First Pac-12 Road Trip

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Three straight come-from-behind victories, including a dramatic win at #11 Cal, have supplied Stanford with a healthy dose of momentum heading into its first Pac-12 road trip of the season. The Cardinal makes the trip to Los Angeles this week to take on UCLA, Thursday (7pm), Friday (7pm) and Saturday (4:30pm). All three games can be seen on the Pac-12 Networks.

Series History

All-time vs. UCLA
• Since 1959: 157-106 (.590) | Streak: UCLA, 2
• Last Year: W (6-1), L (0-9), L (3-9)

• Stanford lost two of three to No. 3 UCLA at Sunken Diamond last year.
• Prior to last season, Stanford had won six of the previous seven series between these teams.
• The Cardinal has won two straight series against the Bruins in Los Angeles. The last time UCLA won a series over the Cardinal in LA was in 2010 when the Bruins were ranked No. 2 overall.

Against UCLA
• Bryce Carter hit .333 and scored two runs in the three-game set with UCLA last season.
• Beau Branton went 5-for-11 (.455) against the Bruins last year.
• Thursday starter Chris Castellanos has a career 10.38 ERA against UCLA in two appearances, including a start in 2015.
• In six career games against the Bruins, Tommy Edman is just 2-for-27 (.077).
• Brett Hanewich threw a complete game and earned the win in his only career appearance against the Bruins. He allowed just one run and three hits, and struck out a career-high nine batters last year.
• Jesse Kuet is 5-of-13 (.385) all-time against UCLA.
• Tyler Thorne has thrown 3.1 scoreless innings in two appearances over the last two years.

We're No. 1

• Stanford entered the week ranked No. 1 in the nation in fielding percentage (.988).
• The Cardinal have made the second-fewest errors in the country (295 teams) with just 13 in
the first 23 games.
• The Cardinal has allowed the fewest runs in the nation this year (70).
• In addition to those two categories, Stanford pitching also entered the week atop the Pac-12 in ERA (2.50), opposing batting average (.216), and fewest hits (160), walks (69), doubles (24), and home runs (5) allowed.
• Most of those numbers aren’t even close:
     - Stanford's ERA is nearly a half-run better than No. 2 Cal (2.96).
     - Stanford has allowed nearly 100 fewer runs than UCLA and Washington State (160).
     - Stanford has allowed nearly 100 fewer hits than UCLA (247).

Stanford Stats

• Stanford is also No. 8 in the NCAA in WHIP (1.10).
• Stanford is 12-1 when holding its opponent under three runs, and 3-7 when its opponent scores three or more.
• The Cardinal is 8-1 this year when scoring first and 8-0 when hitting a home run.

Stanford Streaks

• Sophomore Matt Winaker has reached base in 10 straight games—the longest streak of the season for a Stanford player.
• Sophomore Mikey Diekroeger has three straight multi-hit games and is 8-of-13 in those games with eight runs, four doubles and a game-winning home run (April 2 vs. USC).
• Junior shortstop Tommy Edman has played in 112 straight games (started 109 in a row).
• Three-game sweep of Kansas was Stanford’s first since May 24-25, 2015 at Utah.
• Stanford has won its first two Pac-12 series for the first time since 2013 (also against Washington State and USC).

Closing the Door

• Stanford’s bullpen has an ERA of 1.71 and opponents are hitting just .202.
• The reserves also have 97 strikeouts (compared to just 36 walks and 64 hits) in 89.2 inn.
• Seven different pitchers have an ERA under 2.00 coming out of the bullpen this year.
• Stanford is 13-0 when leading after seven innings this season.

Fab Freshmen

• Tristan Beck leads the team in wins (4), Nico Hoerner has started every game, Duke Kinamon has started 11 in a row, and Brandon Wulff went 3-for-3 with 4 RBI on Sunday, and had the game-tying hit in the ninth inning on Tuesday.
• Beck became the second Stanford freshman to start Opening Day since Mike Mussina in 1988 (teammate Cal Quantrill was the other in 2014).
• In all, head coach Mark Marquess added 11 freshmen in his latest recruiting class.
• Three pitchers (one lefty), four infielders, three outfielders and a catcher. Six are from the homestate of California, three from Georgia and one apiece from Colorado & Nevada.

Pac-12 Pitchers of the Week

• Stanford won the first two Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week awards this season.
• Colton Hock earned the award on March 1 after throwing 5.2 scoreless innings in relief in the longest recorded shut out in the program’s history (since 1959)—Stanford won at #23 Texas, 1-0 in 12 innings, on Feb. 25. Hock finished with a career-high eight strikeouts and allowed just three hits.
• Tristan Beck earned the conference honor in the first week—he was the first Stanford hurler to win the award since 2013 MLB first overall pick Mark Appel in May of 2013.

2016 Schedule

• 54 regular season games, 30 at Klein Field.
• More than half of the schedule (30/55, 54.5%) is against 2015 tournament teams.
• Cal (5), Texas (4), Cal St. Fullerton (3), UCLA (3), USC (3), Oregon (3), Oregon State (3), Arizona State (3), Vanderbilt (3).
• Though the Top 25 rankings vary, each has included at least 20+ games for Stanford against Top 25 opponents.
• 11-day break from March 7-17 for finals.
• Longest homestand was seven games and 20 days long (March 1-20).
• Longest road swing is four games (four times).
• First 11 games were played in 13 days.
• Eighteen Stanford baseball games will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Networks in 2016.

Weekend/Tuesday Recap

• Despite another brillant outing from freshman Tristan Beck, Stanford fell, 1-0 in the series opener against USC on Friday. Beck allowed just one run and three hits in 7.1 innings, and struck out eight. But the Cardinal managed just three hits. USC scored the game’s only run in the sixth when the leadoff man was hit by a pitch, advanced on bunt and scored on a single.
• Stanford came back from an 8-2 deficit in the fourth inning with nine unanswered runs. A five-run sixth, capped by a two-run single by Tommy Edman, tied the game at 8-8. Mikey Diekroeger, who went 3-for-3 with three extra base hits and a career-high four runs, hit a go-ahead, solo home run in the seventh and the Cardinal went on to win, 11-8.
• Alex Dunlap and Brandon Wulff combined for seven RBI, and Brett Hanewich went seven innings without allowing an earned run in a series-clinching 8-1 victory on Sunday evening. Much like one day earlier when the Cardinal scored the last nine runs, the Cardinal scored the final eight runs of the day on Sunday.
• On Tuesday at No. 11 Cal, Stanford came from behind four times, including a dramatic three-run ninth inning where the Cardinal was down to its last strike. Freshman Brandon Wulff tied the game with a single up the middle, and senior Jonny Locher followed with a game-winning home run to earn an 8-6 win.

Highlights at #11 Cal

Four separate comebacks. One big Top 25 road win. Here's how it all unfolded »

Posted by Stanford Baseball on Wednesday, April 6, 2016

Up Next

• Stanford’s overnight trip at UCLA, April 7-9 is its first since Feb. 25-28 at Texas.
• Including Los Angeles, Stanford will spend three of the next four weekends on the road.
• The Cardinal is on the road for 11 of its next 15 games, including road trips to Arizona (April 15-17) and Oregon State (April 29-May 1).
• After the UCLA series, Stanford hosts San Jose State at Sunken Diamond on Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.