![]() ![]() Instead, however, Arizona and Oregon faced off again on May 25 in the first game of the tournament, and the Wildcats got their revenge on the Ducks with an 8-6 victory. If this season reflected previous years, Arizona would be limping into the NCAA playoffs after getting swept at Oregon in the last week of the regular season May 19-21, while the Ducks would have ended the season in contention to host a regional round. I think moving forward, it’s only gonna get stronger and stronger.” Tournament games, games where it’s double elimination, it just breeds better competition. “I think it should have happened a long time ago. “I thought it was really cool,” Campos said. Susac’s counterpart on Arizona State, freshman catcher Ryan Campos, agreed. It’s really cool to now have our own Pac-12 tournament.” “I always grew up watching the SEC tournament and all those and I was like, ‘Man, that’d be cool.’ Even last year we were watching the SEC tournament after we were done. The Pac-12 tournament also gave top prospects like Wildcats sophomore catcher Daniel Susac, a projected high first-round pick in the upcoming 2022 MLB draft, another chance to more fully enjoy their time in the college baseball ranks. 5 seeds respectively, the new tournament provided a chance to improve their candidacy for a higher seed in an NCAA playoff regional. For teams in the middle of the pack like Oregon and Arizona, which entered as the No. The top eight regular season finishers in the conference this season qualified for the tournament. “There was a desire from the coaches, like, ‘Hey, maybe it’s time to switch it up,’ and we just thought it would help with NCAA selections and raise the exposure of Pac-12 baseball and be a great experience for student-athletes.” ![]() “It’s something that coaches, student athletes and fans have wanted for years,” said Pac-12 assistant commissioner Drew Seidenberger. As the years went on without a baseball tournament in the Pac-12, pressure on the conference grew from within. For the programs themselves, the lack of a conference tournament meant that they would only be able to furnish their resume for an NCAA tournament bid by playing games and opponents that had been predetermined before the season. The SEC, ACC and Big Ten have operated theirs for over 40 years, and the Big 12 added one in 1997.įor college baseball recruits, committing to a Pac-12 baseball program used to mean forgoing that tradition. The four other Power Five conferences have all instituted baseball tournaments and each has become a sacred tradition. ![]() SCOTTSDALE – To call the five-day, 15-game inaugural Pac-12 Baseball Tournament that unfolded at Scottsdale Stadium last week “long-awaited” would be an understatement. The Wildcats eliminated the Sun Devils from the tournament with an 8-6 win. Arizona State’s Joe Lampe, left) and Arizona’s Tony Bullard both played in the inaugural Pac-12 tournament in Scottsdale. ![]()
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