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Cardinal Hosts Cats

STANFORD, Calif. – No. 3 Stanford continues conference play with a three-game series against Arizona at Sunken Diamond, starting Friday at 6 p.m.

The Cardinal (29-6-0, 13-2-0 Pac-12) enters the weekend having won six straight in Pac-12 play, most recently picking up 3-0 sweeps against Washington (April 12-14) and at Oregon (April 18-20). The series continues on Saturday at 5 p.m. and concludes on Sunday at 1 p.m. Stanford's annual Fireworks Night will follow Saturday's contest. The Cardinal then heads south for a midweek contest at Santa Clara on Tuesday (April 30) at 6 p.m.

Live streaming and live statistics for all games will be available at GoStanford.com.

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?? night is back on The Farm! Stick around after our game against Arizona on Saturday (5 pm) for our annual Fireworks Display! #GoStanford

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Weekend Opponent, Arizona
• Stanford enters the weekend with a 112-74-0 all-time record against the Wildcats (18-20-0, 6-12-0), who have lost four straight and five of six in conference play.
• The Wildcats' strength lies at the plate – they are slashing .301/.484/.416, led by Nick Quintana's nine home runs and 43 RBI. Matthew Dyer leads the team in hits (57) while Cameron Cannon paces the team in runs (41), doubles (21) and total bases (92). As a staff, Arizona carries a 6.37 earned-run average – no pitcher has an ERA under 3.00.
• Last year, the Cardinal earned a 3-0 sweep of the Wildcats at Hi-Corbett Field, coming from behind in Games 1-2. Game 2, an 8-7 win, was an instant classic with Stanford scoring five runs in the top of the ninth, capped by Christian Robinson's game-winning, three-run single before Brendan Beck came on in relief to earn the only save of his career.

Tuesday's Opponent, Santa Clara
• Stanford heads south on Tuesday to square off with Santa Clara, which enters the weekend 9-29-0 overall with a 2-13 mark in West Coast Conference play.
• Last season, Stanford earned 16-8 and 9-0 wins over the Broncos – Santa Clara is coached by former Stanford associate head coach Rusty Filter.

Where Do We Stand?
• The Cardinal maintains its position atop the Pac-12 standings with a 13-2-0 record ahead of Oregon State (14-4-0), UCLA (11-4-0) and Arizona State (12-6-0) – Stanford has two less losses than any other team. Stanford's remaining Pac-12 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).
• Stanford inched its way up the D1 Baseball top-25 poll, moving up to No. 3 – three Pac-12 teams occupy the top three spots (No. 1 UCLA, No. 2 Oregon State) with Arizona State, with whom the Cardinal wraps up the regular season in Tempe, Arizona, on May 23-25, lurking at No. 15.
• The Cardinal also ranked top-three in the Baseball America (2), Collegiate Baseball Newspaper (2), NCBWA (2) and Perfect Game (3) polls.
• Stanford sits at No. 11 in the latest NCAA RPI (ratings power index) report – seven of Stanford's 2019 opponents rank top-50 – No. 1 UCLA, No. 6 Oregon State, No. 34 Oregon, No. 39 Texas, No. 43 Arizona State, No. 46 California and No. 47 Fresno State.

