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Arizona baseball’s Chip Hale wins Pac-12 Coach of the Year

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Arizona Wildcats head baseball coach Chip Hale was named the Pac-12 Coach of the Year on Tuesday. The skipper led the Wildcats to a 33-20 overall record (20-10 in Pac-12) along with Arizona’s first regular season conference championship since 2021.

With the accolade, Hale made history by becoming the first person in Pac-12 baseball history to win both coach of the year and player of the year. Hale was the Pac-10 South Player of the Year in 1987, as then-UCLA player and current Arizona Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo was the Pac-10 Player of the Year.

Hale is in his third season coaching for his alma mater. He was previously the Diamondbacks’ manager from 2015-16 and a coach for five major league clubs.

Hale wasn’t the only member of the Wildcats or rival Arizona State Sun Devils to earn Pac-12 honors revealed on Tuesday.

Arizona State’s Brandon Compton wins Pac-12 Freshman of the Year

Initially recruited as a pitcher coming out of high school, Compton sat out his true freshman year due to Tommy John surgery. The injury forced him to work on his swing in his first year with the team, the numbers have spoken for themselves.

Compton leads all Pac-12 freshmen in homers (14), doubles (16), average (.363), slugging (.681), on-base percentage (.431) and RBIs (50).

He has been ASU’s best hitter with two outs this season, posting a .467 average in that scenario. Some notable moments featured a go-ahead grand slam in a series finale against Ohio State in February, a game-tying RBI single in the eighth inning over Oregon ending in a walk-off win on March 8 and a go-ahead two-run homer against Utah Valley on March 19.

Isaiah Jackson makes Pac-12 Baseball All-Defensive Team 

The outstanding outfielder has been a defensive stalwart since joining the Sun Devils.

Against USC on April 28, Jackson tied Hunter Bishop (2019) for the second-most putouts in center field with eight, which is one behind Joe Lampe’s record of nine back in 2021. Jackson’s most notable play on the season came against UCLA when he made a leaping catch over the right field wall to rob the Bruins of a three-run homer.

The play gained so much attention that it finished first on SportsCenter’s Top 10 plays.

2024 Pac-12 Baseball All-Conference Teams

Arizona Wildcats

Clark Candiotti, RHP, Sr.

Brendan Summerhill, OF, Soph.

Cam Walty, RHP, Sr.

Mason White, INF. Soph.

Jackson Kent, LHP, Soph.

Garen Caulfield, INF. Jr.

Honorable mentions:

Emilio Corona, OF, Jr.

Casey Hintz, RHP/INF, Fr.

Arizona State Sun Devils

Jacob Tobias, 1B, Jr.

Kien Vu, OF, Soph.

Nick McLain, OF, RS Soph.

Brandon Compton, DH, RS Fr.

Ryan Campos, C, Jr.

Honorable mentions:

Ben Jacobs, OF, Soph.

Connor Markl, LHP, Sr

Pac-12 Tournament bracket

The final Pac-12 Baseball Tournament is in progress at Scottsdale Stadium.

Top-seeded Arizona’s first game is Wednesday at 7 p.m. against Washington.

ASU dropped its tournament opener to Stanford on Tuesday, 8-7, and plays again Thursday against Oregon State.