STANFORD, Calif. – No. 4 Stanford opens its first Super Regional since 2014 on Saturday when it faces No. 3 Mississippi State on ESPN2 at Dudy Noble Field in Starkville, Mississippi.
The Cardinal (45-12-0, 22-7-0 Pac-12) earned a berth in the Super Regional round after winning the Stanford Regional with a 4-1 record. Stanford fell into the losers' bracket with a loss to Fresno State on Saturday but won its next three, including the final two over the Bulldogs, to stay alive. The winner of the Super Regional will earn a berth at the College World Series, which takes place in Omaha, Nebraska, June 15-26.
The series begins Saturday at Noon PT on ESPN2 with Sunday's Game 2 set for 6 p.m. on ESPNU. Monday's if-necessary game will begin at 4 p.m. on ESPN2 with live statistics for all contests available at GoStanford.com.
Super Regional Opponent, No. 3 Mississippi State
• Stanford is 2-0-0, all-time, against the Bulldogs (49-13-0, 20-10 SEC) with the first meeting coming in 1990 and the most recent clash happening in 1996.
• Offensively, the SEC's all-time leader in career hits Jake Mangum leads the Bulldogs, batting .357/.415/.468 while pacing the team in runs (71) and doubles (22) to go with 39 RBI, 131 total bases and 21 stolen bases. Justin Foscue leads the team in home runs (14), slugging percentage (.590), RBI (58) and total bases (151). As a team, Mississippi State is batting .317/.398/.478.
• Left-handed pitcher Ethan Small (9-2), who was picked 28th overall by the Milwaukee Brewers in the 2019 MLB Draft, leads the pitching staff with a 1.88 earned-run average and a .160 opposing batting average in 96.0 innings with 160 strikeouts to just 27 walks.
For the first time since 2014, were headed to an NCAA Super Regional!!! ???? #GoStanford
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Regional Roundup
• The Cardinal earned a place in the Super Regional round after coming back from a loss in Game 4 of the Stanford Regional to win the next three, including the final two against Fresno State.
• Stanford opened the Regional with an 11-0 win over Sacramento State on Friday afternoon, Stanford dropped a 7-2 decision to the Bulldogs on Saturday night to be relegated into the losers' bracket. Stanford earned a 12-3 win over the Hornets to set up a rematch with Fresno State later that day, earning an 8-6 win over Fresno State to stay alive and force a winner-take-all Game 7 on Monday, which it won, 9-7.
• Maverick Handley finished as the Regional's Most Outstanding Player after batting .313/.522/.875 with three home runs, including two in Monday night's win, five runs, five RBI and six walks – Handley entered the postseason with two home runs on the season.
• Starting pitcher Brendan Beck did not allow a run in 10.1 innings pitched across two appearances – Beck tossed 7.0 shutout innings in the Regional opener, an 11-0 win over Sacramento State, before pitching 3.1 perfect relief innings in Monday's winner-take-all finale.
• Four players hit two-or-more homers in the Regional – Will Matthiessen (2), Brandon Wulff (2), Nick Bellafronto (2) and Handley (3).
• Five Cardinal batted above .300 – Bellafronto (.313), Handley (.313), Wulff (.333), Kyle Stowers (.348) and Matthiessen (.368).
• Jack Little earned the save in each of the last two games of the Regional – Little's save on June 2, a nine-out save, put him ahead of Steve Chitren (26) for the program record with 27 career saves. On June 3, Little entered with a two-run lead in the ninth inning and struck out the side to secure Stanford's Super Regional berth.
• Freshman Alex Williams tossed a complete game in Sunday's 12-3 win over Sacramento State, a must-win scenario – it was the first complete game by a Stanford pitcher since Chris Castellanos' complete game against BYU (June 3, 2017) in an identical situation (Game 5 of the Stanford Regional facing elimination).
• In Stanford's second must-win game of the Regional, lefty Erik Miller set a career high with 12 strikeouts, earning the win – Miller had lost Game 6 of the Stanford Regional in each of the last two seasons, the games in which Stanford's seasons ended.
