STANFORD, Calif. – No. 2 Stanford continues Pac-12 conference play with a three-game series against Arizona starting Friday at 7 p.m. PT at Hi Corbett Stadium.
The Cardinal (27-5 overall, 9-3 Pac-12) rides a four-game win streak into the series after sweeping Arizona State this past weekend. Saturday's game will start at 7 p.m. with Sunday's finale set for noon. All three contests will broadcast live on Pac-12 Networks, and live statistics will be available at GoStanford.com.
Weekend Opponent, Arizona
• Friday night's series opener is the 184th meeting between the two programs – Stanford owns a 109-74 (.596) advantage, with the series dating to 1975.
• The Wildcats (23-12, 6-6) enter the series having won seven of its past six, with Pac-12 series wins over USC and Oregon State – Arizona has won three straight Pac-12 series since dropping a 3-0 series sweep at Washington to open league play.
• Nick Quintana leads Arizona with 35 RBI and seven home runs, and Cody Deason (4-2) leads the starting staff with a 1.94 ERA in 51.0 innings.
What's Next
• Stanford has just nine regular-season home games remaining in 2018. The Cardinal returns to Sunken Diamond next week to host Pacific on Tuesday, followed by a three-game series with California (April 26-28).
• All 15 of Stanford's remaining Pac-12 games will air on Pac-12 Networks.
• After hosting San Francisco on May 1, Stanford hits the road for a three-game series at Utah in Salt Lake City on May 4-6.
Leading the Pac
• At 9-3 (.750), Stanford enters the weekend atop the Pac-12 standings, ahead of UCLA (11-4, .733), Washington (8-4, .667) and Oregon State (7-5, .583).
• Stanford checks in at No. 2 in the latest D1 Baseball top-25, and sits at No. 2 in the most recent NCAA RPI ratings.
• Stanford's 27-5 overall record sits one game ahead of Oregon State (26-6) for best overall record, with UCLA (22-9) owning the third-best season clip.
• Stanford's overall .844 win percentage ranks second nationally behind Tennessee Tech (29-5, .853).
Pitching Leads the Way
• Stanford's pitching staff leads the Pac-12 in ERA (2.75), opposing batting average (.211), runs allowed (105) and saves (15). The Cardinal has allowed the fewest hits (219) and walks (84) in the league, with the second-lowest WHIP (1.06) among Division I teams behind only Stetson (1.03).
• Catcher Maverick Handley has been behind the plate for a majority of Stanford's games – Handley leads the Pac-12 with 14 stolen base attempts caught, having allowed just six.
Sophomore @MaverickHandley has thrown out a Pac-12-leading 14 stolen base attempts (20 total attempts). #GoStanford pic.twitter.com/426IsDK8RW
— Stanford Baseball (@StanfordBSB) April 18, 2018
Spectacular Starters
• Junior Kris Bubic (5-0) leads Stanford's weekend staff with a 2.40 ERA. Bubic leads the team with 53 strikeouts in 48.2 innings pitched, limiting opposing hitters to a .201 batting average. The Cardinal has won each of Bubic's past 16 starts, a streak that dates to April 14, 2017. A preseason All-American, Bubic was named to D1 Baseball and Perfect Game's midseason All-America teams, as well as the Golden Spikes Midseason Watch List.
• Junior Tristan Beck has returned as Stanford's Friday night starter after missing his sophomore season with an injury. The third Stanford pitcher to start opening day as a freshman, Beck (4-2) has a 3.11 ERA with 44 strikeouts in 46.1 innings – Beck, along with Bubic, is widely considered one of the top pitching prospects for the 2018 MLB Draft.
• Freshman Brendan Beck, the younger brother of Tristan, leads Stanford starting pitchers with a 1.34 ERA and .192 opposing batting average. Beck has started four of Stanford's midweek games and Game 4 of Stanford's three four-game series. His ERA leads the Pac-12, while his opposing batting average ranks second.
• Sophomore Erik Miller (2-2) is Stanford's Sunday starter with a 4.35 ERA in 31.0 innings. Miller ranks third on the team with 36 strikeouts, holding hitters to a .239 batting average.
Little Lighting it Up
• Jack Little leads the Pac-12 with 11 saves and ranks fourth, nationally. Little was recently named to Perfect Game's midseason All-America list.
• In 13 appearances across 23.0 innings, Little has surrendered just 15 base runners (11 hits, four walks) and one run while striking out 28 and limiting opposing hitters to a .145 batting average.
• Six of Little's appearances have been 2.0 innings or more, including back-to-back nine-out saves against Michigan and Texas (March 4-10).
• Little ranks fourth on Stanford's all-time single-season list – last season, Colton Hock set the single-season record with 16 saves.
.@jack_little11 leads the Pac-12 with 11 saves and ranks fourth, nationally. He sits in 4th place on Stanford's all-time single-season list (@Hockeye - 16). #GoStanford pic.twitter.com/19PZFL06Ps
— Stanford Baseball (@StanfordBSB) April 17, 2018
Holding Down the Fort
• Led by Little, Stanford's bullpen owns a 2.63 ERA compared to a 6.39 opposing bullpen ERA.
• Zach Grech (16 appearances) and Jacob Palisch (15 appearances) have been Stanford's most oft-used bullpen arms, with Daniel Bakst (12) and Austin Weiermiller (12) also racking up double-digit relief appearances.
