The WCC Baseball Tournament kicks off on Wednesday, May 24, to Saturday, May 27, from Las Vegas Ballpark in Las Vegas, Nev.
This is the second 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.
This is the first year the tournament will be played at Las Vegas Ballpark after all the previous tournaments were played in Stockton, Calif. San Diego won last year's tournament, the second in program history, defeating No. 1 seed Gonzaga and top-10 ranked Gonzaga in the championship game. Pepperdine is the only other team to win the tournament multiple times (2014, 2015).
WCC Regular Season Champion LMU is the No. 1 seed in the tournament after being picked to finish fifth in the WCC Preseason Poll. The Lions last won the Conference regular season title in 2017, but a shared championship and LMU was the No 2 seed in the WCC Tournament that year. 1998 was the last year that LMU brought home the title outright. LMU won the 2019 WCC Tournament. The Lions were road warriors in 2023 having picked up 16 true road wins.
Portland heads to Las Vegas as the No. 2 seed for the second straight year. Portland secured the No. 2 seed after taking two out of three at San Francisco in the final week of the regular season. The Pilots own three wins over top-10 teams this season, taking two out of three over then-No. 5 Texas A&M, and more recently, topping No. 10 Oregon State, 14-8. Nick Brink's 1.90 ERA ranks sixth in the nation.
After missing the WCC Tournament last year, Santa Clara burst onto the scene in 2023, taking the No. 3 seed in the final week of the regular season. The Broncos were propelled by a nine-game winning streak earlier this season, and closed out the regular season winning their last four in a row. SCU owns the WCC's top team ERA at 4.64, as well as second in batting average and slugging percentage.
No. 4 seed San Diego is back and looking to defend its 2022 WCC Tournament Championship after upsetting then-No. 10 Gonzaga in last year's tournament championship game. The Toreros know how to beat top teams, as USD was the only WCC team to win the season series over LMU.
No. 5 seed Saint Mary's put the league on notice, earning a bid into the tournament after coming in eighth in the league's preseason poll. The Gaels are led by the WCC Co-Player of the Year Christian Almanza who garnered a team-best slugging percentage of .612. SMC closed out the regular season taking two out of three over Gonzaga. Saint Mary's won the 2016 WCC Tournament.
Gonzaga fills out the tournament field as the No. 6 seed. The Bulldogs who entered last year's tournament as the regular season champions are looking to return to the tournament final in 2023. During non-conference play, the Zags played a tough schedule, playing eight road games against teams in the top 52 of the RPI rankings. Gonzaga won the 2018 WCC Tournament.
Following the Conference tournament, the NCAA Selection Show will air on Monday, May 30, at 9 a.m. PT.