SAN FRANCISCO – In a polling of the Pac-12 baseball coaches, OREGON STATE has been selected as the preseason favorite to win the Conference title this season. The Beavers received nine of 10 possible first-place votes and tallied 98 total points. Oregon State earned a runner-up finish in the Pac-12 race last season, posting a 39-18-1 record overall. The 2016 squad is led by the reigning Pac-12 Freshman of the Year in first baseman KJ Harrison, as well as starting pitcher Drew Rasmussen and relief pitcher Mitch Hickey. The trio of sophomores were all named Collegiate Baseball Freshman All-Americans in 2015.
UCLA, the defending Pac-12 Champions, were picked to finish second overall with 89 points and received one first place vote. CALIFORNIA also received one first-place voted and tallied 84 points in third place. OREGON was picked to finish in fourth place with 71 points. USC totaled 67 points to round out the top five.
ARIZONA STATE finished sixth in the polling, picking up 50 points and right behind them was STANFORD with 49 points in seventh. WASHINGTON took the eighth spot with 34 points and ARIZONA tallied 31 points in ninth place. WASHINGTON STATE was tabbed to finish in 10th place with 17 points while UTAH totaled 15 points in 11th.
The following are the results of the preseason coaches’ poll. Ten points are awarded for a first-place vote, nine points for a second-place vote, seven for a third-place vote, etc. First-place votes are in parentheses. Coaches are not allowed to vote for their own teams.
2016 Pac-12 Baseball Preseason Coaches Poll
- Oregon State (9) 98
- UCLA (1) 89
- California (1) 84
- Oregon 71
- USC 67
- Arizona State 50
- Stanford 49
- Washington 34
- Arizona 31
- Washington State 17
- Utah 15