• Grech has pitched 17.0 innings, holding opposing batters to a .197 average.
• Palisch's ERA stands at 1.98 over 27.1 innings – Palisch has allowed only 22 base runners (17 hits, five walks) in that span while holding hitters to a .173 clip.
• Bakst, one of Stanford's best hitters in 2017, transitioned to a bullpen role in 2018. Bakst has a 3.07 ERA in 14.2 innings with a .192 opposing batting average.
• In 12 relief appearances, Weiermiller (5-1) owns a 3.44 ERA in 18.1 innings.
Daschbach Dingers
• Andrew Daschbach leads the team in home runs (10), RBI (39), total bases (68) and slugging percentage (.613).
• Daschbach ranks third in the Pac-12 in home runs, fourth in RBI seventh in slugging percentage and 11th in total bases.
• Six of Daschbach's 10 home runs have come in the last eight games – he hit four home runs during the week of April 2-8, including two in a 13-11 win at UCLA (April 7).
Stowers Stepping Up
• Sophomore Kyle Stowers, who started just eight games as a freshman in 2017, has emerged as one of Stanford's most productive bats in the order. Stowers ranks second on the team in home runs (7), RBI (27), total bases (62), slugging percentage (.574) and on-base average (.389), having started all 32 games in left or right field. He has homered in five of Stanford's past 10 contests.
• Stowers has also made four relief appearances out of the bullpen – in 3.2 innings, he has yet to allow a hit or an earned run.
As Good As Advertised
• Junior shortstop Nico Hoerner has lived up to his billing as one of the top middle infielders in the nation – he leads the team in batting average (.303), runs (28), hits (37), doubles (8), stolen bases (6) and at-bats (122).
• Hoerner was named a preseason All-American by Perfect Game (third team), Collegiate Baseball Newspaper (third team), Baseball America (third team) and D1 Baseball (second team).
Golden Watch List
• Kris Bubic was named to the Golden Spikes Award midseason watch list, one of 40 amateur baseball players up for the award.
• Juniors Nico Hoerner and Bubic were each named to the preseason watch list for the award, which annually recognizes the top amateur baseball player in the country.
• The winner will be announced June 28 in Los Angeles.
Full send ?? @andy_dash #GoStanford
A post shared by Stanford Baseball?? (@stanfordbsb) on Apr 14, 2018 at 6:32pm PDT
2018 Season Recap
• The Cardinal made it four in a row with a three-game sweep of Arizona State on April 13-15. The Cardinal won by scores of 3-1, 11-6 and 10-3 – Andrew Daschbach led the Cardinal with two home runs, and Nico Hoerner had six hits in the series.
• Stanford returned to Sunken Diamond after a four-game road trip with a 7-2 win over UC Davis on April 10. It was the Cardinal's 18th straight Tuesday win, a streak that dates to 2014.
• The Cardinal dropped its first series of the season, 2-1, at UCLA on April 6-8. Andrew Daschbach led Stanford with three home runs on the series, including two in Game 2.
• Stanford defeated Santa Clara, 16-8, on April 3 to improve to 22-3. Brendan Beck (4-0) earned the win in six solid innings, and Andrew Daschbach and Kyle Stowers each homered.
• After falling behind, 3-1, the Cardinal surged back with a two-run home run from Tim Tawa and a go-ahead RBI single from Nico Hoerner to defeat Gonzaga, 4-3, on April 2.
• Stanford improved to 5-1 in Pac-12 play with a 2-1 series win over Oregon. The Cardinal won the final two games after dropping the opener.
• The Cardinal kept its momentum going with a 3-0 win over San Diego on March 27 – Brendan Beck, Jacob Palisch, Will Matthiessen and Jack Little combined to allow three hits.
• Stanford outscored USC, 34-2, across a three-game sweep on March 23-25. Tristan Beck, Kris Bubic and Erik Miller were each fantastic in wins, and Stanford's pitching staff surrendered 15 hits all weekend.
• The Cardinal claimed an emphatic 3-1 series win at No. 23 Texas on March 8-11. Stanford dropped the opener, 8-6, before dominating the final three games by scores of 7-1, 9-3 and 11-1.
• Stanford continued its winning start to the season with a 3-1 series win over Michigan, highlighted by Tim Tawa's walk-off, three-run home run in Game 2, a 3-2 win. The Cardinal lost its first contest of the season, 5-0, bouncing back with a 7-4 win in Sunday's finale.
• Stanford improved to 8-0 on the season with a four-game sweep of Rice on Feb. 22-25.
• The Cardinal made it four in a row to start the year with a 3-2 win at UC Davis on Feb. 19.
• No. 13 Stanford opened the season with a three-game sweep over No. 17 Cal State Fullerton. Tristan Beck earned Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week honors in his first start in 630 days after missing his sophomore season through injury.
A New Era
• David Esquer was named Clarke and Elizabeth Nelson Director of Baseball on June 16, 2017. Esquer is the 21st head coach in program history, succeeding Mark Marquess, who retired after 41 years at the helm.
• Esquer served as an assistant under Marquess from 1991-96 before spending the past 18 seasons as the head coach at Cal, where he was the 2011 National Coach of the Year and led the Golden Bears to five NCAA Regionals and the 2011 College World Series.
• Esquer accrued a 525-467-2 (.528) record at Cal, mentoring 81 Major League draft picks and 13 All-Americans.