STANFORD, Calif. – No. 11 Stanford opens a three-game series at No. 24 Cal State Fullerton on Friday at Goodwin Field in Fullerton, California.
The Cardinal (7-1-0) enters the weekend having won three in a row, most recently defeating San Francisco, 8-3, on Wednesday at Sunken Diamond, Stanford's 23rd consecutive midweek win, a streak that dates to April 26, 2017.
Games 1-2 will be played as part of a doubleheader on Friday with Game 1 set to start at 5 p.m. Game 2 will begin approximately 30 minutes after the conclusion of Game 1 with Game 3 set for Sunday at 1 p.m. Game 2 was originally slated for 6 p.m. on Saturday but was moved to Friday due to the expectation of inclement weather in the area.
Live streaming and live statistics will be available at GoStanford.com.
Series History
• Stanford owns a 63-50-0 (.557) all-time record against the Titans (4-2-0), most recently facing off in the 2018 NCAA regional at Sunken Diamond. Cal State Fullerton handed Stanford both of its losses in the regional, eliminating the Cardinal from the postseason. Stanford earned a 3-0 sweep of the Titans to start the 2018 season at Sunken Diamond.
• Cal State Fullerton opened the season at the MLB Collegiate Tournament in Arizona, notching wins against TCU (Feb. 15) and Virginia (Feb. 17). The Titans then won 2-of-3 at the Tony Gwynn Legacy with wins over Missouri State (Feb. 22) and Oklahoma (Feb. 24).
• Six Titans are batting over .300 with at least 15 at-bats, led by infielders Sahid Valenzuela (.409 BA with five runs, .536 OBP) and Hank LaForte (.375 BA, five runs, four RBI). The Titans own a 4.25 ERA in 53.0 innings pitched with two saves.
A post shared by Stanford Baseball?? (@stanfordbsb) on Feb 23, 2019 at 8:18pm PST
A Look Back
• Stanford improved to 7-1-0 behind two home runs from Brandon Wulff and a stellar effort from the bullpen in an 8-3 win against San Francisco on Wednesday night.
• Last weekend, Stanford earned a 2-1 series win over UNLV after dropping Game 1 in Saturday's doubleheader.
• The Cardinal completed the perfect 4-0 start to the season at the Angels College Classic, picking up wins over Ball State (Feb. 15), Wichita State (Feb. 16), Pepperdine (Feb. 17) and Grand Canyon (Feb. 18)
Cardinal in the Polls
• Stanford moved up one spot to No. 11 in D1 Baseball's weekly top-25 poll. Four of Stanford's 2019 opponents ranked in the poll – UCLA (4), Oregon State (6), Texas (22) and Cal State Fullerton (24).
• The Cardinal was also ranked in polls from Baseball America (7), Collegiate Baseball Newspaper (8), NCBWA (10) and Perfect Game (7).
A post shared by Stanford Baseball?? (@stanfordbsb) on Feb 26, 2019 at 8:17am PST
Carrying the Cardinal
• Brandon Wulff and Will Matthiessen have carried the Cardinal offense through eight games, accounting for 42 percent of the team's RBI, 36 percent of hits, 50 percent of multi-hit games, all five home runs and 44 percent of total bases. Wulff and Matthiessen have each reached base safely in all eight games – Maverick Handley is the only other Cardinal to do so.
• Matthiessen (.444/.778/.531) and Wulff (.417/.875/.533) are the only Cardinal batting above .231.
• Matthiessen hit two home runs in last week's 2-1 series win over UNLV, finishing the weekend 5-for-9 after driving in a team-high six runs on Stanford's season-opening four-game road trip to Arizona.
• Wulff has hit three home runs in the last two games, including a pair of home runs against San Francisco (Feb. 27).
Pitching and Defense
• Stanford leads the Pac-12 and ranks 16th, nationally, with a 0.986 fielding percentage, registering just four errors on the season so far.
• Opposing teams have attempted just three stolen bases against the Cardinal – Maverick Handley, who has started 6-of-8 games at catcher, threw out the only stolen base attempt against him.
• Stanford's 2.38 earned-run average ranks 23rd, nationally, and third in the Pac-12.
• Opposing hitters are batting .219, which ranks third in the Pac-12.
For nearly 100 years, Sunken Diamond has stood as one of the premier places in the nation to watch a baseball game. ???? #GoStanford pic.twitter.com/tXOMd0VE9D
— Stanford Baseball (@StanfordBSB) February 22, 2019
Quick Hitters
• Six Cardinal have started all eight games – Andrew Daschbach, Maverick Handley, Will Matthiessen, Kyle Stowers, Tim Tawa and Brandon Wulff.
