STANFORD, Calif. – No. 4 Stanford welcomes UC Santa Barbara, Fresno State and Sacramento State to Sunken Diamond for an NCAA Regional, beginning Friday at 1 p.m.
It is the third straight season Stanford has played host to a regional and the 18th time in program history. The Cardinal (41-11, 22-7-0 Pac-12) opens the regional when it takes on Sacramento State in the opening matchup at 1 p.m. on Friday, followed by a duel between UC Santa Barbara and Fresno State at 7 p.m.
The double-elimination format continues through Saturday and Sunday with Monday's game only to be played if necessary. Stanford Regional central, which includes all game times, broadcast information and team information, can be found at GoStanford.com.
The field is set! We welcome @UCSB_Baseball, @FresnoStateBSB & @SacStBaseball to The Farm for Stanford's 18th @NCAACWS Regional in program history! ???? #GoStanford pic.twitter.com/hCBsN9Fy3T
— Stanford Baseball (@StanfordBSB) May 27, 2019
Series History, UC Santa Barbara
• The Cardinal owns a 30-20-0 all-time record against the Gauchos (45-9-0, 19-5-0 Big West), most recently picking up at 2-1 series win on March 5-7, 2010.
• The Gauchos' pitching staff carries a 3.21 earned-run average, which ranks sixth in the country. The staff is led by starting pitchers Jack Dashwood (9-2, 2.17 ERA in 87.0 innings) and Rodney Boone (8-0, 2.78 ERA in 81.0 innings), and is anchored by reliever Michael McGreevy, who carries a 2.01 ERA in 58.1 innings pitched across 28 appearances.
• Offensively, UC Santa Barbara is batting .299 with a .501 team slugging percentage. Four players have at least 45 RBI – Andrew Martinez (47), Thomas Rowan (46), Armani Smith (46) and Eric Yang (45).
Series History, Fresno State
• Stanford enters the week with an 84-45-1 all-time record against the Bulldogs (38-14-1, 20-8-1 Mountain West), most recently earning a 2-0 victory over Fresno State on April 2. Five pitchers combined for a five-hit shutout with Stanford's two-run sixth inning the only scoring on the day.
• Four Bulldogs who appeared in at least 50 games enter the weekend batting at least .300 – Nolan Dempsey (.343), JT Arruda (.347), Tatum McCarthy (.353) and Zach Ashford (.386). McCarthy leads the team in home runs (12), hits (77) and RBI (71) while Ashford paces the club in runs (76) and on-base percentage.
• Fresno State's pitching staff carries a 3.72 earned-run average, which ranks 31st in the nation, and is led by starting pitcher Ryan Jensen (2.92 ERA in 92.1 innings pitched) and Jaime Arias, who owns 12 saves and a 2.74 ERA in 42.2 innings across 27 appearances.
Series History, Sacramento State
• Stanford owns a 30-14-0 all-time record against the Hornets (39-23-0, 18-9-0 WAC), most recently earning a 10-0 win over Sacramento State in the 2017 Stanford Regional at Sunken Diamond – Kris Bubic struck out 11 in 8.0 innings, allowing five hits while the Cardinal hits four home runs, including two by Quinn Brodey.
• The Hornets' 3.71 earned-run average ranks 30th in the nation – the pitching staff is led by starting pitcher Randall Scott (8-1, 2.50 ERA in 90.0 innings).
• Offensively, Matt Smith leads the team in runs (42), batting average (.318) and slugging percentage (.479) while Dawsen Bacho leads the club in home runs (8), RBI (53) and total bases (105).
A post shared by Stanford Baseball?? (@stanfordbsb) on May 28, 2019 at 10:37am PDT
Stanford Postseason History
• Stanford is making its 32nd appearance in the NCAA Regional round, hosting for the 18th time.
• The Cardinal has won two national championships (1987, 1988) with 16 College World Series appearances (last in 2008) and 10 Super Regional appearances (last in 2014).
• Stanford owns a 143-76-0 (.653) all-time record in 34 postseasons, including a 65-18 (.783) clip in games played at Sunken Diamond.
• Stanford is one of four programs to have hosted an NCAA Regional in each of the last three seasons, joining Oregon State, Arkansas and Texas Tech.
