May 25, 2004

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TITLE ON THE LINE
The scenarios: if STANFORD wins at least two out of three from ARIZONA STATE this weekend, the Cardinal will be this year's sole Pac-10 Champion... If Stanford wins just one game against the Sun Devils, the Cardinal will share the Conference title with WASHINGTON and the Huskies will earn the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament due to the tie-breaker of head-to-head competition in league play that the UW won 2-1 this season... If Arizona State sweeps Stanford, ASU will be crowned Co-Champions with the Huskies, with UW again earning the automatic bid for the postseason after taking two of three games from the Sun Devils earlier this season... If Arizona State and UCLA sweep, they will share the Pac-10 Title with Washington and ASU will receive the NCAA automatic bid through Pac-10 tie-breaker procedure (page 4)... If Stanford wins one and UCLA sweeps, they both will be Co-Champs with Washington, the Huskies winning the automatic bid to Regionals... In other extremely important Pac-10 games with postseason implications this weekend, the steady UCLA Bruins will play their last three at a determined OREGON STATE, ARIZONA will try to solidify a spot at regionals going against the Trojans of USC, and CALIFORNIA will square off with WASHINGTON STATE, both looking to end strong... In non-conference play, Washington will finish its season by hosting a three-game series with UC Irvine.

THIS WEEK
Fri., May 28
*ARIZONA at USC, 7 p.m.
*ARIZONA STATE at STANFORD, 6 p.m.
*CALIFORNIA at WASHINGTON STATE, 6 p.m.
*UCLA at OREGON STATE, 5 p.m.
UC Irvine at WASHINGTON, 6:30 p.m.

Sat., May 29
*ARIZONA at USC, 7 p.m.
*ARIZONA STATE at STANFORD, 1 p.m.
*CALIFORNIA at WASHINGTON STATE, 6 p.m.
*UCLA at OREGON STATE, 1 p.m.
UC Irvine at WASHINGTON, 1 p.m.

Sun., May 30
*ARIZONA at USC, 1 p.m.
*ARIZONA STATE at STANFORD, 1 p.m.
*CALIFORNIA at WASHINGTON STATE, Noon
*UCLA at OREGON STATE, 1 p.m.
UC Irvine at WASHINGTON, 1 p.m.

Pac-10 Player of the Week: Jonny Ash, STAN
Pac-10 Pitcher of the Week: Casey Janssen, UCLA

LAST WEEK
Tue., May 18
No. 19 ARIZONA STATE 22, New Mexico 4
Portland 3, OREGON STATE 1 (game 1)
OREGON STATE 16, Portland 3 (game 2)
STANFORD 3, San Francisco 1
UC Irvine 7, UCLA 5
Pepperdine 7, USC 4
No. 14 WASHINGTON 8, Lewis-Clark State 4

Wed., May 19
ARIZONA STATE 12, New Mexico State 5
Lewis-Clark State 9, WASHINGTON STATE 2

Fri., May 21
*No. 19 ARIZONA STATE 8, ARIZONA 3
*OREGON STATE 3, WASHINGTON STATE 2
*USC 9, No. 1 STANFORD 3
*UCLA 3, No. 14 WASHINGTON 1

Sat., May 22
*No. 19 ARIZONA STATE 7, ARIZONA 2
*OREGON STATE at WASHINGTON STATE (postponed, rain)
*No. 1 STANFORD 5, USC 4
*No. 14 WASHINGTON 7, UCLA 2

Sun., May 23
*ARIZONA 13, No. 19 ARIZONA STATE 7
*WASHINGTON STATE 4, OREGON ST. 2 (game 1 of double-header)
*OREGON STATE 5, WASHINGTON ST. 3 (game 2 of double-header)
*No. 1 STANFORD 8, USC 2
*UCLA 4, No. 14 WASHINGTON 3

2004 PAC-10 TEAM NOTES
Arizona- With the series loss to the Sun Devils this weekend, the Wildcats are now 2-7 in Conference games against ASU in the last three seasons... In the 13-7 win over Arizona State this weekend, SO RHP John Meloan moved his record to 7-0 on the season... The Wildcats are third in the league in batting average hitting at a .311 clip with a league best 29 triples... JR OF Jeff Van Houten is second in Pac-10 play with a .518 on base percentage... Arizona is 3-3 versus USC in the last two seasons having won one of three last time they played the Trojans in Los Angeles.

