This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The Utah Utes did their part to remain in first place in the Pac-12 baseball standings this past weekend, and they also got some help. The Utes took two of three games with Stanford at Smith's Ballpark. Just as significant was last-place Washington State's winning two of three games vs. Washington in Seattle, dropping the Huskies a game below Utah. Arizona State also helped the Utes by winning two of three games vs. Arizona, keeping the Wildcats from climbing any higher than third place. A lot can happen in the remaining two weeks of the season, but it sure looks like the race will come down to a three game series between Utah and Washington, May 27-29 at Smith's Ballpark. This week, Utah (15-9) plays a series at California and Washington (14-10) hosts Stanford. Arizona (15-12) closes its Pac-12 schedule with a series at Oregon, so the Utes and Huskies should know what they have to do, going into their series next week. Fourth-place Arizona State (13-11) visits UCLA this week. Utah hosts BYU in its final nonconference game, Tuesday ( 7 p.m.) at Smith's Ballpark. The Pac-12 standings: Utah 15-9 Washington 14-10 Arizona 15-12 Arizona State 13-11 Oregon 12-12 USC 12-12 Oregon State 11-13 California 11-13 Stanford 11-13 UCLA 11-13 Washington State 10-17 – Kurt Kragthorpe