Cool moment around the MLB Draft:@StanfordBSB players came out to congratulate teammate Kyle Stowers after he was drafted during a game. (via @ShotgunSprD1) pic.twitter.com/XFoz8dsLeZ
— FOX Sports: MLB (@MLBONFOX) June 4, 2019
2019 MLB Draft Recap
• Eight Cardinal were taken in the 2019 MLB Draft – Kyle Stowers, Erik Miller, Jack Little, Maverick Handley, Will Matthiessen, Andrew Daschbach, Brandon Wulff and Duke Kinamon.
• Stowers was taken 71st overall in the competitive balance Round 2 by the Baltimore Orioles.
• Miller went 120th overall in the fourth round to the Philadelphia Phillies.
• Little was taken 161st overall in the fifth round by the Los Angeles Dodgers.
• Handley was picked 168th overall in the sixth round by the Orioles.
• Matthiessen went 184th overall in the sixth round by the Pittsburgh Pirates.
• Daschbach was taken 318th overall in the 11th round by the Orioles.
• Wulff went 521st overall in the 17th round by the Dodgers.
• Kinamon was drafted 728th overall in the 24th round by the Tampa Bay Rays.
Stanford Postseason History
• Stanford is making its 11th appearance in the Super Regional round and first since 2014.
• The Cardinal is seeking its 17th appearance in the College World Series and first since 2008. Stanford claimed back-to-back NCAA Championships from 1987-88 – the Clarke and Elizabeth Nelson Director of Baseball David Esquer, a former walk-on, was the starting shortstop as a senior in 1987.
• This is Stanford's 35th appearance in the postseason and 32nd season earning a place in the NCAA Regional round.
• Stanford owns a 147-77-0 (.656) all-time record in the postseason, including a 94-38-0 (.712) clip in the Regional round, a 13-10-0 (.565) mark in Super Regionals and a 40-29-0 (.580) line in the College World Series.
• In elimination games, Stanford owns a 65-32 (.670) all-time record, good for the third-highest win percentage in such games behind USC (67-25, .728) and Georgia (27-11, .711).
The perfect start. ?? #GoStanford
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Long Ball Leads the Way
• Stanford led Pac-12 play with 48 home runs and ranks fifth in the nation with 87.
• The Cardinal's 87 home runs rank seventh in program history and are the most in a season since 2004 when Stanford hit 96.
• Brandon Wulff leads the team with 19 homers, which ties for ninth on Stanford's single-season all-time list and is the most since Sean Ratliff hit 22 during the 2008 season. Wulff ranks third in the Pac-12 in home runs and 17th, nationally.
• The Cardinal has hit 71 home runs in its last 33 games with 20 multi-homer games in that span.
• Since a 20-5 win at Oregon (April 19), Stanford has homered 57 times in 26 games with 204 runs (7.85 per game) while hitting .302/.385/.564 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.
• Eight Cardinal have hit at least five home runs – Maverick Handley (5), Nick Bellafronto (6), Duke Kinamon (6), Tim Tawa (8), Kyle Stowers (8), Will Matthiessen (12), Andrew Daschbach (17) and Wulff (19).
A Balanced Attack
• Eight Cardinal have scored at least 32 runs – Nick Bellafronto (32), Tim Tawa (35), Kyle Stowers (38), Duke Kinamon (44), Will Matthiessen (46), Brandon Wulff (54) and Andrew Daschbach (55).
• The same eight have at least five home runs apiece – Handley (5), Kinamon (6), (Bellafronto (6), Tawa (8), Stowers (8), Matthiessen (12), Daschbach (17) and Wulff (19).
• Seven have at least 32 RBI – Kinamon (32), Bellafronto (32), Tawa (37), Stowers (38), Wulff (42), Daschbach (45) and Matthiessen (52).
• Seven also have at least 10 doubles – Tawa (10), Daschbach (11), Kinamon (12), Matthiessen (12), Bellafronto (13), Handley (13) and Stowers (19).
