Tag: Pac-12 baseball tournament

Clock strikes midnight on USC’s run in Pac-12 Baseball Tournament

USC’s NCAA Tournament dream dies just short of fulfillment.

At the end of the 2024 USC baseball season, the clock struck 12 on the University of Southern California Trojans’ Cinderella run. This riveting journey ended with a 4-3 loss to the University of Arizona Wildcats on a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth in the Pac-12 Tournament final on Saturday night in Scottsdale. 

The Wildcats had the Trojans’ number this year, winning the regular-season series 3-2 and scoring wins over the Trojans in early March. However, on Saturday night in Scottsdale, junior right-handed pitcher Caden Aoki threw six and one-third innings of no-hit baseball, giving the Trojans a 3-0 lead in the seventh inning. Aoki was coming off a rough outing in the Trojans’ first game of the Pac-12 Tournament against the Utah Utes, where he gave up four runs in six innings.  The Trojans rallied late to come back against the Utes, cooked the Ducks, and beat the Cal-Berkeley Bears. Their victories culminated in an epic showdown that served as a fitting conclusion to the Pac-12 baseball season. USC’s red hot bat, freshman Braden Dowd, continued to impress, going 2-4 with a double and an RBI against Arizona. Dowd fueled USC’s offense in the tournament, going 6-15 with 8 RBI, two doubles and a home run.  

Unfortunately the Trojan bullpen, which had been a huge part of USC’s success down the stretch, ran out of gas. After finally getting to Aoki in the seventh, the Wildcats were able to get a run back against setup man Xavier Martinez.  The Cats rallied to score three more on Martinez and closer Josh Blum, who was forced to enter the game in the eighth. Arizona tied the game in the eighth with two runs. USC had a chance to retake the lead, but it just didn’t happen. 

The Trojans went down in order in the top of the ninth in a 3-3 tie. Maddox Mihalakis of Arizona grounded out to first to start the bottom of the ninth for the Wildcats. Blake McDonald singled to left. Emilio Corona was brought in to pinch run for McDonald and stole second. In an attempt to set up a double play, Blum intentionally walked Andrew Cain to bring Tommy Splaine to the plate. Splaine, who had already struck out twice in the game, delivered a walk-off single to left field, scoring Corona and securing the win for Arizona. 

This outcome proved to be gut-wrenching for both head coach Andy Stankiewicz and the Trojans, but the team was playing its best baseball at the end of the year, which is a great sign for the future. While it was a tough way to conclude a great run and the season, it’s evident that the Trojans have much to anticipate in 2025, both on the mound and at the plate.

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USC one win away from last Pac-12 baseball title, trip to NCAA Regionals

USC and Arizona meet in the last Pac-12 Conference baseball game.

The game between the No. 4 seed USC Trojans and the top-seeded Arizona Wildcats in Scottsdale, Arizona, will determine the 2024 Pac-12 Baseball Tournament champion. While Arizona is guaranteed an at-large bid even if it loses, the Trojans must win to secure the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA regionals. Despite a strong second half of the season, USC’s slow start has left it without an at-large bid as an option.

Arizona advanced to the championship game by defeating Stanford in the semifinals. Caden Aoki, a right-handed pitcher for USC, is expected to face off against Cam Wally, Arizona’s right-handed pitcher. Aoki has a 2-3 record with a 4.24 ERA, while Wally is 8-1 with a 2.76 ERA.

In the tournament opener against Utah, the Trojans’ Aoki took the mound as the starting pitcher and effortlessly sailed through the first two innings without allowing any runs. However, he exited the game after surrendering two runs in both the 3rd and 4th innings on five hits. After the slow start, the Trojans rallied to overcome a 4-1 deficit and beat the Utes 6-5.

Freshman outfielder Brayden Dowd has become a clutch hitter for the Trojans this season. He has turned it up a notch in postseason play. In 42 games, he has a batting average of .319, has driven in 25 runs, and has scored 26 runs. He played a critical role in USC’s victory against Utah, delivering an RBI double in the eighth inning. In the Trojans’ win in the semifinals against Cal, he contributed to four of USC’s seven runs, including a three-run homer which turned the game around. USC trailed 2-0 before Dowd’s big blast.

The USC-Arizona Pac-12 title game, to be aired live on ESPNU, will be called by Roxy Bernstein and Wes Clements at 7 p.m. Pacific time.

