With the end of the long Memorial Day weekend also came the end of college baseball’s regular season in the Pac-12, and by Monday, five teams emerged from the fray as participants in the NCAA Championship.@@http://www.ncaa.com/brackets/baseball/d1@@ Co-Pac-12 champions UCLA and Arizona made the field, along with Oregon, Stanford and Oregon State.@@checked@@
The Bruins (42-14) enter as the No. 2 overall seed in the 64-team field, while the Ducks (42-17) took the No. 5 overall seed. Both the Wildcats (38-17) and Cardinal (38-16) also earned regional No. 1 hosting seeds and duties.@@checked@@ Though it was a banner year in many ways for Pac-12 baseball, the real fun begins this weekend on the national stage. Each of the five teams has a unique path to the College World Series and is thus preparing in its own way.
Oregon
Even a shocking sweep at the hands of rival Oregon State this past weekend couldn’t keep Oregon from seizing the No. 5 overall seed in addition to regional hosting duties when the NCAA Championship field was announced Monday. They might be entering the weekend on a bit of a skid, but they are still the favorite to win a regional that features No. 2 seed Cal State Fullerton (where Oregon head coach George Horton formerly coached), No. 3 seed Indiana State and No. 4 seed Austin Peay.@@checked@@
Oregon opens playoff competition on Friday at 6 p.m. against Austin Peay (38-22)@@http://www.goducks.com/SportSelect.dbml?&DB_OEM_ID=500&SPID=11401&SPSID=94835@@ and should they advance, would play the winner of the Indiana State and Cal State Fullerton game from earlier that day. This is the first time in history the Ducks have been a national seed, and its their fourth NCAA Championship appearance overall.
Arizona
After taking two of three games against Arizona State to close out the regular season,@@http://www.arizonawildcats.com/sports/m-basebl/sched/ariz-m-basebl-sched.html@@ Arizona is set to host a regional featuring New Mexico State (35-22), Louisville (39-20) and Missouri (32-26). In all, the Wildcats come into postseason play having won eight of its last ten games.@@checked@@ Should they face off with New Mexico State on the second day of play, it would be a rematch of an early season series that saw them get swept on their home turf. Still, Arizona is a heavy favorite to advance to the Super Regionals.
UCLA
The Bruins ended the regular season on a tear, winning eleven of their last twelve games,@@http://www.uclabruins.com/sports/m-basebl/sched/ucla-m-basebl-sched.html@@ and the NCAA rewarded that hot streak by naming them the No. 2 overall seed in the tournament. With that distinction, of course, comes regional hosting duty, with San Diego (40-15), New Mexico (36-22) and Creighton (26-28) headed down to Los Angeles. Creighton’s losing record on the season would suggest that UCLA will make quick work of them to open the regional on Friday; it would be a major upset if the Bruins missed out on advancing to a Super Regional.
Stanford
The last of the four Pac-12 teams granted hosting duties, Stanford will welcome Pepperdine (34-21), Michigan State (37-21) and Fresno State (30-26) to Palo Alto. The Cardinal, while still ranked No. 19 in the nation by Baseball America, ended the season with a troubling series loss to the Bears.@@http://www.calbears.com/sports/m-basebl/sched/cal-m-basebl-sched.html@@ Pepperdine, too, could be a threat in the regional after winning the West Coast Conference Championship in the regular season and earning a No. 24 ranking in Baseball America.@@checked@@ Still, like the other three regional hosts, Stanford should advance beyond the weekend.
Oregon State
As the only qualifying Pac-12 team that did not snag a hosting bid, the Oregon State Beavers instead head to Baton Rouge, La., for a regional featuring host LSU, Belmont and Louisiana-Monroe. Pat Casey’s squad arrives with plenty of momentum after sweeping Oregon in Corvallis this past weekend and as the regional’s No. 2 seed they will face off with Belmont to kick things off on Friday at 12 p.m.@@http://www.ncaa.com/brackets/baseball/d1@@ In all, the Beavers have won seven of their last eight contests and will look to improve on a 21-15 overall mark from past regionals.@@checked@@ This is the fourth-straight regional appearance for them, which is a new school record. Though LSU is the higher-ranked team, Oregon State should be able to squeak out the second Super Regional berth out of the regional.