Pitching and Defense
• Stanford ranks 14th nationally and third in the Pac-12 with a 3.51 earned-run average.
• The Cardinal has allowed the fewest walks in the Pac-12 (173).
• The Cardinal's fielding percentage of 0.977 ranks second in the Pac-12 and 28th in the nation.
• Stanford's error in the opening game of the Stanford Regional was its first since May 14 – the Cardinal did not make an error in its final five regular-season contests.
Today, @StanfordBSB embarks on the road to Omaha.
— Stanford Athletics (@GoStanford) May 31, 2019
Go inside the mind of @MaverickHandley, the squad's catcher and leader on the field.#GoStanford https://t.co/DLQpxUB2ok
Doctor Baseball
• Maverick Handley, the Stanford Regional Most Outstanding Player, aspires to attend medical school and become an orthopedic surgeon when his playing career ends.
• A Pac-12 All-Academic first teamer majoring in bioengineering, Handley's 3.78 grade-point average is the highest of any Pac-12 All-Academic honoree.
• Stanford is 91-20-0 (.827) when Handley starts at catcher since his freshman season in 2017.
• Handley was named Pac-12 Co-Defensive Player of the Year alongside the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 MLB Draft, Adley Rutschman.
• Handley leads the Pac-12 in stolen bases caught (13) and pickoffs (8) – no other catcher in the Pac-12 has more than two pickoffs while no pitcher has more than five.
• Handley has thrown out 13-of-32 total stolen base attempts with just three passed balls, none since May 5 and just one since April 18.
• Handley rides a 15-game reached-base streak into the Super Regional round.
• Stanford has allowed the fewest sacrifice bunts (18) in the Pac-12.
9?? outs 2??7?? career saves 1?? @jack_little11 #GoStanford
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Little's Legend Grows
• Jack Little's astounding career on The Farm continued during the Regional round, registering saves in each of Stanford's wins over Fresno State on Sunday and Monday.
• Little's save in Sunday's 8-6 nail biter marked the 27th of his career, which put him ahead of Steve Chitren (26) for the all-time program record. Little recorded the final nine outs of the game, striking out five while allowing two hits. Little struck out the side in his only inning of work to finish the Cardinal's 9-7 win over Fresno State on Monday.
• Little ranks second in the Pac-12 with 12 saves. He carries a 3.32 earned-run average and a 1.08 WHIP with 50 strikeouts to 19 walks in 53.1 innings pitched across 24 appearances while holding opposing hitters to a .221 batting average.
• A preseason All-American in 2019, Little was a consensus All-American after posting video game-like numbers as a sophomore – Little finished with a 0.60 ERA in 45.1 innings pitched with 58 strikeouts, eight walks and a 0.75 WHIP while limiting batters to a .167 average.
Two-Way Talisman
• Will Matthiessen has been a standout performer on both sides of the ball, carrying a 3.71 earned-run average in 15 appearances while leading the team in batting average (.322), on-base percentage (.399) and RBI (52).
• In addition to his 3.71 ERA in 15 appearances, Matthiessen is holding opposing hitters to a .232 average with 55 strikeouts to 19 walks in 53.1 innings pitched. In his 15 appearances, Matthiessen is batting .423/.483/.750 (all team highs) while leading the team in home runs (4), RBI (17), total bases (39), runs (14) and hits).
• In his eight starts, Matthiessen is batting .448/.500/.793 (all team highs) while leading the team in hits (13), doubles (4), home runs (2) and RBI (9).
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 a five-week span.
• 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.
Quick Hitters
• Stanford owns a 41-1 record when leading after eight innings, a 38-1 record when leading after seven, a 36-2 record when leading after six and a 35-2 record when leading after five.
• The Cardinal's 62 stolen bases lead the Pac-12. Kyle Stowers ranks fifth in the league with 13, which leads the team, while Duke Kinamon and Maverick Handley tie for eighth with 12 apiece.
• Stanford finished the season 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 such contests.