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Oregon edges out Arizona to win Pac-12 tournament title

Key defensive plays and big hits propelled Oregon past Arizona 5-4 to win the Pac-12 tournament.

This hasn’t happened since 1954.

Oregon baseball won its first conference championship, regular season or tournament, with a 5-4 win over Arizona at Scottsdale Stadium in front of a partisan Wildcat crowd.

Matt Dallas managed to get the last six outs to seal the deal and clinch the conference’s automatic berth into the NCAA tournament. Oregon’s seed and regional location will be announced on Monday.

But the Ducks certainly made things interesting in the top of the ninth. Arizona was able to get its top hitter, Chase Davis, up to the plate with two outs and a runner on. Dallas was able to get Davis to pop out to Bryce Boettcher in left to end the game and send the Duck bench out onto the field for a dogpile on the mound.

This was a close game throughout and relatively low-scoring as this tournament and the stadium is made for an offensive showcase. The Oregon pitching staff was up to the task.

Starting Turner Spoljarik was coming off a disastrous outing on Thursday against Stanford where he lasted just one inning. But the good Spoljarik, the one that was the Pitcher of the Week in the last series against Utah, showed himself right in time.

The freshman went six innings, giving up three runs on seven hits and striking out three. The Duck defense also turned three double plays behind Spoljarik to erase potential big innings.

Austin Anderson came on in the seventh inning and found himself in a world of hurt as Arizona was able to load the bases with two out. With the potential tying and go-ahead runs on base, Anderson whiffed Kiko Romero with a changeup in the dirt.

After the Wildcats dented the scoreboard first with a run in the third, Oregon evened the score in the bottom half thanks to Colby Shade’s run-scoring single. Oregon took a 3-1 lead in the fourth on Gavin Grant’s single to right and Rikuu Nishida’s infield chopper.

Arizona wasn’t going to go quietly, however. It scored a run in the fifth and then tied the game in the sixth on Romero’s inside-the-park-homer to dead center.

As they seemingly have all season, the Duck immediately responded. This time it came as a monster homer to right-center off of the bat of Jacob Walsh. Oregon gained some insurance in the seventh on Tanner Smith’s single to center which was just enough to score Drew Cowley from second.

Tony Bullard made it 5-4 in the eighth with a homer, but it was just a solo shot because the Ducks turned a key double play just before the home run.

Now the Ducks fly home to Eugene with a trophy in hand to await their NCAA tournament fate. The Field of 64 will be announced on Monday at 9 am PST on ESPN2.

According to projections from D1Baseball.com, the Ducks could be sent to Gainesville, Flor. where the No. 2 Gators will host.

But that was before Oregon was crowned Pac-12 champs.

Oregon-Arizona final has questions that need to be answered tonight

Questions will be answered tonight as Oregon plays Arizona for the Pac-12 tournament title.

Raise your hand if you expected an Oregon-Arizona final in the Pac-12 baseball tournament in Scottsdale, Ariz.

There would most likely be very few hands raised because these two teams weren’t exactly hitting on all cylinders coming into this tourney. Oregon was a 6-seed and Arizona was an 8-seed for a reason.

The Ducks were losers of five of their last seven, including being swept at home by Washington, the team they just defeated 12-7 in the semifinals. If Oregon hadn’t won its last two games over last-place Utah, this might be a very different article.

As for the Wildcats, they entered the Pac-12 tournament with a losing conference record of 12-18. But with the way they have pounded the baseball over the course of this week, that record probably should be flipped to 18-12.

Arizona had a tough month of April with the month ending with a sweep to the Beavers in Corvallis. But once the calendar flipped over and the weather became warmer, the Wildcats’ bats heated up at well. That 21-20 win at Stanford should have been an indication of what the Wildcats had in store for the tournament.

They’ve scored in double figures in each of the Wildcats’ three games, including the 14-4 win over the Cardinal in the semifinals.

Oregon and Arizona are not strangers to one another. The Ducks went down to Tucson in early April and swept away the Wildcats. Jacob Walsh earned Pac-12 Player of the Week after that series.

But these two teams are very different now than they were almost two months ago. Here are a few things to look out for in tonight’s title game.

 

Ducks advance to Pac-12 finals with big victory over Washington

Oregon defeats rival Washington 12-7 to advance to the Pac-12 tournament final where the Ducks will play either Stanford or Arizona.

That three-game sweep at the hands of the Huskies in PK Park seems so long ago now.

