The Pac-12 Softball Tournament matchups were decided as much by who didn’t play as by who did. UCLA secured the No. 1 seed with a 17-4 record after playing three fewer games than No. 2 Stanford (17-7). As for the Arizona Wildcats, their fate was determined by the cancelation of a game they weren’t even involved in.

The Wildcats will play Washington after a stunning weekend for the Huskies. Arizona will be the No. 5 seed and UW will be the No. 4 seed. The game is scheduled for 6:30 p.m. MST/PDT on Thursday, May 9. All games will be played in Stanford, Calif. at the Boyd & Jill Smith Family Stadium.

Going into the weekend, it seemed almost guaranteed that Arizona would play Oregon. The question was which team would be the four seed and which would be the five. UW rolled into Salt Lake City with what appeared to be an easy path to the No. 3 seed. Instead, they dropped two straight games to Utah before the third game was canceled due to weather.

The Huskies’ inability to get things done against the Utes opened the door for Oregon. The Ducks were on the road at Stanford. The Cardinal couldn’t catch the Bruins for the top seed because UCLA’s winning percentage was boosted by playing fewer games than anyone else. They still had pride on the line, though.

If the Ducks were swept, they would fall behind the Wildcats in the pecking order and allow Arizona to finish in the top half of the league at No. 4. If Oregon won just one game, though, they had a shot at third due to Washington’s misfortunes in SLC. That’s exactly how it played out.

Oregon defeated Stanford on the Cardinal’s senior day to secure the No. 3 seed. That gave the Ducks a 13-10 record, tying Washington. UO took the third spot by winning the series against the Huskies earlier in the season.

Arizona might have preferred to play Oregon. The Ducks are the only team in the top half of the standings who lost their series to the Wildcats.

Arizona defeated Oregon 2-1 in a series marred by the scary injury to Duck centerfielder Hanna Delgado. The Wildcats won the first game 7-5, lost the second game 5-2, then came back to secure the series victory 3-2 in the final game.

The Wildcats lost their series to Washington 1-2, and it wasn’t pretty. The Huskies run-ruled Arizona in the first two games by scores of 13-2 and 11-3 in six innings. UA eeked out a 2-0 victory in the final game to avoid the sweep at home.

The biggest difference in the two teams is the pitching staff. Washington is second in the Pac-12 with a 2.52 staff ERA. Oregon is sixth at 3.18. UW’s 1.25 WHIP is also second in the Pac-12 while UO’s is third at 1.34.

In all likelihood, Arizona will face UW ace Ruby Meylan who is third in the Pac-12 with a 2.04 ERA and eighth with a 1.29 WHIP. If they face Lindsay Lopez, they get a pitcher with a 2.85 ERA (9th) and a WHIP of 1.23 (3rd).

The Wildcats got a total of 14 hits in three games against Washington. They gave up 29 hits.

On a positive note for Arizona, the Huskies did not rise to the occasion the final weekend of the season. They lost to the Utes 5-4 and 2-1 before the final game was called off. They have lost five of their last eight games and three straight.

If the Wildcats can pull off the win, they will face the winner of Thursday’s game between UCLA and either Arizona State or Oregon State. The Sun Devils and the Beavers will play in the 8/9 game on Wednesday, May 8.

The other games on Thursday are No. 3 Oregon against No. 6 Utah and No. 2 Stanford vs No. 7 California. All games are aired on Pac-12 Networks until the semifinals, which are on ESPN2.