The WCC Baseball Tournament kicks off on Wednesday, May 25, to Saturday, May 28, from Banner Island Ballpark in Stockton, Calif.
This is the first year of the new format for the WCC Baseball Tournament. Six teams qualified for the tournament (previously four), with the first day's action being single elimination before returning to the double-elimination format on the second day.
Defending Conference champion Gonzaga is the No. 1 seed in the tournament after clinching the regular season title, its second straight WCC regular season title and the sixth in program history. This season also marked the first time the Bulldogs did not lose a conference series since they joined the WCC in 1996. Gonzaga's 20 conference wins in 2022 tied for the most in program history.
The Bulldogs boast four wins against ranked opponents all in the top 10, highlighted by a three-game sweep at then-No. 6 Oklahoma State and a win over then-No. 2 Oregon State.
Portland heads to Stockton as the No. 2 seed after being tabbed to finish sixth in the Conference preseason poll. Portland is enjoying its first 30-win season since 2010, and it is the fourth time in program history the Pilots have reached 30 wins. The Pilots' 17 conference wins are the most since 2002. The WCC Pitcher of the Year, Brett Gillis paced all WCC pitchers with nine wins and a 1.65 ERA that ranks sixth in the nation. Pete Allegro led the league in saves this season with 13.
Strong at the plate all year, San Diego leads the WCC with a .286 team batting average, a .381 on-base percentage, and a .429 slugging percentage. Kevin Sim and WCC Player of the Year Caleb Ricketts are two of the four WCC batters tied for first in the league in home runs (11). USD also ranks No. 26 (9.9) in the nation in strikeouts per game and the Toreros lead the WCC and rank 18th in the nation with a .979 fielding percentage.
No. 4 seed BYU heads to Stockton ranking second in the league in slugging percentage at .414. The Cougars also pace the WCC in RBI with 305, three more than San Diego. Steady on the mound, as well, BYU's overall team ERA of 3.73 was a league best. The Cougars will face No. 5 seed LMU in a rematch of the final weekend of the regular season when BYU took two out of three over the Lions.
No. 5 seed, LMU is led by Diego Baquiero who is tied for the league lead in home runs (11) and paces the WCC in RBI with 57, 10 more than the second-place batter. LMU is the only team in the league this year to top 500 hits (506). On the mound, Diego Barrera's 2.96 ERA ranked third in the league as one of only three WCC pitchers to boast an ERA under 3.00 (Gabriel Hughes and Brett Gillis).
Punching its ticket to the WCC Tournament on the final weekend of the regular season, San Francisco put an exclamation mark on its regular season with a series sweep over Pacific, ending the regular season on a four-game winning streak. The Dons lead the WCC in walks (244) and stolen bases (92) in overall games played. The Dons will face USD on Wednesday, and USF won the season series over the Toreros in San Francisco, taking two out of three.
Following the Conference tournament, the NCAA Selection Show will air on Monday, May 30, at 9 a.m. PT.