Husky Softball Notebook: Rolling in SoCal

#5 Washington pushed their win streak to 13 by going a perfect 6-0 at the prestigious Mary Nutter Classic in Cathedral City, CA last weekend.

Results:

• UW 4, Cal Poly 2
• UW 4, #16/17 Kentucky 2
• UW 1, Cal State Fullerton 0
• UW 6, Missouri 3
• UW 3, Northwestern 1
• UW 4, #23/19 Texas Tech 1

The Huskies are on a 14-game winning streak at the Nutter Classic (dating back to 2017) with three top-25 wins during that stretch (Kentucky and Texas Tech this year, plus #6 Texas A&M last year).

Pac-12 Standings (records through 2/27, rankings are NFCA Coaches/Softball America):

1. #2/2 UCLA (15-0)
2. #5/5 Washington (14-1)
3. #25/NR Oregon State (12-2)
4. RV/NR Stanford (11-2)
5. #15/20 Arizona State (12-4)
6. #20/23 Oregon (11-4)
7. #12/16 Arizona (9-5)
8. California (9-7)
9. Utah (5-10)

Pac-12 Notes

UCLA suddenly looks unstoppable. The Bruins had looked just so-so in the first two weeks, dominating a few games but also getting a tougher game than expected from multiple inferior opponents. But in their last six games, the Bruins have two top-5 wins by six runs each (Oklahoma & Florida), a no-hitter of a solid Colorado State team, and three run-rule wins, one of which came against #16 Kentucky. The top two teams in the Pac-12 collide in just two weeks in Seattle to start conference play.

Stanford had a huge weekend in Baton Rouge, going 5-0 with wins over host #9/11 LSU and an underperforming but extremely talented Michigan team. It's worth noting that both of those wins came on sixth-inning rallies in large part due to an opponent's collapse - especially LSU, which walked three, hit a batter, a two-base throwing error and a dropped third strike. But the fact that Stanford was pitching well enough to even be in those games is definitely meaningful. Stanford's status as a punching bag in the Pac-12 appears to be gone.

Utah is going the other direction. The Utes have looked mostly non-competitive against top-50 opponents. It's hard to fathom this is the same program that took UW to the wire in the Super Regional less than two years ago.

Oregon State has been quietly good, and a rash of losses by teams near the bottom of the poll have gotten them in. This week we find out whether this is just an illusion: the Beavers head to Norman, OK to face #4/4 Oklahoma and #11/15 Louisiana twice each. A 1-3 mark would be a significant positive, while even an 0-4 record would be okay if they're at least competitive.

Upcoming schedule

The Huskies will play their last weekend before the home opener at the Judi Garman Classic in Fullerton, CA. UW plays five games in three days, headlined by a top-5 showdown with the #3 Gators. All games are live on FloSoftball for a significant price.

• Fri, 12:30 p.m.: #21/NR Auburn (13-3) - Auburn radio
• Fri, 5 p.m.: #3/3 Florida (18-1) - UW radio
• Sat, 3 p.m.: Fresno State (6-5) - Fresno State radio available on KFPT 790 on TuneIn and Streema
• Sun, 9 a.m.: Michigan (6-8)
• Sun, 11:15 a.m.: host Cal State Fullerton (9-6).

Notes

The Gators entered the week undefeated, but were beaten handily by #2 UCLA in a highly-anticipated matchup on Wednesday night. The Gators will meet the Bruins again on Friday before they play Washington later that night.

The final game of the weekend vs CSUF, a rematch of UW's 1-0 win last weekend in Cathedral City, is the only true road game before conference play starts for UW.