For Immediate Release \\ Wednesday, June 22, 2016 Contact \\ Jocelyn Perry ([email protected]) 2016 PAC-12 SOFTBALL STANDINGS LAST WEEK’S PAC-12 OVERALL W L T Pct. W L T Pct. L10 Streak RESULTS Oregon* 20 4 .833 48 10 .828 7-3 L 2 UCLA 16 5 1 .729 40 16 1 .714 7-3 L 2 Washington 16 8 .667 39 15 .722 7-3 L 2 FRIDAY, MAY 27 Utah 13 10 .565 35 22 .614 4-6 L 2 UTAH vs Fl. St. ........... FSU, 6-2 Arizona 13 11 .542 40 21 .656 7-3 L 2 WASH vs. Ala ......... ALA, 2-1 (8) California 11 11 1 .500 33 24 1 .578 4-6 L 1 Oregon State 9 14 .391 30 20 1 .598 4-6 L 2 Arizona State 6 18 .250 32 26 .551 3-7 L 2 SATURDAY, MAY 28 Stanford 0 24 .000 13 35 .271 0-10 L 18 UTAH vs Fl. St. ........... FSU, 3-0 *Pac-12 Champion UCLA vs ORE ............. ORE, 8-1 ARIZ vs Auburn ......... ARIZ, 5-3 THIS YEAR IN PAC-12 SOFTBALL WASH vs Ala ................ALA, 5-2 The 2016 season was another outstanding year for Pac-12 Softball. In addition to eight of the league’s nine SUNDAY, MAY 29 teams earning postseason berths, five squads advanced to the NCAA Super Regional round. Those eight ORE vs UCLA ......UCLA, 2-1 (9) teams made appearances in the final polls, with UCLA pacing the Conference at No. 9/9. With the Bruins in the top-25 are: OREGON No. 10/11, WASHINGTON No. 13/13, ARIZONA No. 14/15 and UTAH No. 16/16. UCLA vs ORE ........... UCLA, 2-1 Also receiving votes included CALIFORNIA (NFCA/USA Softball), OREGON STATE (NFCA) and ARIZONA ARIZ vs Auburn ..........AUB, 4-1 STATE (USA Softball). Auburn vs ARIZ ..........AUB, 6-1 BRUINS TO WCWS: UCLA advanced to the WCWS for the 26th time in program history after taking two games from the Ducks in Eugene. The Bruins won the 2010 WCWS title, the program’s 11th, and moved THURSDAY, JUNE 2 its streak to 17 straight seasons of qualifying for the NCAA Tournament. UCLA won 8 of the first 11 WCWS titles, beginning in 1982. The Super Regionals were comprised of 16 teams, held May 26-29 on eight UCLA vs AUB ...........AUB, 10-3 campus sites. At each site, two teams played in a best-of-three tournament format. The winners from each site advanced to the NCAA® Women’s College World Series (WCWS). SATURDAY, JUNE 4 FIVE ADVANCED TO SUPERS: For the first time since 2012, five Pac-12 squads advanced to the NCAA UCLA vs FSU .............. FSU, 8-4 Super Regional round. The league’s three teams holding top-16 seeds advanced in No. 5 OREGON, No. 11 WASHINGTON and No. 12 UCLA. Joining the seeded trio include ARIZONA and UTAH. QUEENS OF THE LEAGUE: With Oregon’s 5-1 win over the Utes in Eugene, the Ducks sealed their fourth- straight Pac-12 softball title. The feat has been achieved once before, with UCLA winning four-consecutive titles in 1988-91. ALL-AMERICA HONORS: Ten Pac-12 student-athletes received All-America recognition, as announced by the NFCA. Leading the charge included Oregon’s OF Koral Costa and Washington’s UT/Non-P, DP Kimberlee Souza, who each earned first team distinction. Second team honorees included 3B Mysha Sataraka and SS Delaney Spaulding of UCLA, as well as AL/SS Nikki Udria (Oregon) and UT/DP Ali Aguilar (Washington). Third team honorees were P Nisa Ontiveros (California), P Cheridan Hawkins, (Oregon), 2B Hannah Flippen (Utah) and OF Allexis Bennett (UCLA). ALL-PAC-12: In a vote of the Conference’s head coaches, Utah junior Hannah Flippen has been named the 2016 Pac-12 Softball Player of the Year, OREGON senior Cheridan Hawkins was voted Pitcher of the Year, Oregon senior Janelle Lindvall garnered Defensive Player of the Year honors and Washington’s Taran Alvelo and Oregon’s Megan Kleist were tabbed Co-Freshmen of the Year. OREGON head coach Mike White was voted Coach of the Year, while UCLA’s Allexis Bennett was crowned the Pac-12 Softball Batting Champion with a Conference-leading .437 batting average. ALL REGION: 36 Pac-12 players earned All-Region recognition, and 17 league players earned first-team honors. The awards honor softball student-athletes from the Association’s 10 regions with first, second team and third team selections. NFCA member coaches from each respective region voted on the teams, and all the honorees now become eligible for selection to the 2016 NFCA Division I All-American squads. AROUND THE PAC-12 PAC-12 SCHOLAR-ATHLETE OF THE YEAR: Oregon pitcher Cheri- is provided by the regional advisory committees for consideration by dan Hawkins was tapped as the softball Scholar-Athlete of the Year. the Division I Softball Committee. Hawkins, a