STANFORD, Calif. – No. 4 Stanford continues Pac-12 play with a three-game series against Oregon in Eugene, Oregon, starting Thursday at 7 p.m.
The Cardinal (24-6-0, 10-2-0 Pac-12) enters the week atop the Pac-12 conference standings, most recently earning a 3-0 sweep of Washington at Sunken Diamond (April 12-14).
The series begins at 7 p.m. on Thursday and continues Friday at 4 p.m. with Saturday's series finale set for Noon – the first two games of the series will broadcast live on Pac-12 Networks while live streaming for Saturday's game will be available at GoStanford.com. Live statistics for all games are available at GoStanford.com.
Weekend Opponent, Oregon
• The Ducks (22-13-0, 7-5-0) enter having won six of their last seven games, most recently taking two or three at Washington State last weekend before a comeback, 7-6 win at Gonzaga on Monday night. Stanford owns a 28-17-0 all-time record against Oregon.
• Last season, Oregon captured Game 1 of the three-game series at Sunken Diamond but the Cardinal responded with wins on Saturday and Sunday to take the 2-1 series win.
• Offensively, Spencer Steer leads the Ducks in home runs (5), RBI (32) and total bases (71), slashing .356/.438/.470. Oregon's pitching staff carries a 5.14 earned-run average while the Ducks are fielding at a 0.970 rate.
Leaving The Farm in style. ???? #GoStanford pic.twitter.com/zo2qQ0L9jT
— Stanford Baseball (@StanfordBSB) April 17, 2019
Monday's Opponent, Gonzaga
• Stanford is 3-1-0, all-time, against the Bulldogs, most recently earning a 4-3 win over Gonzaga in 2018.
• Entering the week, Nick Nyquist leads the team in .OPS (.9565) and RBI (23) while his six home runs rank second on the team. The Bulldogs carry a 4.97 earned-run average and are fielding at a .978 rate.
Tuesday's Opponent, San Jose State
• The Cardinal enters Tuesday with a 105-40-0 all-time record against the Spartans, most recently earning 9-3 and 4-3 wins during the 2017 season.
• Kellen Strahm leads the Spartans, offensively, carrying a team-high .OPS of 1.078 while leading the team in home runs (5), RBI (25), stolen bases (14) and total bases (74). San Jose State's earned-run average stands at 4.77 with a fielding percentage of 0.971.
Where Do We Stand?
• Stanford enters the week atop the Pac-12 conference standings with a 10-2-0 record, ahead of UCLA (9-3-0), Oregon State (11-4-0) and Arizona State (10-5-0).
• Stanford moved up one spot to No. 4 in this week's D1 Baseball top-25 poll. The Cardinal also ranked top-four in the Baseball America (2), Collegiate Baseball Newspaper (2), NCBWA (2) and Perfect Game (4) polls.
• Three of Stanford's 2019 opponents rank in the D1 Baseball poll – No. 1 UCLA, No. 2 Oregon State and No. 16 Arizona State.
• Six of Stanford's opponents rank top-50 in the NCAA RPI (ratings power index) – No. 1 UCLA, No. 2 Oregon State, No. 29 Oregon, No. 34 Texas and No. 41 Gonzaga.
• Stanford's remaining conference opponents include Arizona (April 26-28), USC (May 3-5), California (May 10-12), Oregon State (May 17-19) and Arizona State (May 23-25).
Pitching and Defense
• Stanford's 2.83 earned-run average ranks fourth in the nation and second in the Pac-12 while the Cardinal's .237 batting average against ranks third in the conference.
• The Cardinal's .978 fielding percentage ranks second in the Pac-12 and 22nd, nationally – Stanford leads the Pac-12 in fewest errors (24).
• Stanford has played error-free defense in 11 games and has made multiple errors in just three of 30 contests.
• Stanford's pitching staff has allowed the fewest runs (97), earned runs (85), walks (86), home runs (8) and doubles (37) in the Pac-12.
