Season in Review: BaseballSeason in Review: Baseball
Baseball

Season in Review: Baseball

STANFORD, Calif. - For the 36th time in 40 years under legendary head coach Mark Marquess, the Stanford baseball team eclipsed 30 wins. The Cardinal, which boasted seven All-Pac-12 honorees, a conference-best 12 Academic All-Pac-12 selections and four MLB draft picks, finished 31-23 overall and 15-15 in Pac-12 play. It also marked the 38th time the Cardinal have finished above .500 under Marquess. 

Stanford got off to a great start to the season thanks to a milestone performance by a freshman. Tristan Beck, who went on to earn Freshman All-America status from Louisville Slugger, became the second Stanford freshman to start on Opening Day since Mike Mussina in 1988. 

After taking two of three from No. 22 Fullerton, the Cardinal went to the Lone Star state and split with No. 23 Texas, including the program's longest shut out (12 innings) since 1959. 

Colton Hock pitched a career-high 5.2 innings and whiffed a career-best eight batters as part of a Stanford pitching trio that shut out #23 Texas for 1️⃣2️⃣ innings #GoStanford🌲 #baseballamerica #d1baseball #ncaabaseball

A photo posted by Stanford Baseball⚾️ (@stanfordbsb) on Feb 25, 2016 at 8:15pm PST

 

Stanford played 10 of its first 12 games against Top 25 opponents. The Cardinal went 5-5 against those ranked foes, including a 4-1 win over No. 2 Vanderbilt at Sunken Diamond on March 3, and was 7-5 overall.

The Cardinal also won its first three Pac-12 series for the first time since 2008. It was a different hero every night/weekend. After a series win over Washington State, Stanford lost the first game against USC, and trailed 8-2 in the second game before Mikey Diekroeger propelled a big comeback (and the eventual series win the following day). 

The next weekend, it was another hero for the Cardinal as Alex Dunlap's big bat helped Stanford take two of three from the Bruins in Los Angeles.

 And during that run of conference series wins, Jonny Locher, played the hero on the night of a midweek matchup with Cal.

Stanford was 18-9 midway through April, but the Cardinal endured a tough stretch to end the month. The team lost eight of nine and, but the only win was one for the Stanford history books with yet another different Cardinal serving up the heroics.

 

There is no better way to snap out of a slump than with wins over Cal. The Cardinal bounced back to take the season series over the Bears. Junior Chris Castellanos produced another gem with one of his team-leading eight wins of the year.

Game ✅ Series ✅ #GoStanford #farmball #BeatCal

A photo posted by Stanford Baseball⚾️ (@stanfordbsb) on May 7, 2016 at 11:17pm PDT

Stanford entered the last weekend needing a sweep to reach .500 in Pac-12 play. The Cardinal came through with three straight wins over Oregon at Sunken Diamond. The final weekend of the year was highlighted by the play of the seniors, most notably, Austin Barr's home run in the final at-bat of his career.

Water cooler 🛁 to cap off his Cardinal career #GoStanford @austinbarr13

A video posted by Stanford Baseball⚾️ (@stanfordbsb) on May 31, 2016 at 11:48am PDT

Following the regular season, seven Stanford standouts were named All-Pac-12. Junior shortstop Tommy Edman and freshman pitcher Tristan Beck were named All-Pac-12 by the conference office on Thursday. In addition, five other Cardinal -- Quinn Brodey, Chris Castellanos, Alex Dunlap, Colton Hock and Matt Winaker were named honorable mention, while Edman and Winaker were named to the All-Pac-12 Defensive team.

For the fourth time in the last five years, Stanford boasted a first-round draft pick. Cal Quantrill was selected eighth overall by the San Diego Padres. He was one of four Cardinal picked in the 2016 MLB Draft. Chris Viall (190th to New York Mets) and Tommy Edman (196th to St. Louis Cardinals) were each chosen in the sixth round, while junior Jack Klein was a 33rd round selection by the Philadelphia Phillies.  

Stanford has produced a first round pick in 4️⃣ of the last 5️⃣ years #GoStanford🌲 #farmball #StanfordMLB #mlbdraft

A photo posted by Stanford Baseball⚾️ (@stanfordbsb) on Jun 9, 2016 at 7:04pm PDT

Stanford maintained its success inside the classroom as well. Among a conference-leading 12 Academic All-Pac-12 honorees, junior shortstop Tommy Edman was named to the CoSIDA Academic All-America second team. Edman, Andrew Summerville (management science and engineering) and Matt Winaker were first-team Academic Pac-12 selections, and Tyler Thorne (science) was named to the second team. Quinn Brodey, Chris Castellanos (public policy), Mikey Diekroeger, Alex Dunlap (science, technology and society), John Hochstatter (economics), Colton Hock (science, technology and society), Jack Klein (communication) and Chris Viall (science, technology and society) garnered honorable mention accolades.

"Work, work, work, work, work, work" #nerdnation🤓

A photo posted by Stanford Baseball⚾️ (@stanfordbsb) on May 1, 2016 at 8:30pm PDT

All four seniors graduated in June, while first-round pick Cal Quantrill also walked after just three years at the University. A trademark of Stanford baseball under head coach Mark Marquess has been the focus on academics, and 52 of the 60 players that have reached the majors under Marquess have earned their degrees, despite many leaving school prior to their senior year.

Happy graduation! #NerdNation #Stanford16 #wackywalk #gostanford🌲

A photo posted by Stanford Baseball⚾️ (@stanfordbsb) on Jun 12, 2016 at 9:13am PDT

The offseason started with some big news as next season will be the end of an era at Stanford. The 41st season under head coach Mark Marquess will be our final one with "Nine".