? First player in Stanford history
— Pac-12 Network (@Pac12Network) May 20, 2019
? Just the second in Pac-12 history
? Only player in the NCAA this season@StanfordBSB's Andrew Daschbach hit 4?? home runs in 1?? game and is the #Pac12BSB Player of the Week: https://t.co/LjkPjjXfWd pic.twitter.com/9js0tvLhH1
Daschbach Makes History
• Andrew Daschbach became the first player in program history to hit four home runs in a game, going 4-for-4 with five RBI in a 7-1 win over Cal Poly (May 14).
• For his performance, Daschbach garnered Pac-12 Player of the Week, NCBWA National Player of the Week and U.S.A Golden Spikes Performance of the Week honors – it was Stanford's third Pac-12 Player of the Week honor in the last five weeks.
• Daschbach is the first player in the NCAA to hit four home runs in a game this season and the eighth to do so since 2013. He is the second-ever Pac-12 player to hit four homers in a game, joining UCLA's Bill Scott (vs. Washington on March 30, 1999).
• Daschbach's 16 total bases are the most of any player in the NCAA this season and the most in the Pac-12 by five – Daschbach (at Oregon, April 19) and Duke Kinamon (at Cal, May 10) previously shared the season high with 11.
• It was the first time a Stanford player had hit three home runs in a game since June 15, 2000 – Edmund Muth hit three in a College World Series matchup against Louisiana-Lafayette.
• Daschbach's four homers tie for the third-most in a single game in NCAA history – Marshall McDougall hit six for Florida State on May 9, 1999 and Henry Rochelle hit five for Campbell on March 30, 1985.
• It is the second straight season Daschbach has hit 15 or more home runs – in 2018, Daschbach hit the most home runs (17) in a season since Sean Ratliff hit 22 in 2008.
• In the last 21 games since April 19, Daschbach is hitting .351/.427/.922 while leading the team in home runs (12), RBI (27), runs (26) and total bases (71).
• Daschbach ranks sixth in the Pac-12 in slugging (.642) and fifth in home runs (16).
In 7?? starts on the mound, @willmatthiessen is 5-1 with a 3.62 ERA. But what about at the plate in those 7?? appearances? ??
— Stanford Baseball (@StanfordBSB) May 28, 2019
1.491 .OPS ??
.520 BA ??
2??3?? total bases ??
9?? RBI ?
4?? 2B ??
2?? HR ??#GoStanford pic.twitter.com/e9epniTa6e
Two-Way Talisman
• Junior Will Matthiessen has been a standout on both sides of the ball, starting six of Stanford's last seven Pac-12 series while leading the team in on-base percentage (.398), hits (60), RBI (47), multi-hit games (18) and multi-RBI games (13) while carrying a 3.91 earned run average across 14 total appearances and seven starts on the mound.
• In 48.1 total innings, Matthiessen has struck out 52 batters compared to 19 walks while limiting opposing batters to a .223 average.
• In his 14 pitching appearances, Matthiessen leads the team in batting average (.438), hits (21), RBI (17), total bases (38), slugging percentage (.792) and on-base percentage (.500) while co-leading the team with four home runs.
• In his seven starts, Matthiessen is 5-1 with a 3.62 ERA and a .212 opposing batting average with 35 strikeouts to 11 walks in 32.1 innings. In those starts at the plate, Matthiessen leads the team in batting average (.520), hits (13), RBI (9), total bases (23), slugging percentage (.920) and on-base percentage (.571) while co-leading the team with four doubles and two home runs.
From All Angles
• Stanford's offense ranks fourth in the Pac-12 in slugging percentage (.480) and runs (351). In Pac-12 play, the Cardinal ranked third in batting average (.290), slugging (.499), runs (204), total basees (503) and RBI (185).
• Eight Cardinal have scored at least 28 runs – Nick Bellafronto (28), Tim Tawa (30), Duke Kinamon (34), Kyle Stowers (35), Maverick Handley (39), Will Matthiessen (40), Brandon Wulff (47) and Andrew Daschbach (50).
• Five players who have at least two plate appearances per game are slugging at least .500 – Stowers (.508), Kinamon (.509), Matthiessen (.534), Wulff (.582) and Daschbach (.642).