Oregon managed to get some revenge over its rival with a 12-7 win over Washington in the Pac-12 semifinals. The Ducks will now play for the title against either No. 1 seed Stanford or 9-seeded Arizona Saturday night in Scottsdale, Ariz.

Sabin Ceballos, who is in line to be the tournament’s Most Valuable Player, led the way with six runs batted in, including a two-run homer to right.

Oregon jumped on the Dawgs with three runs in the first and three more in the second inning to take a very early 6-0 lead. But Scottsdale Stadium is the college baseball version of Coors Field, so a six-run lead is far from safe.

Washington was able to get the bats going in the bottom of third as it scored five runs after the first two batters went out.

But the Ducks never gave the lead up. They scored five runs in the fifth to effectively get those runs back they gave up in the third. Drew Smith’s triple scored Tanner Smith and Seballos’ two-run single ended the rally to give Oregon an 11-5 lead.

Washington cut the lead to 11-7 in the bottom half and that was it. Oregon brought in reliever Greyson Grinsell and he shut the Huskies down. In his longest outing of the year, the freshman went 3 2/3 inning, gave up just two hits, struck out six and he earned his much-deserved second win of the year.

Whether the Ducks win or lose tomorrow night, they can go into the NCAA tournament with some momentum on their side. This was a team coming off losing five of their last seven games before winning at least three games in the Pac-12 tournament.

Ducks stun Stanford to reach Pac-12 tournament semifinals

Oregon scores two in the ninth and two in the 10th to stun No. 1 seed Stanford and reach the conference semifinal where the Huskies await.

Bring on the Dawgs.

Oregon scored two in the ninth and two more in the 10th inning to stun No. 1 seed Stanford 8-6 to advance to the Pac-12 tournament semifinals where Washington awaits.

The Ducks officially win Pool A and will face the Huskies Friday afternoon at 2:30 pm PST and it will be televised on the Pac-12 Network.

But to think Oregon would be in the position when it was down 6-3 in the eighth is almost unfathomable. The Ducks scored a single run in the eighth and another one in the ninth and it was 6-5, no one on base and two outs.

Then things got a bit nutty.

Colby Shade ripped a line down the right field line that was just out of the reach of Braden Montgomery. Not only was it out of his reach, but the ball didn’t hop the fence and was still in play. Montgomery’s throw was perfect to the relay man Drew Bowser, who turned and airmailed the ball into the camera well, sending Shade home to tie the game.

Closer Josh Mollerus sent the game into extra innings with a scoreless ninth innings, but not before coaxing Owen Cobb to ground out with runners on second and third.

Sabin Ceballos was due up in the 10th inning for the Ducks, and boy was he due.

Ceballos might have hit the biggest home run of his life off Cardinal reliever Brandt Pancer. It was an absolute shot to left-center to give Oregon the 7-6 lead.

But the Ducks weren’t done.

After three straight walks with two out, Toran O’Harran uncorked a wild pitch that scored Jacob Walsh.

Mollerus stayed in the game in the extra frame and after a bit of a scare that saw Stanford bring the game-winning run to the plate in the form of Alberto Rios, the Duck closer managed to get the Pac-12 Player of the Year to fly out to center to end the game.

Coming into the game, Oregon’s RPI was in the low 30s, and with this win, that number will go down even further and increasing the chances of hosting a regional in Eugene. But the Ducks would most likely need to win the conference tourney and defeat the Cardinal a second time in the process.

First things first, however. Oregon needs to beat Washington, a team that came to PK Park and swept the Ducks three straight just two short weeks ago.

Stanford will play Arizona at 7 pm in the other semifinal.

Late rally propels Ducks to Pac-12 tourney win over California

Oregon scores two runs in the bottom of the eighth to defeat California 3-2 in its first game of the Pac-12 tournament.

It was just a matter of time before the Oregon bats would break through.

Thankfully for the Ducks’ sake, they broke through just in time.

Oregon scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth to defeat California 3-2 in its first game of the Pac-12 tournament in Scottsdale, Ariz. Tuesday night.

With the Pool A win, the Ducks are scheduled to play the conference’s regular season champion Stanford Thursday night.

Down 2-1 for most of the night, the Ducks finally capitalized on a rally. Sabin Caballos began the eighth inning with a single and after Bryce Boettcher came in to run for him, Tanner Smith doubled to right-center that was just beyond the glove of Cal’s Kade Kretzschmar to put runners on second and third.

Now Oregon was in this position four times before this, but couldn’t come up with the big hit.

