Stanford- Bobby Zarubin, RHP (1-1, 1.71 ERA)
Washington- Austin Voth RHP (3-4, 3.00 ERA
Saturday, April 14 – 1:00 p.m. PT
Stanford- Marcus Brakeman RHP (0-0, 3.31 ERA)
Washington- TBD
Oregon at California
The most compelling matchup of the weekend takes place down in Berkeley, Calif., as the Bears play host to the Ducks. Oregon enters the weekend ranked No. 9 in the NCWBA poll. The Ducks are 24-8 and 9-3 in conference play. They lost two out of three last weekend at Arizona State, but rebounded in a big way with a 6-3 victory at Oregon State on Tuesday. California is 16-16 on the year and 5-7 in Pac-12 play. The Bears have lost four in a row after being swept in Arizona last weekend. They did not have a game during the week. Oregon’s pitching depth should win out in this series. Friday’s matchup of Jake Reed (Oregon) vs. Ryan Mason (Cal) should be the most competitive game of the series. The rest of the series favors the Oregon starters as the Ducks rank fourth in the conference with a 2.99 ERA. California, on the other hand, ranks tenth in the conference with a 4.52 ERA.
Series Prediction: Oregon takes two of three
Friday, April 12 – 6:00 p.m. PT
Oregon- Jake Reed, RHP, (3-3, 3.75 ERA)
California- Ryan Mason, RHP, (4-1, 3.96 ERA)
Saturday, April 13 – 6:00 p.m. PT
Oregon- Tommy Thorpe, LHP, (4-3, 3.35 ERA)
California- Justin Jones, LHP, (1-4, 5.66 ERA)
Saturday, April 14 – 1:00 p.m. PT
Oregon- Cole Irvin LHP, (6-1, 3.11 ERA)
California- TBD
Arizona at Washington State
Another interesting matchup takes place in Pullman this weekend, as the Arizona Wildcats travel to take on the Washington State Cougars. Arizona arrives for the weekend 21-11 and 6-6 in conference play. The Wildcats are ranked No. 27 in the latest NCWBA poll. Arizona is riding a six-game winning streak in which they have swept Utah and California. They did not have a midweek game this week. Washington State is 17-13 and 4-5 in the Pac-12 this season. They lost two out of three at Utah last weekend, and their midweek game against BYU was cancelled. This should be a series where a ton of runs are scored this weekend. Washington State ranks first in the conference with a .317 team batting average. Arizona sits right below the Cougars with a .316 team batting average. Arizona’s Brandon Dixon leads the conference with a .408 batting average through 32 games. Washington State’s Nick Tanielu ranks second with a .402 batting average through 29 games. Assuming both teams put up a ton of runs, the difference could come down to Sunday starter Scott Simon. He was recently named the Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week after throwing a complete-game shutout last weekend against Utah.
Series Prediction: Washington State takes two out of three
Friday, April 12- 6:00 p.m. PT
Washington State- Joe Pistorese LHP (3-2, 2.08 ERA)
Arizona- Konner Wade RHP (3-2, 3.54 ERA)
Saturday, April 13- 2:00 p.m. PT
Washington State- Tanner Chleborad RHP (3-4, 5.26 ERA)
Arizona- James Farris RHP (3-3, 4.06 ERA)
Sunday, April 14- 12:-00 p.m. PT
Washington State- Scott Simon RHP (2-0, 4.18 ERA)
Arizona- Tyler Crawford RHP (3-1, 2.45 ERA)
Arizona State at USC
The Arizona State Sun Devils travel to Dedeaux Field to take on USC this weekend. The Sun Devils, ranked No. 17 by the NCWBA poll, arrive in California with a 20-9-1 overall record. They are 6-6 in Pac-12 play. The Sun Devils are playing good baseball right now, as they have won four out of their last five. Arizona State took two out of three against Oregon last weekend. They then followed up that series victory with a midweek win at UNLV by a final of 11-3. USC enters the weekend 12-20 and 5-7 in conference play. The Trojans lost two out of three last weekend against Stanford. They then lost the midweek game, to Cal State Fullerton, by a final of 6-4. This should be a series in which Arizona State controls. USC is without Friday starter Bob Wheatley for the second straight weekend. The loss pushes USC starters up a slot to face Trevor Williams and Ryan Kellogg, It’s a task that might be too much for the Trojan starters. A stat that jumps out is the fact that Arizona State ranks third in the conference with a .292 team batting average, while USC ranks last in the conference with a 4.98 ERA.
Series Prediction: Arizona State takes two out of three
Friday, April 12- 6:00 p.m. PT
Arizona State – Trevor Williams, RHP (4-2, 2.54 ERA)
USC- Wyatt Strahan, RHP (01-1, 2.21 ERA)
Saturday, April- 13, 2:00 p.m. PT
Arizona State- Ryan Kellogg LHP (6-0, 1.37 ERA)
USC- Kyle Twomey, LHP (2-3, 5.05 ERA)
Sunday, April 14- 2:00 p.m. PT
Arizona State- TBD
USC- TBD
Loyola Marymount at UCLA
The UCLA Bruins, ranked No. 15 by the NCWBA, take a break from conference play this weekend. They will host the Loyola Marymount Lions, who are 17-15 and 7-5 in conference play. The Lions took two out of three last weekend against San Diego. They also defeated UC Riverside by a final of 10-3 on Tuesday. UCLA enters the weekend 20-9 and 7-5 in conference play. The Bruins dropped two out of three last weekend to Oregon State, but bounced back with a 5-1 victory over Hawaii on Tuesday.
Series Prediction UCLA takes two out of three.