Arizona State- The Sun Devils have won 11 of their last 12 games and 16 of their last 19... In the 22-4 thrashing of New Mexico (Mountain West co-champs) on May 18, The Sun Devils set season records for runs scored, hits (26) and home runs (4)... The 26 hits are tied for ninth in ASU's single-game history...With the 12-5 win over New Mexico State on May 19, ASU finished the non-conference season 27-5... ASU now has 10 players hitting .300 or better this season... SO LHP Erik Averill's second save of the season at Arizona on May 21 was ASU's 18th, the most saves for the Sun Devils since they had 20 in 1990... JR SS Dustin Pedroia leads the league in on base percentage (.515), runs (74), hits (90), doubles (23) and walks (43).

California- Cal holds a 28-21 all-time series lead over WSU according to their records... JR INF David Nicholson leads the team with a .378 batting average, 49 runs and 74 hits... JR RHP Jesse Ingram has 18 career saves for the Bears, tying him with Bobby Kahlon (1993-94) for second on Cal's all-time saves list... The Bears have played just four games in the month of May.

Oregon State- The Beavers avenged last year's series loss to WSU by winning two of three in Pullman last weekend... Over the weekend, OSU scored just 12 runs in three games compared to its last visit to Pullman in 2002, where it swept the series and scored 50 runs in three games... In the 16-3 win over Portland in the second game of a double-header on May 18, SR INF Tony Calderon recorded his second six-RBI game in a month, including two home runs in that game... OSU is 21-2 when outhitting its opponent.

Stanford- With two wins in its series against Arizona State this weekend, Stanford can win the Pac-10 title outright for the second consecutive season and with one win can clinch a share of the league crown for the fourth time in six seasons... No. 2 Stanford reached the 40-win plateau for the 10th year in a row... The Cardinal have now been ranked No. 1 or No. 2 by Baseball America since Feb. 23... The Cardinal lead the league in runs (454), hits (625) RBI (420), home runs (84) total bases (1000), and slugging percentage (.525)... SR RHP David O'Hagan leads the league in ERA (2.72) and opposing batting average (.190).

UCLA- The Bruins had a career record of 1-5 at Husky Ball Park until this weekend where they won two of three from the Huskies... UCLA's victories were even more impressive considering they were outscored by Washington 12-9 over the series... UCLA is tied for third in the Conference with ASU and has won its last two Conference series... SR RHP Casey Janssen threw the first complete game of his career in the Bruins' 3-1 win over the UW on May 21, striking out eight while only walking one batter... JR SS Ryan McCarthy hit two home runs in the 4-3 win over Washington on May 23.

USC- Head coach Mike Gillespie recorded his 300th Pac-10 win in the 8-2 upset over No. 1 Stanford on May 21... he now has 696 career wins... In the win over Stanford, SR INF Jon Brewster and JR 1B Joey Metropoulos each hit home runs to help the Trojans break the Cardinal's 16-game home winning streak and only their second home loss of the season... In the same game, FR RHP Ian Kennedy pitched six innings with six strikeouts for USC, his third victory of the season over a Top-25 team.

Washington- Head Coach Ken Knutson became Washington's all-time winningest coach when he recorded his 423rd win at the helm of the Dawgs in a 7-2 win over UCLA on May 22, surpassing past Husky skipper Bob MacDonald who won 422 in his tenure... With the 8-4 win over NAIA powerhouse Lewis-Clark State, the Huskies snapped the Warriors 22-game win streak... SO OF Zach Clem broke a UW single-season record when he recorded his 20th hit by pitch on May 18... SR INF Greg Issacson leads the league with 21 stolen bases, 12 of those coming in Pac-10 play.

