Stanford was selected Friday by the Pac-12 coaches as the preseason favorite to win the conference baseball title this season. The Cardinal received five of 10 possible first-place votes and 93 points.
Stanford finished the 2012 campaign with a 41-18 record and advanced to NCAA Super Regional play in the postseason. The Cardinal, led by preseason All-Americans Mark Appel, Brian Ragira and Austin Wilson, enter the season as a consensus top-10 team in the national rankings.
UCLA, a Pac-12 co-champion and College World Series participant in 2012, came in second with 90 points and received a pair of first-place votes. Oregon State, which finished third in the balloting, collected 87 points and the three remaining first-place votes. Oregon finished fourth with 73 points, and defending national champion Arizona picked up 65 points to round out the top five.
Arizona finished sixth in the polling, picking up 58 points, and California's 40 points were good for seventh. USC and Washington State collected 32 points apiece to tie for eighth in the poll, while Washington came in 10 with 28 points. Utah, which picked up 12 points, was tabbed to finish 11th.
All 11 teams will be in action on Friday, Feb. 15 as the 2013 season gets under way. Pac-12 play starts Friday, March 15.
The following are the results of the preseason coaches’ poll. Ten points are awarded for a first-place vote, nine points for a second-place vote and so on. First-place votes are in parentheses. Coaches are not allowed to vote for their own teams.
1. Stanford (5) 93
2. UCLA (2) 90
3. Oregon State (3) 87
4. Oregon 73
5. Arizona 65
6. Arizona State 58
7. California 40
8. USC 32
8. Washington State 32
10. Washington 28
11. Utah 12
