With seven of nine teams likely to make it to the postseason, and six ranked in the NFCA/USA Today top 25, the Pac-12 is a logjam of talented softball teams that have pummeled each other in conference play this season.
Oregon and UCLA have separated themselves from the pack, while a slim difference exists between the No. 3 through 7 schools in the standings.
The State Press Sports power rankings are as follows:
The No. 2 Ducks are flying high atop the Pac-12 standings and national rankings, winners of 11 straight and 25 of their last 27 games. Freshman Jenna Lilley stepped into a leadership role while senior Janie Takeda nursed an injury, and she is now leading the team in batting average (.442) and on-base percentage (.550). Junior lefty Cheridan Hawkins continues to be a force in the circle, boasting a 23-3 record with an astonishing 1.13 ERA.
No. 7 UCLA is another team riding a hot streak as it finishes up its conference schedule, having won 10 consecutive games following a two-game skid against the Ducks. Junior Allexis Bennett has been lethal in the batter's box and base path, hitting .507 on the year to go along with 17 steals. Senior Ally Carda controls the circle for the Bruins with a 22-4 record and 227 strikeouts.
After starting Pac-12 play 0-6 against powerhouses in Oregon and UCLA, the unranked Utes have won every other Pac-12 series they've played, including one over the Sun Devils in Tempe last weekend. Utah's freshman pitching tandem has proven itself superior to that of ASU's, and the Utes have proven that you don't need to hit the long ball in order to succeed in the grand scheme of this conference. Senior Kate Dickman leads her team in that category, however, with eight this season.
Arizona comes in at No. 16 in the NFCA/USA Today Top 25, and absolutely obliterated Stanford last weekend by a combined margin of 43-7 in a three-game sweep that only lasted 16 innings. Three players bat .400 or above for the power-hitting Wildcats, who lead the Pac-12 in home runs with 87. Sophomore Michelle Floyd has struck out 118 batters this year with a 3.27 ERA in the circle.
The No. 20 Huskies have struggled mightily with consistency since March 25. In its last seven games, Washington's results are as follows: L, W, L, W, L, W, L. This team can't keep trading wins for losses if it wants to separate itself from the likes of ASU and California, but its overall record is impressive enough to do so — for now.
With an unimpressive conference record, No. 18 California is showing itself to be a streaky team that can be dangerous when the bats get hot. Senior Cheyenne Cordes has provided the majority of that heat, leading the team in home runs (15) and RBI (70). Sophomore Stephanie Trzcinski might not strike people out at the volume of her counterpart, sophomore Katie Sutherland-Finch, but six less losses and a .049 lower ERA are worth noting.
The No. 24 Sun Devils barely avoided dropping out of the top 25 rankings for the first time since 2006 on Tuesday, and are in a slump that is unlike any experienced by this program in recent memory. Inconsistency of pitching from freshmen Breanna Macha and Dale Ryndak has been a problem for ASU all year, but it seems that when the youngsters do pitch well, the Sun Devil bats go cold. We'll see if senior catcher and "mama bear" Amber Freeman can motivate and lead her team back to prominence.
The Beavers have been dreadful in Pac-12 play in 2015, despite starting the season 19-6 out of conference. OSU has lost 15 of its last 18 games and has only won a series over lowly Stanford. A bright spot for the Beavers has been senior Dani Gilmore, who is batting .371 and slugging .662, but it's been an otherwise rough ride for the "other" team in the great state of Oregon.
Stanford has just been abysmal all season in softball, managing its only conference win with a shocking 4-2 victory over Utah on March 28. A season that has been terrible on the field for the Cardinal has been equally terrible off of it, as the parents of nine softball players sent a letter to the school's president saying that the athletic director botched the investigation that led to their prior coach resigning. Parents also cite claims that the majority of the team was upset with the termination of the prior staff. It doesn't get any lower for Stanford.
Reach the reporter at rclarke6@asu.edu or follow @RClarkeASU on Twitter.
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