For most conferences around the country, this weekend marked the end of the regular season. There was still much to play for from coast-to-coast, including championships, conference tournament qualification and NCAA Tournament resume improvement. Not surprisingly, with so much on the line, the weekend delivered some big moments and drama.
Here are 10 takeaways from the weekend that was.
1. Stanford was the preseason favorite to win the Pac-12. Not only did we at Baseball America pick the Cardinal to win, so too did the Pac-12 coaches in their preseason poll. And that’s exactly where they ended the regular season.
Stanford (37-14, 21-9) swept Southern California this weekend. That result, combined with Oregon State’s series loss to UCLA, gave the Cardinal the outright conference title, as they finished a game ahead of the Beavers (41-13, 20-10). It was their second Pac-12 title in five years under coach David Esquer.
Stanford took the long route to the conference championship. It started Pac-12 play 1-5 with series losses to Oregon and Arizona, and it didn’t spend a day atop the conference standings until this weekend. But a 12-game winning streak helped it pass Oregon State on the final weekend.
The long way worked for the Cardinal. It allowed the pitching staff to take shape behind righthander Alex Williams (8-1, 1.67), who established himself as an ace and an All-American candidate. Righthander Joey Dixon (5-3, 3.12) and lefthander Quinn Mathews (8-1, 2.58, 5 SV) flipped between starting and relief but have both shown the ability to get outs in either role. That trio, along with lefthander Drew Dowd (6-0, 4.76), accounts for 277.1 innings this season, more than 60% of the innings Stanford has thrown.
Offensively, Brett Barrera (.372/.422/.612, 9 HR) and Carter Graham (.344/.405/.665, 19 HR) have been strong all season long. But after a slow start by his lofty standards, Preseason All-American outfielder Brock Jones (.330/.468/.675, 16 HR, 14 SB) has gotten to…
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