With six of nine teams appearing in the USA Today/NFCA Top 25 poll, the Pac-12 is shaping up to be competitive with the SEC as the best conference in college softball.
No. 2 Oregon leads the pack, and the rest of the conference will likely be jockeying for position for the remainder of the 2015 season.
These power rankings take into account strength of schedule, overall record, conference record and head-to-head disparity.
Oregon is led by senior left fielder Janie Takeda, a two time All-American who was selected to play on the USA women's national team for the summer of 2015. Takeda boasts a slash line of .443/.625/.495 this season.
The Ducks opened up Pac-12 play with three resounding victories over rival Oregon State, outscoring the Beavers by a combined margin of 42-12. All 12 of OSU's runs came in game two. Oregon's next series will be at Utah.
Junior outfielder Allexis Bennett leads the charge on offense for the surging Bruins, batting .551 to go along with a .568 OBP. Sophomore infielder Delaney Spaulding provides the power in the UCLA lineup, notching four home runs and 31 RBIs so far this season.
The No. 13 Bruins have gone 27-3 since starting the season 2-2, and are riding a 13-game win streak entering a three-game series with Washington. UCLA got three wins over Utah to start Pac-12 play last weekend.
Redshirt senior shortstop Kellie Fox has been the No. 18 Wildcats' most consistent batter this season, hitting .393 and slugging .652. Arizona, much like rival ASU, relies on two young pitchers, sophomore Michelle Floyd and freshman Trish Parks, to carry the load in the circle.
Arizona is 17-0 in Tucson this season, but has struggled to scratch .500 at road or neutral sites. The Wildcats are in a rhythm, however, after taking two of three games from Cal to start their Pac-12 schedule.
Seniors Danielle Henderson and Cheyenne Cordes provide the offensive punch for the No. 11 Bears, contributing 11 home runs and 63 RBIs this season. Cal's ace in the circle is sophomore Stephanie Trzcinski (10-1, 1.48 ERA).
Cal is ASU's next opponent this coming weekend, and will face the Sun Devils after a Wednesday night matchup with Minnesota. The Bears dropped two of three games against Arizona last weekend in Berkeley.
Worth noting: No. 22 ASU softball has hit a total of 40 home runs this season (three of which have been walk-off grand slams). Seniors Amber Freeman and Bethany Kemp have led the home run hitting bonanza, sending eight apiece over the fence.
The Sun Devils struggled with consistency in their out of conference schedule, but knocked off the likes of No. 3 Michigan, No. 6 Oklahoma and No. 15 Baylor along the way. ASU split a series with Washington in Seattle before game three was cancelled due to heavy rain.
No. 17 Washington boasts an overall record that is better than Arizona and ASU, but the Huskies don't have nearly as strong of a schedule as the Sun Devils or Wildcats. UW was on a 12-game winning streak before falling to ASU 9-7 in game two of their series.
Washington will take on Texas Tech in a two-game break from Pac-12 play before facing UCLA on the weekend of March 21 in Seattle.
Senior outfielder Dani Gilmore and junior catcher Sammi Noland are the key offensive players for OSU, ranking one and two in batting average and RBI interchangeably. The Beavers' ace is junior Beverly Miller (11-6, 3.57 ERA).
OSU ran into a titan in rival Oregon to start out its Pac-12 schedule, but was 19-6 before that series after traveling everywhere from Tempe, to San Diego, to Honolulu to play tournament games. The Beavers have yet to play at home in 28 games so far this season.
For the Utes, senior outfielder Kate Dickman and sophomore infielder Hannah Flippen lead the way in the batters box, combining for 20 RBI and six home runs. Utah's primary pitcher is freshman Katie Donovan, who has pitched 47.7 of the possible innings this season and achieved a 6-3 record with a 2.36 ERA.
Utah hung with UCLA in its three game series last weekend, but lost every game to start out on a negative note in the conference. The Utes' next three-game series will be against McNeese State, and then they will continue their Pac-12 gauntlet against Oregon in Salt Lake City.
Stanford's top overall batter is junior utility player Kayla Bonstrom, who hits .477 and leads the team in home runs with seven. The leading pitcher in the circle for Stanford is freshman Haley Snyder, who is 8-7 with a 5.12 ERA.
The Cardinal have the worst overall record in the conference, and have yet to start Pac-12 play. Stanford does boast a victory over No. 5 Alabama earlier in the season, but that stands as their only true marquee win.
Reach the reporter at rclarke6@asu.edu or follow @RClarkeASU on Twitter.
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