College baseball’s regular season came to an end on Sunday, and with it went the 2011 narratives of the four Pacific-10 Conference baseball teams that did not make the postseason: Oregon, USC, Washington and Washington State.
While those teams head into the offseason pondering what went wrong, the other six Pac-10 teams move on to carve new playoff legacies. With regional play set to begin on Friday, we check in one last time with each team in the conference.
Arizona
The Wildcats (36-19, 15-12 Pac-10) are preparing for play in the College Station Regional, which is hosted by Texas A&M University. After finishing off the regular season with a dominant sweep over Washington, Arizona was handed a No. 2 seed in the regional. The first matchup comes on Friday against third seeded Seton Hall, and the Wildcats will look to build upon a run that has seen them win 12 of their last 15 games. @@http://www.arizonawildcats.com/sports/m-basebl/sched/ariz-m-basebl-sched.html@@ @@http://www.arizonawildcats.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/053011aae.html@@
Arizona State
The Sun Devils (39-16, 17-10 Pac-10) are among the three Pac-10 teams chosen to host an NCAA regional. Play begins in Tempe on Friday when Arizona State faces off with New Mexico, a team that it swept back in February. @@http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/052911aaa.html@@
The Sun Devils lost three of their last four games in the regular season, including a series loss at the hands of UCLA in Tempe. They will have to bring their play up a notch if a long postseason run is in the cards. @@http://thesundevils.cstv.com/sports/m-basebl/sched/asu-m-basebl-sched.html@@
California
The Golden Bears (31-20, 13-13 Pac-10) managed to eek their way into the playoffs with an at-large bid in the Houston Regional. Series losses to Stanford and UCLA had California’s postseason life in danger, but the NCAA deemed the team a No. 3 seed that will take the field against No. 2-seeded Baylor on Friday. @@http://www.calbears.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/053011aaa.html@@@@
Oregon
A dominant series sweep over No. 6 Oregon State provided a brief glimpse of what could have been for the Ducks (33-26-1, 11-16 Pac-10). Yet, the harsh reality is that Oregon failed to make the playoffs, and it heads into the summer full of disappointment. With junior pitching ace Tyler Anderson likely to depart for the professional ranks, Oregon’s pitching could be weakened heading into 2012. @@http://www.goducks.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=94831&SPID=11401&DB_LANG=C&ATCLID=205155904&DB_OEM_ID=500@@
Oregon State
The Beavers (38-17, 17-10 Pac-10) are left with a bitter taste in their mouths after a sweep at the hands of Oregon, but they still have the luxury of hosting an NCAA regional in Corvallis. Pat Casey’s squad will match up with No. 4 seed Arkansas-Little Rock on Friday, with a victory pitting the Beavers against either Creighton or Georgia. @@http://www.osubeavers.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/053111aaf.html@@
Stanford
The Cardinal (32-20, 14-12 Pac-10) heads to the Fullerton Regional on Friday, where it will match up with Kansas State in the opening game. Moving past tournament host Cal State Fullerton could be difficult, but Stanford comes in with momentum after two victories over California to end the season. @@http://www.gostanford.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/053011aaa.html@@
UCLA
With the best record in the Pac-10, UCLA (33-22, 18-9) was a shoo-in to host an NCAA Regional. Sure enough, the Bruins will welcome San Francisco, Fresno State and UC Irvine to Jackie Robinson Stadium in the Los Angeles Regional. UCLA and No. 4 seed San Francisco will match up on Friday shortly after the conclusion of Fresno State-UC Irvine. This is the second straight year that UCLA has hosted a regional. @@http://www.uclabruins.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/053011aac.html@@ @@http://articles.latimes.com/2011/may/29/sports/la-sp-ncaa-baseball-20110530@@
USC
The Trojans (25-31, 13-14) finished their season on an ugly note with a 13-1 loss at the hands of Washington State. Despite the advantage of home field, USC was outscored by a total of 23-3 in the season’s final two games, and it heads into the offseason with more questions than answers. @@http://www.usctrojans.com/sports/m-basebl/sched/usc-m-basebl-sched.html@@ @@http://www.usctrojans.com/sports/m-basebl/stats/2010-2011/052911.html@@
Washington
After a woeful conference season, Washington (17-37, 6-21) is left to lick its wounds and prepare for next year. The year ended with a sweep at the hands of Arizona, and the Huskies came away with just one Pac-10 series win in 2011 (against Oregon). @@http://www.gohuskies.com/sports/m-basebl/sched/wash-m-basebl-sched.html@@ @@http://www.gohuskies.com/sports/m-basebl/recaps/052911aaa.html@@
Washington State
The playoffs are out of the picture for the Cougars (26-28, 10-17), but they can at least come away with the satisfaction of a 13-1 victory over USC to end the season. Washington State pounded 18 hits in the season closer on Sunday, while also coming away with a series win after Saturday’s 10-2 victory. @@http://www.wsucougars.com/sports/m-basebl/spec-rel/wast-m-basebl-spec-rel.html@@
Pac-10 baseball review: NCAA Regionals and the season that was
Daily Emerald
May 30, 2011
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