This time the Ducks came through.

Drew Smith’s grounder was just enough to score Boettcher to tie the game and Jacob Walsh’s sacrifice fly scored Smith for the eventual game-winning run.

Closer Josh Mollerus came in the ninth and earned the save with a game-ending double play. California left its best hitter, Max Handron, on deck.

Handron led the game off with a 430-foot triple that went off the center field wall. When he crushed that first pitch, a 3-2 game was the last thing on anyone’s mind.

But Oregon used its six pitchers to perfection and held the Bears to just two runs on six hits and scoreless for the final seven innings of play.

The win was also Oregon’s first-ever victory of the conference tournament, which came into existence last season. The Ducks lost two straight and were bounced out early.

Now Oregon has a chance to make some noise should they upset the No. 1-seeded Cardinal Thursday night.

Final 2023 Pac-12 baseball standings

The #Pac12 baseball regular season is over. Here’s how the final standings looked. The Pac-12 Tournament is next.

The USC Trojans were picked to finish 10th in the Pac-12 baseball standings in 2023. It was a natural, logical thing to do. It wasn’t even a sign of disrespect, merely a reflection of the program’s stagnation for several years. USC had not made the NCAA Baseball Tournament since 2015. The Trojans had fallen on hard times. They were bringing in a new coach, Andy Stankiewicz. Skepticism toward USC baseball was appropriate at the start of the season.

The Trojans had to prove they were for real before anyone predicted them to achieve more richly.

USC baseball has definitely done that, finishing in fourth place, six spots higher than the preseason forecast.

Let’s give you the full end-of-season Pac-12 Conference baseball standings. The top nine teams (Cal being ninth) qualified for the Pac-12 Tournament which starts on Tuesday in Scottsdale, Arizona. Check out the full tournament schedule for the coming week after you look at the standings below:

2023 Pac-12 Baseball Tournament schedule

The #Pac12 Baseball Tournament, with #USC as the 4 seed, begins Tuesday in Scottsdale, Arizona, and runs through Saturday.

The 2023 Pac-12 Baseball Tournament field and schedule are set. The event begins Tuesday at Scottsdale Stadium in Scottsdale, Arizona, and goes through Saturday, May 27.

It’s not a “clean” tournament bracket, meaning that winners do not automatically advance to play other known teams. Unlike basketball tournaments, this tournament involves three pools with round-robin play on the first three days of the tournament.

From the Pac-12 website:

“At the conclusion of pool play on Thursday night, the three pool winners will advance to the Friday single-elimination semifinals along with one Wild Card team. The Wild Card will be determined by the best record of the non-advancing teams with any tiebreaker awarded to the highest seeded team.

“The semifinal matchups will pit the highest-seeded team against the lowest-seeded team on one side with the second-highest seed and second-lowest seed on the other. Teams from the same pool however will not play each other in the semifinals.”

Here’s the full schedule, starting with pool play on Tuesday, May 23 from Scottsdale:

Oregon becomes first team to be eliminated from the Pac-12 tournament

8-seed Arizona State upsets and eliminates 4-seed Oregon with a 4-2 win in the Pac-12 tournament.

This was definitely not how the Oregon baseball team envisioned their trip to Scottsdale, Ariz. going.

The Ducks got the unfortunate distinction of being the first team to be eliminated from the Pac-12 baseball tournament as they lost to Arizona State 4-2. Now Oregon will have to await its NCAA tournament fate when the teams are announced on Monday.

At 35-23 overall and a strong strength of schedule, Oregon has a high RPI and it will definitely be included in the tournament. But the Ducks were hoping for a strong showing in the conference tournament in order to host a regional.

That’s not happening now.

The Sun Devils used five pitchers to hold the Ducks to just two runs and six hits while striking out nine.

A lack of offense is quite surprising as the Ducks led the conference in runs scored. Coupled with a hitter-friendly Scottsdale Stadium, one would think giving up four runs would be enough to win.

Isaac Ayon turned in another good performance after he threw a complete game the last time he was on the mound. But today, Ayon made one mistake, a hanging curveball that Kai Murphy crushed over the right field wall to give ASU a 3-2 lead in the sixth inning.

The Sun Devils added a huge insurance run in the bottom of the eighth, but as it turned out, they didn’t need it. Closer Brock Peery threw a perfect ninth inning to earn his 10th save.

Oregon will now come back to Eugene, erase what happened down in the desert, and focus on the NCAA tournament for a chance at redemption.