senior from Anderson, Calif., maintains a 3.82 grade point average (GPA) in Family and Human Services and marks Oregon’s USA SOFTBALL COLLEGIATE PLAYER OF THE YEAR FINALISTS: first recipient of the honor for softball. Hawkins was a three time first Three Pac-12 players were named finalists for the 2016 USA Soft- team Pac-12 All-Academic honoree. The LHP helped the Ducks to ball Collegiate Player of the Year, as announced by ASA/USA Softball. four-straight league titles and earned three consecutive Pac-12 Pitcher Amongst the 25 named included WASHINGTON’s junior Ali Aguilar, of the Year nods. The recipient of 14 career Pac-12 weekly honors, who currently ranks second nationally in RBIs per game (1.53) and Hawkins is a three-time NFCA All-American and a three-time Academic fourth nationally in home runs per game (0.5). UCLA’s senior Allexis All-American. She became the first Pac-12 player since Arizona State’s Bennett holds top-30 national marks in batting average (0.44) and Dallas Escobedo in 2014 and 15th league player overall to reach 1,000 runs per game (1.17, 13th). Rounding out the Pac-12 is OREGON’s career strikeouts. senior Koral Costa, who averages top-30 national rankings in batting average (21st, 0.45) and slugging percentage (29th, 0.798). IN THE RANKINGS: Eight league teams make appearances in the final national top-25 polls. UCLA paces the Conference at No. 9/9. With HISTORIC MILESTONES: After taking the series sweep over Stanford, the Bruins in the top-25 are: OREGON No. 10/11, WASHINGTON No. Arizona head coach Mike Candrea earned his 1,458th career victory. 13/13, ARIZONA No. 14/15 and UTAH No. 16/16. Also receiving votes Candrea passes legendary Margie Wright, who won 1,457 games from included CALIFORNIA (NFCA/USA Softball), OREGON STATE (NFCA) 1980-2012 coaching for Illinois State and Fresno State. Candrea now and ARIZONA STATE (USA Softball). only trails Michigan’s Carol Hutchins, who hit the mark on April 2. Utah softball celebrated its 40th anniversary last week in the series sweep AROUND THE LEAGUE: At the end of the season, UCLA led the nation of Arizona State. in double plays per game at a rate of .79. UTAH finished second (.73) and WASHINGTON finished ninth (.54). HuskyAli Aguilar had a great WEST COAST UPGRADES: 11-time NCAA National Champion UCLA year at the plate, leading the nation in runs per game (1.41), fifth in Softball announced a generous donation that will be used to support RBIs/game (1.3) and tied for fourth in home runs with 21 on the sea- improvements, including a new scoreboard, to Easton Stadium. Ore- son, alongside ARIZONA’s Katiyana Mauga. OREGON led the country gon opened Jane Sanders Stadium on March 24th, which seats 1,500. in batting average at .353, while the Huskies ranked ninth (.337). The Washington unveiled its new center field videoboard in March. Ducks also ranked second in slugging percentage (.618) and home runs per game (1.81). Duck pitcher Cheridan Hawkins finished her NPF DRAFTEES: Five players from the Conference were drafted in the senior campaign ranked fifth in strikeouts per seven innings at 10.3, 2016 NPF Draft, representing three different schools. College seniors while OREGON STATE’s Meehra Nelson ranked 24th at 8.5. UCLA are eligible for the draft, which consisted of six rounds to select 40 duo Delaney Spaulding and Mysha Sataraka had a complete year of- players. OF Allexis Bennett of UCLA was selected in the second round fensively. Spaulding ranked 25th in RBI’s (1.07) and Sataraka ranked at eighth overall to the Pennsylvania Rebellion. A trio of Ducks were 22nd in slugging percentage (.796). drafted, including UT Geri Ann Glasco (No. 20, Akron Racers), LHP Cheridan Hawkins (No. 29, Dallas Charge) and OF Alyssa Gillespie BATTING PROWESS: Two Conference teams rank in the top-30 in (No. 38, Dallas Charge). OREGON STATE’s INF Mikela Manewa was batting average in the nation. OREGON leads the nation at .353 and selected No. 40 overall to the Scrap Yard Dawgs. WASHINGTON comes in at No. 9 nationally at a mark of .337. CoSIDA ACADEMIC ALL-DISTRICT 8: Nine Pac-12 student-athletes RPI RELEASED: Eight league teams rank in the final top-40 in the were named to the CoSIDA Academic All-District 8 Team. Washington latest RPI release. OREGON and WASHINGTON headline the Pac-12’s led the way with three honorees, including Kimberlee Souza, Ali Agui- presence, as the Huskies finish the season at number nine while the lar and Casey Stangel.