STANFORD, Calif. – No. 3 Stanford faces its first Pac-12 road action of the season this weekend when it travels to Pullman, Washington, to take on Washington State in a three-game series.
The defending conference champion Cardinal (15-3-0, 3-0-0 Pac-12), which rides a five-game win streak into the weekend, recently swept Utah, 3-0, at Sunken Diamond to open Pac-12 play. Friday's series opener will start at 5 p.m., Saturday's game is set for 2 p.m. and Sunday's finale will begin at Noon.
Prior to its series against UCLA at Sunken Diamond (April 5-7), the Cardinal plays host to Fresno State on Tuesday at 6 p.m. Live streaming and live statistics will be available at GoStanford.com for all games.
Weekend Opponent, Washington State
• Stanford carries a 55-24-0 (.714) record against the Cougars (6-17-0, 0-3-0), most recently earning a 3-0 sweep over Washington State last season at Sunken Diamond. The Cardinal outscored the Cougars, 23-9, over the three-game series in the final regular-season home action of the 2018 season.
• The Cougars enter the series having lost nine in a row, including a 3-0 series loss at Arizona State to open Pac-12 play (March 15-17).
• Collin Montez (.318/.406/.404) leads the team, offensively, with 43 total bases and eight doubles, while the Cougars' pitching staff carries a 6.05 earned-run average and a .286 opposing batting average.
Tuesday's Opponent, Fresno State
• Stanford renews its long-standing rivalry with the Bulldogs, which started in 1959, on Tuesday, April 2. The Cardinal owns an 83-45-1 record in the series, most recently facing off with Fresno State in 2013 – Stanford earned a 3-0 sweep at Sunken Diamond.
• Stanford has won 23 straight midweek contests, a streak dating to April 26, 2017.
SW????P.
— Stanford Athletics (@GoStanford) March 25, 2019
??: @StanfordBSB #GoStanford https://t.co/KPTQdsIK8x
What's Next?
• The Cardinal's next home series is against No. 1 UCLA on April 5-7. Stanford's other Pac-12 home opponents include Washington (April 12-14), Arizona (April 26-28) and No. 7 Oregon State (May 17-19).
• Midweek home opponents remaining include Fresno State (April 2), UC Davis (April 16), Gonzaga (April 22), San Jose State (April 23), Santa Clara (May 7), Cal Poly (May 14) and Pacific (May 21).
Cardinal in the Polls
• Stanford remains No. 3 in this week's D1 Baseball top 25. The Cardinal also ranked in the Baseball America (3), Collegiate Baseball Newspaper (6), NCBWA (3) and Perfect Game (3) polls.
• Four of Stanford's 2019 opponents ranked in the poll – No. 1 UCLA, No. 7 Oregon State, No. 9 Arizona State and No. 13 Texas.
• Stanford also sits at No. 7 in this week's NCAA ratings power index (RPI). Eight of Stanford's opponents ranked in the top 50 – No. 1 Oregon State, No. 2 UCLA, No. 11 Oregon, No. 12 Arizona State, No. 21 Pepperdine, No. 29 Washington, No. 31 Gonzaga and No. 49 California.
That outing by @jack_little11 on Saturday deserves some more airtime...
— Stanford Baseball (@StanfordBSB) March 27, 2019
5.0 IP (career high)
5 K (ties career high)
77 pitches (career high)
1 H, 1 BB#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/t1QE5Xra6p
Staff Leading the Way
• Stanford's 2.43 earned-run average leads the Pac-12 and ranks third, nationally.
• Stanford has issued 59 walks, the second-fewest in the Pac-12, and has allowed the fewest hits (126), doubles (19), runs (52) and home runs (4) in the league.
• The Cardinal bullpen has been outstanding in 2019, entering the week with a 1.87 ERA and a .170 batting average against.
• All-American Jack Little leads the pen in appearances (9), innings pitched (15.2), strikeouts (22) and saves (4) – last season, Little tied a program record with 16 saves while carrying a 0.60 ERA.
• Other arms with at least 10.0 innings out of the pen include Austin Weiermiller (2-0, 0.75 ERA, .163 BA against in 12.0 IP), Cody Jensen (1-0, 1.69 ERA, .118 BA against in 10.2 IP) and Will Matthiessen (1-0, 2.77 ERA, .178 BA against In 13.0 IP).
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Quick Hitters
• Stanford has played all five weekend series with the same three-man rotation of Brendan Beck (1-2, 2.51 ERA), Jacob Palisch (2-0, 3.60 ERA) and Erik Miller (2-0, 2.81 ERA).
• Three Cardinal with two plate appearances per game are reaching base at over a .400 rate – Will Matthiessen (.432), Maverick Handley (.417) and Brandon Wulff (.423).
• Five Cardinal have started all 18 games – Andrew Daschbach, Handley, Matthiessen, Tim Tawa and Wulff.
• Teams have attempted just four stolen bases, all unsuccessfully, against catcher Handley, who has started the season with an 18-game reached-base streak. Handley (bioengineering) aspires to be an orthopedic surgeon following his baseball career.
• 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.
• Stowers ended Saturday's win against Utah with a 12th-inning RBI double – it was Stanford's second walk-off win of the season after Christian Robinson hit a walk-off double against UNLV (Feb. 23).
• Duke Kinamon made his first appearance in 630 days when Stanford played host to UNLV on Feb. 23.
• Stanford is 15-1 in the month of February and 17-5 in March 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.
2019 Season Recap
• The Cardinal opened Pac-12 play with a 3-0 series sweep over Utah with wins by the scores of 7-4, 7-6 and 7-3.
• Stanford emphatically wrapped up pre-Pac-12 play with a 3-1 series win over No. 12 Texas at Sunken Diamond (March 7-10). After dropping the series opener, despite a career performance from starting pitcher Brendan Beck, the Cardinal outscored the Longhorns 21-3 over the final three games to clinch the series win.
• After sweeping a doubleheader, 2-0, to clinch the series win at No. 24 Cal State Fullerton, Stanford dropped the series finale, 4-3, on a walk-off single at Goodwin Field in Fullerton, California.
• Stanford's streak of midweek wins stretched to 23 games with an 8-3 win over San Francisco (Feb. 27). Stanford has not lost a midweek clash since April 26, 2017.
• The Cardinal came from behind to earn a 2-1 series win over UNLV in Stanford's first home action of the season (Feb. 22-24).
• Stanford opened the season with a 4-0 showing at the Angels College Classic in Phoenix, Arizona (Feb. 15-18). The Cardinal earned wins over Ball State (2-1), Wichita State (5-4), Pepperdine (6-1) and Grand Canyon (14-4).
Defending the Crown
• Stanford captured its first conference championship since 2004 in dramatic fashion last season, coming from behind on the road during the final day of the regular season.
• After losing Games 1-2 at Washington, Stanford trailed, 5-3, entering the ninth inning of Game 3 (May 26). Will Matthiessen's two-run home run in the ninth inning tied the game at 5-5 before Nico Hoerner beat out an infield single to score Alec Wilson. Jack Little struck out the side in the bottom of the ninth to secure the Cardinal's 18th conference championship.
Walk-off winner!!! @kjstowers3 #GoStanford
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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).
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.