• Stowers switched numbers to 37 prior to the season to honor teammate and close friend Jason Lyon, who died of brain cancer when the pair were teammates in high school.
• Handley, a bioengineering major, aspires to be an orthopedic surgeon following his baseball career.
• Christian Robinson hit a walk-off double in Saturday's 3-2 win against UNLV. It was Robinson's second walk-off double in six appearances at Sunken Diamond – the sophomore hit a walk-off double against Wright State in the 2018 NCAA regional.
• Stanford is 15-1 in the month of February under the Clarke and Elizabeth Nelson Director of Baseball David Esquer.
• Stanford will host its first annual Youth Baseball Day on April 6 when the Cardinal plays host to UCLA. For more information, visit GoStanford.com/youthbaseballday.
Join us for our first annual Youth Baseball Day when we play host to UCLA on April 6!
— Stanford Baseball (@StanfordBSB) February 26, 2019
??: https://t.co/ZVtleEldlH#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/FdTVL9MHma
Preseason Honors
• Four Cardinal – Jack Little, Kyle Stowers, Brendan Beck and Erik Miller – received preseason All-America recognition.
• Little led the team with five preseason nods from D1 Baseball, Baseball America, Collegiate Baseball Newspaper, NCBWA and Perfect Game. Little was also included on the NCBWA's preseason watch list for the Stopper of the Year award.
• Stowers was named a preseason first-team All-American by Baseball America.
• Miller earned preseason second-team honors from Baseball America.
• Beck was named preseason All-America by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and NCBWA.
Firepower Returning
• A significant portion of Stanford's offensive production returns for 2019, including 95 percent of the team's home runs, 79 percent of RBI and 74 percent of total bases from 2018.
• Three players who started all 58 games return – Tim Tawa, Andrew Daschbach and Kyle Stowers.
• Daschbach led the team in home runs (17), RBI (63) and total bases (125). Daschbach's 17 big flies were the most in a season since Sean Ratliff hit 22 home runs during the 2008 season.
• Stowers ranked second on the team in home runs (10) and RBI (42) while leading the team in walks (30).
• Tawa, who split time between center field and third base, earned freshman All-America honors from Collegiate Baseball Newspaper and Perfect Game after hitting seven home runs with 41 RBI, 44 runs and a team-high 18 doubles in 2018.
• Led by Little, Stanford returns most of its pitching staff from 2018, which ranked second in the nation with a 2.83 earned-run average.
• Brendan Beck finished his freshman season with an 8-0 record and 2.43 ERA across 66.2 innings pitched.
• Erik Miller, a preseason All-American and Stanford's Sunday starter in 2018, is one of the top prospects for the 2019 MLB Draft – Miller went 4-4 with a 4.07 ERA in 48.2 IP.
• Other key arms returning include Will Matthiessen (2.00 ERA in 13 relief appearances), Zach Grech (2.65 ERA in team-high 28 appearances) and Austin Weiermiller (5-1, 3.29 ERA in 38.1 IP across 23 appearances).
Stanford has built a culture of accountability, hard work and brotherhood. Here is an inside look at the culture of the Cardinal with a week to go until our 2019 season! #GoStanford pic.twitter.com/nhgmITQ14p
— Stanford Baseball (@StanfordBSB) February 8, 2019
Welcome to The Farm
5 • Austin Kretzschmar • INF • 6-0 • 175 • La Mesa, Calif. (Helix Charter)
7 • Brandon Dieter • INF/RHP • 6-0 • 175 • Covina, Calif. (South Hills)
13 • Justin Moore • INF/RHP • 6-5 • 215 • Austin, Texas (Vandegrift)
15 • Grant Burton • OF • 6-2 • 195 • San Juan Capistrano, Calif. (Mater Dei)
16 • Vincent Martinez • C • 6-2 • 220 • San Marcos, Calif. (San Marcos)
18 • Cody Jensen • RHP • 6-3 • 185 • Roseville, Calif. (Jesuit)
28 • Alex Williams • RHP • 6-3 • 205 • Castro Valley, Calif. (Redwood Christian)
40 • Nicolas Lopez • LHP • 6-4 • 190 • Redwood City, Calif. (Serra)
Esquer Era Underway
• 2019 marks the second season under the Clarke and Elizabeth Nelson Director of Baseball David Esquer.
• Esquer, a 1987 graduate of Stanford and starting shortstop on the 1987 College World Series-winning team, returned to The Farm after serving the previous 18 seasons as the head coach at Cal.
• Pitching coach Thomas Eager, assistant coach Tommy Nicholson, assistant coach Jack Marder and director of operations Jeanette Morganti each enter their second season with the Cardinal. Video coordinator Sky Valenzuela is Stanford's lone addition to the 2019 coaching staff.