Offense Heating Up
• Over the last 15 games, Stanford's offense has produced 126 runs (8.4 per game) 33 home runs, 10 multi-home run games, 301 total bases and 72 extra-base hits while slashing .312/.580/.396 for an .OPS of .976.
• Stanford has hit 29 home runs in the last 11 games with three or more home runs in five of those games, including five at Oregon (April 19) and against San Jose State (April 23) – no other Pac-12 team has hit five home runs in a game this season.
• Stanford's 45 home runs rank 29th, nationally, and third in the Pac-12. Stanford leads Pac-12 play in batting average (.303) and slugging percentage (.504) while its 24 home runs rank one behind Arizona State for the league lead.
• In Stanford's three-game sweep of Oregon, the Cardinal batted .351 with a .684 slugging percentage, a .440 on-base average, 10 home runs and 78 total bases.
• On the season, Will Matthiessen leads the team in batting average (.368), on-base percentage (.456), hits (46) and RBI (35). Matthiessen has also pitched 27.1 innings, recently entering the starting rotation – he set career highs in innings pitched (5.0) and pitches (92) in a win at Oregon last week, striking out nine in his start against Washington (April 13).
• Brandon Wulff's 13 home runs (second in the Pac-12), 34 runs, 1.107 .OPS, .678 slugging percentage (fourth in the Pac-12) and 29 walks lead the team. In his last five games, Wulff has five home runs, 14 RBI and 11 runs. He finished the Oregon series 7-for-10 with four home runs, eight RBI, 21 total bases, a 2.100 slugging percentage, nine runs and four walks. In conference contests, Wulff, the reigning Pac-12 Player of the Week, leads the team in home runs (8), slugging percentage (.846), runs (21), RBI (17) and walks (14).
• Andrew Daschbach has five home runs in his last four games – during that span, he is 9-for-16 with 10 RBI, nine runs and seven extra-base hits. In Pac-12 play, Daschbach leads the team in batting average (.433), on-base percentage (.477) and total bases (50) with six home runs, 19 runs, 15 RBI and a .833 slugging percentage.
• Since being moved to the lead-off spot at San Francisco (April 9), Kyle Stowers is slashing .366/.585/.458 with 10 runs, 24 total bases and six multi-hit games in 10 starts – Stowers also rides an 11-game reached-base streak entering the weekend.
• Entering the week, Nick Brueser had never hit a home run in a Stanford uniform – he has one in each of the last two games while upping his season averages to .291/.473/.432.
• In Pac-12 play, five Cardinal who have started all 15 league clashes carry a batting average of at least .300 –Daschbach (.433), Matthiessen (.350), Maverick Handley (.333), Wulff (.327) and Stowers (.316).

Trio Leads the Staff
• Three pitchers, starters Brendan Beck and Erik Miller along with All-American reliever Jack Little, have led a pitching staff which ranks third in the Pac-12 and eighth in the nation with a 3.05 earned-run average.
• Miller, who struck out a career-high 11 in his last outing at Oregon (April 20), leads Stanford starting pitchers in ERA (2.12) and batting average against (.206) while leading the entire staff in wins (5), strikeouts (57) and fewest hits allowed (34). Miller ranks sixth in the Pac-12 in ERA and opposing batting average and seventh in strikeouts.
• Beck, Stanford's Friday-night starter, ranks seventh in the Pac-12 in ERA (2.29) and leads the team in innings pitched (55.0) with just seven walks – Beck has tossed at least 6.0 innings in six of nine starts.
• Little, a 2018 and preseason All-American, ranks second in the Pac-12 with eight saves – his 24 career saves rank third in program history behind Steve Chitren (26) and Colton Hock (25). In 25.0 innings, the most relief innings on the staff, Little has struck out 34, compared to just six walks, with a 1.80 ERA.
• Across five starts in Pac-12 play, Erik Miller leads starting pitchers in ERA (1.75), wins (3), fewest hits allowed (20), batting average against (.225) and strikeouts (28). On the season, Miller leads starting
• Brendan Beck, Stanford's Friday night starter, leads the team in innings pitched (55.0) while carrying a 2.29 ERA and a 48-7 strikeout-to-walk ratio.

Quick Hitters
• Stanford's .978 fielding percentage ranks third in the Pac-12 and 32nd in the nation – in Pac-12 play, Stanford's .980 fielding percentage leads the conference.
• Stanford is 10-2 in one-run games, 22-1 when leading after six innings, 23-0 when leading after seven and 26-0 when leading after eight.
• Maverick Handley has thrown out eight of 18 stolen base attempts him on the season and leads Pac-12 catchers in pickoffs (3). Since his arrival on The Farm in 2017, Stanford's record stands at 85-18 with Handley starts behind home plate. A bioengineering major, Handley aspires to be an orthopedic surgeon following his baseball career.
• 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, who has homered in two of his last five games, leads the team with 10 stolen bases, which ranks sixth in the Pac-12.
• 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.

2019 Season Recap
• Stanford hit another five home runs in a 15-7 win over San Jose State, improving to 15-1 in midweek games under David Esquer (April 23).
• Trailing 10-6 entering the bottom of the eighth against Gonzaga (April 22), the Cardinal stormed back with five unanswered runs, including three in the bottom of the ninth, capped by Nick Bellafronto's walk-off single – Bellafronto and Nick Brueser also hit their first career home runs in the win.
• Stanford got back on track with a three-game sweep at Oregon, outscoring the Ducks 35-9 in the series. Brandon Wulff hit four home runs of Stanford's 10 home runs in the series while Andrew Daschbach added three of his own.
• 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).
 
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.