Washington State- The Cougars look to finish their season on a high note and avenge the three-game sweep that the Cal Bears made the last time they were in Pullman in 2002... The Cougars are 1-5 against the Bears in the last two seasons... SR RHP Aaron MacKenzie threw his second complete game of the season on May 23 (first game of the doubleheader), going nine innings while striking out five and allowing just one earned run... JR INF Grant Richardson went 4-for-9 (.444) over the weekend with a home run and two RBI.

Pac-10 Champions since 1990
2003- Stanford
2002- USC
2001- USC
2000- Stanford
UCLA
Arizona State
1999- Stanford
1998- Washington
1997- Washington
1996- USC
1995- USC
1994- North: Oregon State
South: Stanford
1993- North: Washington
South: Arizona State
1992- North:Washington
South: Arizona
1991- North: Washington St.
South: USC
1990- North: Washington St
South: Stanford

*Prior to 1999 the Conference was split up into North and South divisions, and from 1995-98 the Champions from the Pac-10 North and South played each other for the Conference Title.

PAC-10 TIE BREAKER- The Conference Champion will be decided by the best won-lost percentage in Conference games. If that percentage is shared by more than one team, a co-championship shall exist. To determine the Conference's automatic qualifier for te NCAA Division I Baseball Championship, the following procedure will be used: a. The regular-season Conference record of each of the tied teams against the other team(s) with which it is tied shall be determined. The team with the edge in the Conference-couting three-game series will be receive the automatic berth. If a tie still exists... b. The tied teams' record in regular-season Conference play against the next highest placed team(s) in the Conference standings shall be determined, including any team(s) already eliminated through the tie-breaking procedure. This procedure shall continue through an evaluation of competitive records of the tied teams against all teams in the Conference in the order of thier placement in the standings until the tie is broken. In the event of a tie among two or more teams lower in the standings when comparing records, each team's combined record against the two or more tied teams shall be determined. If a tied team is eliminated as a result of this procedure and a tie still exists, the tie-breaking procedure shall revert to step (a) above. If a tie still exists... c. The conference's automatic qualifier will be determined by a coin flip conducted by the Commissioner.

GOLDEN SPIKES AWARDS FINALIST- JR SS Dustin Pedroia was named a Golden Spikes Award Finalists, on Tues., May 25, one of the five players in collegiate baseball eligible for the honor. Pedroia was the 2003 Pac-10 Co-Player of the Year. If he wins, he will be the fourth Arizona State recipient of the GSA. The award given out by USA Baseball, recognizes the top amateur baseball player in the country and has been awarded since 1978. The winner will be announced on Tuesday, July 13.

NCAA TOURNAMENT SELECTION INFORMATION

Regionals
Regional On-Campus Sites Announced: Sunday, May 30, at 2:10 P.M. CT, Live on ESPN

64-Team NCAA Tournament Field Announced: Monday, May 31, at 11 A.M. CT, Live on ESPN2

Regional Dates: Teams will play from June 4- 6. Winners from 16 Regional sites will advance to the Super Regional.

Super Regionals
Super Regional On-Campus Sites Announced: Sunday, June 6, during the 10 P.M. CT Sports Center telecast, Live on ESPN

Super Regional Dates: Teams will play a best of three-game series starting on either Friday, June 11, or Saturday, June 12, and going until Sunday, June 13, or Monday, June 14, if a third game is needed. Winners of the eight Super Regionals will play in The 58th College World Series held in Omaha, Neb.

College World Series
College World Series Game Times to Announced: Monday, June 14, at 7 P.M. CT.

College World Series Dates: Teams that played in the Friday-Sunday Super Regional will begin play in Omaha Friday, June 18, and teams that played the Saturday- Monday Super Regional will begin play on Saturday, June 19.