By
Allen Wagner
May 20, 2009
1. Arizona State: There is nothing shocking here. The Sun Devils easily swept Oregon by outscoring the Ducks 27-2 in three games and clinched their third consecutive Pac-10 title. ASU gets one final series against UCLA before likely hosting a regional in the NCAA tournament in a couple of weeks.
2. Washington State: There was some speculation that WSU baseball could be cut from its athletic department after this season, but it looks like that won’t be happening any time soon. By taking a series against Oregon State this weekend, they essentially sealed an NCAA tourney bid, and with a home series against Washington coming up, the Cougars could improve their seeding come selection Monday.
3. UCLA: The Bruins had an OK showing against No. 5 Cal State Fullerton over the weekend. But their biggest tests will be a single-game showdown against No. 1 UC Irvine and a three-gamer against Arizona State this weekend. If Cody Decker, Trevor Bauer and company can win three of those four games, they could get an NCAA tourney bid.
4. Oregon State: The only mediocre Pac-10 team with the best shot at the postseason. The Beavers have a pretty solid non-conference record, more than enough to overcome a ho-hum conference season.
5. Washington: The Huskies basically had their postseason hopes destroyed when they lost two of three to Arizona. Despite this, there is still good news on the horizon: Kyle Conley is one home-run away from breaking the UW’s all-time career homer record, and he has three games to do it.
6. Stanford: The Cardinal has continued its late-season run, but a terrible first half will likely keep it out of the postseason. It’s been a pretty disappointing season for Stanford.
7. USC: Shortstop Grant Green has been getting plenty of looks from scouts and draft experts and has been projected to go high in the first round of the MLB draft. Other than Green, the Trojans have been largely non-existent at the plate and lost their most recent series to Stanford.
8. Arizona: The Wildcats have to be feeling pretty good about beating the Huskies in two of three games. They can finish their season on an even higher note when they face off against Oregon for their final three-game set.
9. California: The Bears got to play spoiler when they stole two games from the Bruins a couple of weekends ago, making it extremely difficult for UCLA to make the postseason. But other than that, what joy — aside from the occasional win — has their season provided?
10. Oregon: The Ducks are 14-37 and 4-20 in Pac-10 play. Not exactly how head coach George Horton imagined his team playing in Oregon’s first year back on the diamond. The good news for the Ducks: They can only get better.
Reach reporter Allen Wagner at sports@dailyuw.com.
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