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The Daily Wildcat

The Daily Wildcat

 

Pac-12 softball power rankings: Oregon tops UCLA

Devin+Means%2F+The+Daily+Wildcat%0A%0ADuring+Arizonas+sfotball+5-3+win+against+Stanford+at+Rita+Hillenbrand+Stadium+on+April+5th+2014
Devin Means
Devin Means/ The Daily Wildcat During Arizona’s sfotball 5-3 win against Stanford at Rita Hillenbrand Stadium on April 5th 2014

1. No. 1 Oregon (34-5, 8-1 Pac-12)
After weeks of maintaining a top-5 national ranking, the Oregon Ducks took two out of three against the former No. 1, UCLA, this past weekend. With the series victory, the Ducks jumped from No. 3 to No. 1 in the nation. It’s the first time in program history Oregon has been No. 1.

2. No. 3 UCLA Bruins (34-4, 9-3)
The Bruins lost their hold on the No. 1 spot in the nation by losing to Oregon last weekend. The Oregon series saw UCLA lose consecutive games for the first time this season.

3. No. 6 ASU (35-6, 9-3)
The Sun Devils swept their three-game series against California this weekend to maintain their No. 6 national ranking. An upcoming three-game series against Utah puts ASU in position to take advantage of a Utah pitching staff that has an ERA of 4.66, which is last in the conference.

4. No. 9 Arizona (32-8, 7-5)
The combination of moving up from No. 10 to No. 9 in the nation and sweeping Stanford in a three-game series should give Arizona a boost this week. The Wildcats look to improve upon their 4-5 road record as they hit the road to take on California this weekend.

5. No. 10 Washington (22-10, 2-6)
Washington has been off since April 1 and dropped one spot in the national rankings, to No. 10. The Huskies have a very winnable three-game series against Stanford looming.

6. California (20-14, 3-4)
Despite being unranked and losing three straight to ASU, the California Golden Bears move up one spot in this week’s power rankings. If that doesn’t tell you how much the bottom half of the conference is struggling, then I don’t know what will.

7. Stanford (24-14, 1-8)
Fresh off being swept in a three-game series against Arizona, Stanford dropped out of the national rankings and faces a solid Washington team this weekend. The Cardinal needs to make sure it isn’t chopped down this weekend.

8. Utah (16-16, 3-8)
Utah went 4-1 over the past week to get back up to the .500 mark. However, the Utes will likely fall below .500 after this weekend’s series against ASU.

9. Oregon State (13-20, 3-7)
The Beavers lost two out of three to Utah this past weekend. OSU hosts No. 1 Oregon this weekend in what will be a rough rivalry week for Oregon State.

—Follow Roberto Payne @HouseOfPayne555

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