• Brendan Beck's 1.98 earned-run average ranks third in the Pac-12. Beck has issued just six walks on the season, which ranks second-fewest in the Pac-12 among qualifying pitchers.
• Jack Little's seven saves rank second in the Pac-12 – Little's 23 career saves rank third in program history behind Steve Chitren (26) and Colton Hock (25).
• Erik Miller's .208 batting average against ranks fifth in the Pac-12 while his 2.43 ERA ranks seventh.
• Stanford has allowed two or less earned runs in 20 games.
• The Cardinal's 12 wild pitches and nine hit batters are the fewest in the Pac-12.
Quick Hitters
• Four Cardinal have started all 30 games this season – Will Matthiessen, Andrew Daschbach, Brandon Wulff and Tim Tawa.
• Matthiessen leads the team in batting average (.355), slugging percentage (.570), on-base percentage (.437), mulit-hit games (11) RBI (28), doubles (8) and total bases (61).
• In Pac-12 play, Daschbach leads the team in batting average (.408), slugging percentage (.673), on-base percentage (.442), runs (12), hits (20) and total bases (23).
• Teams have attempted just 13 stolen bases against catcher Maverick Handley this season with seven of those being successful – Handley also leads the Pac-12 in pickoffs (3). Since his arrival on The Farm in 2017, Stanford's record stands at 80-18 with Handley starts behind home plate. A bioengineering major, Handley aspires to be an orthopedic surgeon following his baseball career.
• Wulff ranks sixth in the Pac-12 with eight home runs.
• 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 has multiple hits in three of his last five while all three of his home runs on the season have come in the last 10 games.
• Stanford's four home runs on April 7 against No. 1 UCLA were a season high and the most in a game since May 5, 2018 – four of the Cardinal's eight multi-home run games have come in the last six games.
• Nick Bellafronto became the first Cardinal to register four hits in a game on March 31, going 4-for-4 with two doubles, two RBI and three runs.
• Duke Kinamon ranks fifth in the Pac-12 in stolen bases (10) and second in league play (6) – Kinamon made his first appearance in 630 days against UNLV (Feb. 23) after missing the 2018 season due to injury.
• Stanford's .290 batting average in Pac-12 play ranks third.
• Stanford's 35 stolen bases rank third in the Pac-12.
• In conference play, the Cardinal leads the league in fielding percentage (.980).
• Freshman Vincent Martinez made his first career start on Tuesday.
• Stanford is 15-1 in the month of February and 21-5 in March under the Clarke and Elizabeth Nelson Director of Baseball David Esquer.
Swwweep ?? complete. ???? #GoStanford
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2019 Season Recap
• The Cardinal's win streak in midweek games, which spanned 25 games and dated to April 26, 2016, ended on Tuesday with an 8-6 loss against UC Davis (April 16).
• Stanford maintained its position atop the Pac-12 standings with a three-game sweep of Washington (April 12-14) – the Cardinal pitching staff surrendered just five runs for the weekend.
• The Cardinal rebounded with an 11-1 win at San Francisco (April 9), its 25th consecutive midweek win. Kyle Stowers and Will Matthiessen homered and Alex Williams earned the win with 5.0 innings of one-run ball.
• In the first No. 1 vs. No. 2 matchup on The Farm since 2000, No. 2 Stanford dropped a 2-1 series decision to No. 1 UCLA (April 5-7). Stanford's lone win in the series came on Friday night behind 7.1 shutout innings from Brendan Beck and a walk-off single by Will Matthiessen in the bottom of the ninth inning.
• Stanford made it 10 in a row with a 2-0 triumph of Fresno State on Tuesday (April 2) – it was the Cardinal's 24th straight midweek win, a streak dating to April 26, 2017.
• Stanford improved to 6-0-0 in Pac-12 play with a 3-0 sweep at Washington State (March 29-31) – the Cardinal outscored the Cougars, 29-8, including a season-high 17 hits in Game 3.
• The Cardinal opened Pac-12 play with a 3-0 series sweep over Utah (March 22-24) 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 (March 1-3), 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).
• 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.
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).