Pac-12 baseball tournament? Hip, hip … booooooooooooo

The Oregon State Beavers, here celebrating Jacob Melton’s walk-off single to beat UCLA, survived the Pac-12 tournament, which needs to be folded, spindled and mutilated (courtesy OSU sports communications)

Heading into last week’s Pac-12 baseball tournament, I had reservations about the necessity.

After watching the circus in Scottsdale, I’m even more of the same opinion.

If the first Pac-12 tournament wasn’t a waste of time, it was pretty damn close.

The event was poorly planned, exhaustingly long and potentially damaging to the teams that will move on to this week’s NCAA Regionals.

For the last few years, the league’s coaches have discussed the possibility of joining the nation’s other Power Five conferences — the SEC, ACC, Big 12 and Big Ten — in post-season tournament play. Before the 2022 season, the Pac-12 voted it in, signing a three-year contract to hold it in Scottsdale Stadium, spring training home of the San Francisco Giants.

Why? I asked Oregon State coach Mitch Canham.

Mitch Canham would like to see some adjustments made for the 2023 Pac-12 tournament (courtesy OSU sports communications)

“We were looking for a few things,” he said on Tuesday. “The opportunity for the conference to get some recognition, to get on TV that last week when everyone else is playing a tournament. Getting a feel for that tournament realm. The competitive juices flow a little bit different. And it gives another squad a chance to win it and get a seed in the tournament.”

Before I go on, let me applaud Canham’s Beavers for their effort and competitiveness in Scottsdale. After a long, taxing regular season that had them a lock to play host to a Regional, they came at opponents with everything they had. That was impressive. The pitching wilted in the oppressive desert heat, but it wasn’t for lack of trying.

Ironically, Oregon State and Oregon probably had the most to lose going into the tourney. OSU, which rose to No. 1 in the nation in the final three weeks, ended the regular season by losing series to Arizona and UCLA, which cost the Beavers the regular-season title. Stanford won its last 12 contests to nip them by a game. That left doubt in the selection committee as to whether they deserved a top eight seed, which would guarantee home-field advantage through the Super Regional.

“It didn’t hurt to win some games,” Canham agreed. “What we’d done to that point in the season put us in a great position to get it. Winning a couple of games would solidify it.”

Oregon, meanwhile, finished fourth in the Pac-12 with an 18-12 record. The Ducks’ solid 35-21 season — which would have been even more impressive if they had not gone 0-5 against OSU — in an always tough conference would have guaranteed the chance to host a Regional. They lost two games and were eliminated, however, leaving them as a No. 2 seed in the Louisville Regional.

Both teams entered the week feeling as if they needed a win or two to secure their positioning. Oregon State won three games and lost two, falling to Stanford in the final. The Beavers wound up with the No. 3 national seed are are hosting this weekend, so that part worked out OK.

Let’s explore Canham’s reasons why Pac-12 coaches wanted a tournament.

I’m not sure the conference needs the extra “recognition” and television coverage the tournament provided. The Pac-12 is regarded alongside the SEC and ACC as the premier baseball conferences — a little behind those two, perhaps, but certainly with enough prestige that it’s not costing the league spots in the NCAA Tournament.

I don’t think the really good teams need a conference tournament to prepare themselves for the “Natty.” It certainly hasn’t hurt Oregon State in its three College World Series championship seasons. Or UCLA in 2015 and ’19. In the Beavers’ case last week, it brought additional stress and pressure they could have done without.

True, the tournament gave California, Washington and Arizona State a slugger’s chance to win it all and gain the league’s automatic berth to the NCAAs — as Wayne Tinkle’s hoopers did in claiming the post-season basketball crown in 2021 en route to the Elite Eight. Doesn’t happen often, though, and didn’t last weekend in Scottsdale, either.

I asked Canham how he felt the tournament came off.

“Outside of the result?” he said, stressing the mission was to win the title. “It was good that we got it going the first year. There will be some tidbits to discuss when (Pac-12 coaches) meet again on how we can improve it.”

Let’s discuss the obvious of what needs to be improved.

First, playing every game at one venue is ludicrous. Oregon State’s first game, a 13-8 win over Washington, lasted 4 1/2 hours. The next day, with early games running long, OSU’s game against Cal started at 10:15 p.m. and ended at 1:16 a.m. In two games against UCLA came a Saturday that will go down in history: 9 hours, 34 minutes of game time — and what has to be an NCAA record 875 pitches for two games — with the nightcap ending at midnight.

That’s unfair to the players, who deserve to play games at a reasonable hour, and also to fans, who pay good money to watch baseball before the start of a new day. The solution is obvious: Use two stadiums, of which there are plenty in driving distance of Scottsdale.

“I kept hearing the idea of having two venues,” Canham told me. “That way you can have morning and evening games, and games that start on time as opposed to pushing late into the night.”

Canham wouldn’t mention it, but Arizona is a less than ideal spot for the Pac-12 Tournament, with the stifling heat the area experiences in late May. Canham says that decision was not made by coaches but by Pac-12 officials. Evidently, the next two years will be in Scottsdale. League officials ought to see if they can get out of the contract and schedule a move to Southern California or the Bay Area. How about a championship game at Dodger Stadium or Oracle Park?

Then there is the issue of wear and tear on the players, especially in the heat. Canham had to take Justin Boyd and Wade Meckler out of Saturday games due to cramping issues. Beyond that, pitchers get an extra dose of arm stress, which can cause injuries. All-Pac-12 catcher Gavin Logan got a hip flexor strain in a play at the plate against UCLA. Canham said he believes Logan will be ready to play Friday night against New Mexico State, so it could have been worse.

The third-year OSU coach suggests expansion of rosters to ease the situation. Rosters, which for conference games are set at 27, were increased to 30 for the Pac-12 Tournament.

“We set rosters at 35 for non-conference and rivalry games,” Canham said. “I’d like to see it increased to a minimum of 32 (for the Pac-12 tournament). That way you can add an extra arm or position player. Going down there and playing in the heat, with Regionals the following week, is putting our guys in a tough spot.

“Of course,” he said with a chuckle, “no one anticipates going down there and having to pitch nine arms in one game and having to play a double-header that last nine hours.”

The tournament format is kind of screwy, too. It’s billed as a double-elimination event, but it’s not, really. The teams are divided into two four-team pools. Teams stay alive until they suffer two losses. Survivors of each pool meet in a Sunday one-game final. Oregon State entered Sunday’s final with a 3-1 record and Stanford at 3-0, but if the Beavers had won, there wouldn’t have been another game. They’d have been declared champion.

If you get the idea that I’m not sold on the idea of a Pac-12 Tournament, you are correct, sir or madam.

It’s here, though, and probably here to stay.

So let’s make some adjustments and avoid having a Barnum and Bailey production like the one we suffered through last week.

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