• Since moving to the lead-off spot on April 9, Stowers leads the team in batting average (.346) and hits (47) in 32 games. During that span, Stowers is slashing .346/.408/.596 with seven home runs, 26 RBI, 25 runs, 81 total bases and a team-high 13 doubles. Prior to the season, Stowers switched his number from six to 37 to honor high school teammate and close friend Jason Lyon, who died of brain cancer.
• All six of Duke Kinamon's home runs have come since April 18 (27 games).
• All six of Nick Bellafronto's career homers have come since April 22 (26 games). Bellafronto, a redshirt junior, registered his first career hit at Grand Canyon (Feb. 18) after making one appearance in his first three seasons on The Farm.
• Daschbach (first base) and Will Matthiessen (designated hitter) are the only Cardinal to have started all 57 games at the same position – Wulff and Handley are the only other Cardinal to appear in all 57 games.
• Brandon Wulff has played the national anthem on piano in each of the last three seasons. The Cardinal is 3-0 in those games with a 25-9 run differential.
• 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 91-24-0 (.791) overall record on The Farm in two seasons.
Cardinal in the Classroom
• Thirteen Cardinal were named Pac-12 All-Academic, including first teamers Maverick Handley and Jack Little, who were also named CoSIDA Academic All-District first team.
• In BioEngineering 123: Biomedical System Prototyping (lab), Handley engineered an E. Coli fermenter. Some other courses Handley has completed are titled: BioE 44: Fundamentals for Engineering Biology (lab), BioE 103: Systems Physiology and Design, BioE 101: Systems Biology and BioE 131: Ethics in Bioengineering.
• Left-handed pitcher Jacob Palisch (computer science) built a server-based photo sharing application as part of his Web Application course. As part of the course, Palisch is also learning how to create and train artificial neural networks to make accurate models for predicting outcomes given already observed data.
• Redshirt junior Nick Bellafronto (public policy) is working on a project with the Sacramento Metropolitan Air Quality Management District to publish a report on methods to reduce single-occupancy vehicle commuting and pollution in Sacramento.
• Redshirt junior Nickolas Oar (architectural design) is the president of Stanford Athletics' mental health advocacy group and helped found SchoolSportsShare, a company which works with former baseball players and distributes gear to give to children in low-income areas, mainly Oakland, California.
• Juniors Zach Grech (management science and engineering) and Little (management science and engineering) co-opted a regression model for a project in a class called Applied Statistics during the 2018 fall quarter. The model used historical data from past MLB free agent signings using parameters such as All-Star appearances, age and WAR to predict the Average Annual Value of contracts signed in this past offseason – the model accurately predicted the AAV of player contracts such as Bryce Harper and Manny Machado within $1.5 million.
• Sophomores Tim Tawa (undeclared) and Brendan Beck (science, technology and society) took a class at Stanford's prestigious Graduate School of Business with guest speakers including San Francisco 49ers owner Jed York, Oakland Athletics general manager Billy Beane, San Francisco Giants' owner Larry Baer, San Antonio Spurs general manager R.C. Buford and Golden State Warriors general manager Bob Myers.
• In a mechanical engineering class centered around designing and creating brands, Beck, sophomore Carson Rudd (undeclared) and redshirt junior Duke Kinamon (science, technology and society) collaborated on a potential redesign for Stanford Magazine as well as a logo and branding concepts for the theoretical Big Tree Brewing Company, a Stanford-centered brewery.
• Senior Brandon Wulff is an associate with Fellowship of Christian Athletes and meets with other student-athletes on campus about mentorship and faith.
• Freshman Brandon Dieter is working on a research project on the rise of fad diets and how they are linked to anorexia.
• Senior Michael Boden (management science and engineering) owns a United States patent covering an "audio output distribution" regarding the method of sending audio from a television to a mobile device.
2019 Season Recap
• The Cardinal finished the Stanford Regional with a 4-1 record to earn its first Super Regional appearance since 2014, winning three consecutive elimination games, including an instant-classic 9-7 win over Fresno State (June 3), en route to its first Regional win on home turf since 2012.
• 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.