SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - We're getting closer to the WCC Baseball Tournament and San Diego is catching up to LMU for the first place in the WCC standings. Santa Clara’s recent nine-game winning streak has the Broncos tied for third place with Portland. Gonzaga, Saint Mary’s and BYU are also all in contention to claim spots in the WCC Baseball Tournament.

This Week
After both teams earned two huge series wins last week, San Diego and Saint Mary's clash this week in Moraga. 

Santa Clara's nine-game winning streak was snapped on Tuesday in a wild 20-17 game at Stanford, but the Broncos head to Portland to face the Pilots in a series featuring the two teams currently tied for third place in the WCC. The Broncos are hoping to return to the WCC Baseball Tournament in 2023 after missing out last season. 

LMU seeks to extend its lead in first with a short weekend trip to Malibu to face Pepperdine, while BYU battles Pacific in Stockton. The Cougars are vying to get back in the top-six in the standings. 

Gonzaga hosts Oklahoma this weekend in non-conference action. 

Last Week
San Diego took advantage of an idle LMU team last week when the Toreros took two out of three against BYU to pull closer to the first-place Lions. In the rubber match on Saturday, USD's Austin Smith earned the win after collecting 11 strikeouts in six and two-thirds innings of work. 

Saint Mary's picked up a huge series win at Gonzaga last weekend, keeping the Gaels in the chase for a spot in the Conference tournament. In the second game on Friday, SMC slugged 12 runs to win, 12-3. Three Gaels homered in the rout. 

Santa Clara swept San Francisco to extend its winning streak to nine games. 

Stat Leaders
BYU's Austin Deming has been on a tear for the Cougars. He leads the WCC in batting average (.417) and RBI (54). His 15 home runs are also tied for second. In the national rankings, Deming stands 15th in batting average. 

Diego Barrera remains one of the top pitchers in the WCC. He ranks tied for first in wins (6) and his 2.50 earned run average tops the league. Barrera ranks 21st in the nation in ERA. Barrera is tied for first in wins with SCU's Blake Hammond and San Diego's Ryan Robinson.  

2023 WCC Baseball Tournament
The WCC Baseball Tournament is moving to Las Vegas. The six-team Conference tournament will be held at Las Vegas Ballpark from May 24-27. The championship game on May 27 will be broadcast on ESPNU. For more information on the event, click here.