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Bob Drebin / isiphotos.com
Baseball

Longhorns on The Farm

STANFORD, Calif. – No. 6 Stanford hosts No. 12 Texas for a four-game series at Sunken Diamond this weekend, starting Thursday at 6 p.m.

Last week, the Cardinal (9-2-0) earned a 2-1 series win at No. 24 Cal State Fullerton in Fullerton, California. This will be the final series before the start of Pac-12 play on March 22-24 when Stanford plays host to Utah at Sunken Diamond.

Games 1-2 on Thursday and Friday, respectively, will start at 6 pm. Game 3 on Saturday is set for 2 p.m. with Sunday's finale starting at 1 p.m. Live streaming and live statistics for all four contests will be available at GoStanford.com.

This Week's Opponent, Texas
• The Cardinal's all-time series with Texas, which started in 1981, stands at 42-35-1 in favor of Stanford. Last season, then-No. 7 Stanford took three out of four at No. 23 Texas. After dropping the series opener, 8-6, the Cardinal dominated the remainder of the series, notching wins by the scores of 7-1, 9-3 and 11-1. Maverick Handley, Nico Hoerner, Brandon Wulff, Kyle Stowers and Andrew Daschbach each homered in the series while Stanford's pitching staff limited the Longhorns to just five runs over the final three contests.
• The Longhorns (11-3-0) enter the week having won four straight, including a weekend sweep of No. 2 LSU at UFCU Disch-Falk Field in Austin last week.
• Texas is led, offensively, by Austin Todd (.380/.600/.483), the reigning Big-12 Player of the Week who leads the team in hits (19), RBI (20) and total bases (30). The Longhorns' pitching staff enters the weekend with a 2.79 earned-run average, including a 1.12 WHIP.
• It is the only weekend series in the nation between teams ranked in the D1 Baseball top-25.

A Look Back
• Stanford finished 3-1 last week with an 8-3 win over San Francisco (Feb. 26) and a 2-1 series win at No. 24 Cal State Fullerton (March 1-3). The Cardinal swept a doubleheader on March 1 against the Titans before dropping the series finale on Sunday by way of a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth inning (March 3).
• Maverick Handley led the Cardinal offense last week with three multi-hit games and four starts at catcher. Handley finished the week with eight hits, three of which were extra-base hits, four runs and five RBI with a .471/.706/.526 slash line.
• Brandon Wulff hit three home runs in the four games, including two against San Francisco.
• Nick Bellafronto started all four games last week, the first starts of his career – Bellafronto scored three runs, drove in three and slashed .385/.538/.500.
• In 16.0 innings last week, Stanford's bullpen allowed just two earned runs and 16 total base runners (1.00 WHIP). Carson Rudd, Austin Weiermiller, Jack Little and Zach Grech each made two appearances without allowing a run.

Looking Ahead
• Stanford has an 11-day break from competition in observance of dead week ahead of winter quarter finals. The Cardinal returns on March 22-24 when it plays host to Utah for the start of Pac-12 conference play at Sunken Diamond. Stanford's home opponents in league play also include No. 2 UCLA (April 5-7), Washington (April 12-14), Arizona (April 26-28) and No. 4 Oregon State (May 17-19).
• The Cardinal's remaining home midweek opponents 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 moved up five spots in the D1 Baseball Top-25 poll to No. 6, its highest ranking of the season. Three of Stanford's 2019 opponents ranked in the poll, including No. 2 UCLA, No. 4 Oregon State and No. 12 Texas.
• The Cardinal also ranked in the Baseball America (4), Collegiate Baseball Newspaper (11), NCBWA (5) and Perfect Game (5) polls.

Staff Leading the Way
• Stanford's pitching staff ranks 18th, nationally, with a 2.46 earned-run average, including a 1.83 ERA by relief pitchers.
• Friday-night starter Brendan Beck has pitched at least 6.0 innings pitched in each of his three appearances with a team-high 23 strikeouts in 19.0 total innings.
• Zach Grech leads the team in appearances (5), having surrendered just four hits and two walks in 6.0 innings while allowing zero runs.
• All-America Jack Little ties for 11th in the nation and leads the Pac-12 with three saves. Last season, Little tied a program record with 16 saves.

Quick Hitters
• Five Cardinal have started all 11 games – Andrew Daschbach, Maverick Handley, Will Matthiessen, Tim Tawa and Brandon Wulff.
• Teams have attempted just one stolen base, unsuccessfully, against catcher Handley. Handley (bioengineering) aspires to be an orthopedic surgeon following his baseball career.
• Daschbach, who led the team in home runs (17) and RBI (63) in 2018, hit his first home run of the season in Sunday's 6-5 loss at No. 24 Cal State Fullerton.
• Kyle 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.
• 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 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.

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).

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.