• Seven have at least 26 RBI – Bellafronto (26), Kinamon (28), Stowers (33), Tawa (35), Wulff (38), Daschbach (44) and Matthiessen (47).
• In Pac-12 play, seven Cardinal finished with a batting average of .282 or higher – Daschbach (.345), Stowers (.336), Matthiessen (.310), Kinamon (.303), Handley (.291), Tawa (.283) and Wulff (.282).
• In Pac-12 play, eight Cardinal scored at least 17 runs – Daschbach (31), Wulff (31), Kinamon (23), Matthiessen (22), Handley (22), Stowers (19), Tawa (18) and Bellafronto (17).
Here's how our regular season ended ?? Now, let's keep it rolling. ?? #GoStanford pic.twitter.com/tPxgK2zhXu
— Stanford Baseball (@StanfordBSB) May 28, 2019
Long Ball Leads the Way
• Stanford led Pac-12 play with 48 home runs and finished the regular season with 75 in all games, which ranks third in the conference and 14th, nationally.
• The Cardinal has hit at least one home run in 22-of-24 games with 59 home runs in its last 28 games.
• Since a 20-5 win at Oregon (April 29), Stanford has homered 45 times in 21 games with 162 runs (7.71 per game) while slashing .308/.381/.566 as a team.
• Forty one of Stanford's 75 home runs on the season came in the month of April – during the month, Stanford slashed .297/.385/.565, scoring 8.22 runs per game with a 14-4 record.
• Six Cardinal have hit at least six home runs – Brandon Wulff (17), Andrew Daschbach (16), Will Matthiessen (10), Tim Tawa (8), Kyle Stowers (7) and Duke Kinamon (6).
Quick Hitters
• Stanford enters the postseason 31-2 when leading after five innings, 32-2 when leading after six, 34-1 when leading after seven and 37-1 when leading after eight.
• The Cardinal is 11-3 in one-run games and 24-2 when scoring first.
• Stanford finishes 2019 9-1 in midweek games – in two seasons under the Clarke and Elizabeth Nelson Director of Baseball David Esquer, the Cardinal is 18-1 in midweek contests.
• Stanford co-leads the Pac-12 in stolen bases with 58 – Kyle Stowers leads the team with 12, which ranks seventh in the Pac-12, while Maverick Handley and Duke Kinamon tie for eighth with 11 apiece.
• Since moving to the lead-off spot on April 9, Stowers is slashing .345/.413/.593 with 22 runs, 10 doubles, six home runs, 21 RBI and 67 total bases. Prior to the season, Stowers switched his number to 37 to honor high school teammate and friend Jason Lyon, who died of brain cancer.
• Catcher Handley rides a 10-game reached-base streak into the postseason after starting the season on a 23-game such streak – Handley (bioengineering) aspires to be an orthopedic surgeon following his playing career.
• All six of Kinamon's home runs have come since April 18 (22 games) – he rides a team-high seven-game hit streak into the postseason.
• All four home runs in Nick Bellafronto's career have come since April 22 (19 games).
• Brandon Wulff ties for 22nd in the nation with 17 home runs, which ties for third in the Pac-12 – eight of those home runs came in a nine-game stretch from April 18-30. Wulff's total ties Andrew Daschbach's 2018 total for most by a Stanford player since Sean Ratliff hit 22 in 2008.
• Daschbach (first base) and Will Matthiessen (designated hitter) are the only Cardinal to have started all 52 games at the same position – Wulff and Handley are the only other Cardinal to appear in all 52 games.
• In Stanford's three-game sweep of Oregon (April 18-20), the Cardinal batted .351 with a .684 slugging percentage, a .440 on-base average, 10 home runs and 78 total bases.
• Stanford is 15-1 in the month of February, 21-5 in March, 27-7 in April and 20-8 in May under the Clarke and Elizabeth Nelson Director of Baseball David Esquer, who owns an 87-23 overall record (.791) on The Farm in two seasons.
