Wednesday Dots: Pressure Makes Diamond Dawgs

Rich man step on my poor head

When you get back you better butter my bread

Well, do you know it’s like I said

You better head back to Tennessee Dots

• When UW baseball started conference play at 6-15, hopes were dim for the remainder of the 2022 season. Only the top eight teams in the conference would make the first edition of the Pac-12 tournament and the Dawgs were well on the outside looking in. Since that point, the Diamond Dawgs have gone 13-1, including 8-1 in conference. The job doesn’t get any easier with Pac-12 powerhouse Oregon State on the slate in today’s opening game.

• The hot finish also spurred several Dawgs onto the All-Conference team. Pitcher Stefan Raeth, 1B Will Simpson, and C Johnny Tincher all received All Pac-12 honors.

• A couple weeks ago, we posted a roundtable on the top issues for fans attending games at Husky Stadium. Inconvenient and inconsistent start times were a factor for many of our writers and commenters, alike. Stuart Mandel’s most recent mailbag tackles the same question in the context of conference media deals. Is there a chance for the pendulum to swing back in the fan-friendly direction?

• Following the Pac-12’s lead, the Mountain West announced that they will also scrap football divisions, effective in the 2023 season. It’s nice for the Pac-12 to be on the forefront of an important move for once, even if it’s not the highest impact decision.

• Transfer portal rankings are still a work in progress, so it’s not a surprise that the ratings have changed pretty significantly over the course of the spring. The new 247 portal rankings have some UW commits in favorable spots. Aaron Dumas, despite not getting a huge amount of buzz, is top of the list with a 90 grade. The linebacker tandem of Cam Bright and Kris Moll also graded well.

• The Huskies also extended a couple of new offers yesterday. Donavyn Pellot is a DB/RB from the Las Vegas area with a growing list of Pac-12 offers. Kenyon Sadiq is a 4-star athlete from Idaho who the Dawgs appear to like as a TE.