When will they learn?!? ?? @maverickhandley leads the Pac-12 with 7?? pickoffs?? #GoStanford
A post shared by Stanford Baseball?? (@stanfordbsb) on May 28, 2019 at 3:00pm PDT
Pitching and Defense
• Stanford's earned-run average of 3.47 ranks third in the Pac-12 and 11th in the NCAA. The Cardinal has surrendered the fewest walks (159) in the Pac-12.
• The Cardinal finished the regular season playing error-free defense in five straight games and in six-of-seven contests. Stanford has played error-free defense in 23 games this season. Stanford's .979 fielding percentage ranks second in the Pac-12 and 17th in the NCAA.
• Catcher Maverick Handley, who has just three passed balls this season, leads the Pac-12 in pickoffs (7), has thrown out 10-of-26 stolen base attempts against him and has helped Stanford allow the fewest sacrifice bunts (17) in the conference. Since his freshman season in 2017, Stanford is 97-23-0 (.808) when Handley starts behind the plate.
• Closer Jack Little tied the program record with his 26th career save in Stanford's regular-season finale – Little, who tied the single-season record with 16 saves in 2018, ranks second in the Pac-12 with 10 saves across 22 appearances.
• Starting pitcher Erik Miller leads the team in strikeouts (85) and leads the weekend rotation in ERA (2.91) – Miller is widely considered one of the top pitching prospects for the 2019 MLB Draft.
• Friday-night starter Brendan Beck leads the team in innings pitched (78.1) with just 19 walks on the season.
• Midweek starter Alex Williams finished the regular season 7-1 with a 2.48 ERA in 54.1 innings across 13 appearances, including nine starts.
• Since moving to the bullpen after his start against UCLA on April 6, left hander Jacob Palisch carries a 2.11 ERA in 21.1 innings pitched across 15 appearances.
• Since April 22, righty Zach Grech owns a 1.31 ERA and .183 batting average across 20.2 innings pitched with 15 strikeouts compared to three walks across 13 appearances. In his team-high 27 appearances, Grech is 2-0 with a 3.32 ERA in 40.2 total innings.
• Lefty Austin Weiermiller leads the entire staff in ERA (1.71), carrying a .212 opposing batting average in 31.2 innings across 23 appearances.
2019 Season Recap
• Stanford wrapped up the regular season with a 2-1 series win at Arizona State (May 23-25). Trailing, 2-0, in Game 3 with two outs in the ninth inning, Tim Tawa hit a go-ahead, three-run home run before Jack Little tallied his 26th career save, tying the program record previously held alone by Steve Chitren.
• Stanford registered a 1-1 split in a rain-shortened series against Oregon State (May 17-19). The Cardinal took Game 1 with an 8-5 win but dropped Sunday's finale, 5-2. Saturday's Game 2 as well as Stanford's midweek contest against Pacific (May 21) were cancelled due to rain.
• Andrew Daschbach made history as the first player in program history to hit four home runs in a game, lifting Stanford to a 7-1 win over Cal Poly (May 14). Starting pitcher Alex Williams was brilliant, allowing one run on four hits in a career-high 7.2 innings pitched.
• Stanford took the rubber match on Sunday in a 2-1 series win at California (May 10-12). The Golden Bears stunned Stanford with an 18-2 win in Game 2 on Saturday to level the series, but Erik Miller's quality start and Tim Tawa's three-run home run led Stanford to the deciding win on Sunday.
• The Cardinal's record in midweek games improved to 8-1 with a 5-1 win over Santa Clara (May 7). Christian Robinson set career highs in hits (4) and RBI (3) and Stanford's pitching staff combined to allow just six hits in 9.0 innings of one-run ball.
• After jumping out to a 2-0 series lead, Stanford dropped the series finale at USC (May 3-5) to fall into a tie with Oregon State atop the Pac-12 conference standings.
• Stanford improved to 7-1 in midweek games with a 7-1 win over Santa Clara (April 30). Alex Williams struck out a career-high in a career-high 7.0 innings while allowing one run on two hits while Brandon Wulff and Kyle Stowers each hit two-run home runs.
• After dropping Game 1, Stanford surged back with wins on Saturday and Sunday to earn a 2-1 series win over Arizona and maintain its position atop the Pac-12 standings with 13 runs each in Games 2-3.
• 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).
Who's Back from 2018?
• 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.