Cardinal Welcomes Pitt for ACC Play

LEADING OFF

• Stanford will honor legendary head coach Mark Marquess, who passed away on January 30, 2026, throughout the 2026 season with "9" jersey patches, helmet stickers and an outfield wall decal at Sunken Diamond ... has connected for multiple home runs in each of the last eight games (22 homers over the span) ... stole six bases in the season opener vs. No. 24 Arizona (February 13), but has swiped just six bases over the last 15 games (6-for-13 over the span) ... was picked to finish 10th in the ACC standings according to the league’s coaches after finishing 13th a year ago ... has missed the NCAA Tournament in each of the last two seasons, but has not gone more than two straight years without reaching the postseason since a 13-season stretch from 1968-1980 ... has made 19 College World Series appearances, including having reached Omaha in three of the last five seasons ... 19 appearances are ninth-most in the nation ... finished the 2025 season with a 27-25 overall record and an 11-19 conference mark ... hit .297 as a team with 329 runs scored (6.33 per game), 90 doubles, 10 triples and 64 home runs a year ago ... pitched to a 6.42 ERA with 430 strikeouts in 451 1/3 innings ... averaged 8.57 strikeouts per nine innings
• Charlie Bates has a team-best eight multi-hit games in his first 15 games played this year ... has compiled three multi-RBI games ... has homered in two of his last three games and has hit safely in eight of his last nine ... is listed on the Brooks Wallace Award watch list ... was listed as the preseason No. 19 shortstop in the nation according to D1Baseball and No. 31 on Perfect Game's Preseason Top 100 Sophomores list
• Philip Cheong was No. 98 on Perfect Game's Preseason Top 100 Freshmen list
• Nick Dugan was listed as the preseason No. 108 starter in the nation according to D1Baseball and No. 46 on Perfect Game's Preseason Top 100 Seniors list
• Ethan Hott has reached in all six of his games with an at bat this year, and eight straight games dating back to the end of the 2025 season
• Eric Jeon batted .714 (5-for-7) with five runs scored, four RBIs, a double and three home runs to the tune of a 2.143 slugging percentage in three games at No. 15 Wake Forest (March 6-7) ... had a pinch-hit home run on March 6 before rattling off a single, double and two home runs in his next four at bats to conclude a string of five straight hits to begin the series against the Demon Deacons
• Aidan Keenan was listed as the preseason No. 120 starting pitcher in the nation according to D1Baseball
• Brock Ketelsen connected for his first career home run at No. 15 Wake Forest on March 7 ... is listed on the John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award watch list ... was listed on the Baseball America Preseason Freshman of the Year watch list and No. 18 on Perfect Game's Preseason Top 100 Freshmen list
• Luke Lavin has hit safely in seven of his last eight games ... leads the team with four multi-RBI games
• Tatum Marsh has reached in seven straight games ... was listed as the preseason No. 40 outfielder in the nation according to D1Baseball
• JJ Moran hit safely in each of the first 12 games this season, and has a hit in 13 of the first 16 overall
• Jimmy Nati has reached in eight straight games … managed his fourth career multi-homer game on Wednesday vs. Nevada, falling one RBI shy of his career high of six ... was named NCBWA Preseason All-America second team, is listed as the preseason No. 10 second baseman in the nation according to D1Baseball and is No. 100 on Perfect Game's Preseason Top 100 Seniors list
• Brady Reynolds was listed as the preseason No. 100 outfielder in the nation according to D1Baseball
• Rintaro Sasaki has hit safely in five straight games and seven of his last eight, compiling four multi-hit games over the span, and has reached in eight straight ... was listed as the preseason No. 38 first baseman in the nation according to D1Baseball ... was selected in the first round of the 2025 Nippon Professional Baseball Draft by the Fukuoka SoftBank Hawks
• Brock Sell has compiled three multi-RBI games ... was listed on the Baseball America Preseason Freshman of the Year watch list and No. 9 on Perfect Game's Preseason Top 100 Freshmen list
• Teddy Tokheim has hit safely in eight of his 10 games played, has an extra-base hit in six of the 10, and has reached in nine straight contests
• Parker Warner is listed on the National Pitcher of the Year Award watch list

THIS WEEK

• Stanford will continue an eight-game homestand this week when it welcomes ACC foe Pitt to The Farm for a three-game series
• The series begins Friday at 6:05 p.m., before continuing Saturday at 2:05 and concluding Sunday at 1:05 p.m.
• All three games against Pitt will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra and will be broadcast on KZSU 90.1 FM

UP NEXT

• After the series against Pitt, Stanford will remain home to host Utah Valley for four games next weekend
• With finals week on The Farm next week, the two teams will play one game on Saturday, a doubleheader on Sunday, and the finale on Monday
• All four games against Utah Valley will be streamed live on ACC Network Extra and will be broadcast on KZSU 90.1 FM

UPCOMING PROMOTIONS

• Fans can pick up a St. Patrick's Day inspired hat on Sunday, March 15, vs. Pitt, while supplies last! Fans are also encouraged to stick around for autographs on the concourse after the game!
• Join us Saturday, March 21 against Utah Valley for our first trading card set giveaway of the season, while supplies last!
• Kids 8th grade and under can run the bases after the game (weather permitting) on Sunday, March 22 vs. Utah Valley!

A LOOK BACK

• Jimmy Nati belted a pair of home runs as part of a 3-for-4 day that included five RBIs as Stanford exploded for two big innings in a 13-8 victory over Nevada on Wednesday night from Sunken Diamond
• After grounding out in his first plate appearance leading off the second inning, Nati capped a six-run second inning with a two-RBI single in his second at bat of the frame ... the senior second baseman launched the first of his two homers in the fourth inning before leading off the seventh with a solo shot to run his season total to four round-trippers ... with the Cardinal batting around for the second time in an inning on Wednesday, Nati drew a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch to force in the fifth and final run of the seventh inning
• Sophomore Charlie Bates continued his torrid start to the season, batting 2-for-5 with a double, a run scored and four RBIs
• Stanford starter Cohen Gomez did not factor in the decision after allowing four runs on four hits and two walks with three strikeouts over 2 1/3 innings
• Senior Trevor Moore was credited with the victory and moved to 2-1 on the season after working 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief
• Trailing 7-1 after two innings, the Wolf Pack did manage to claw to within a run at 8-7 after six, but Stanford’s five-run seventh blew the game open
• Stanford opened ACC play last weekend at No. 15 Wake Forest, suffering a sweep at the hands of the Demon Deacons
• Facing one of the best pitching staffs in the nation, Stanford's offense held its own by scoring 23 runs on eight doubles and 10 home runs to boast a .620 slugging percentage and a .365 on-base percentage which was aided by 16 walks
• Junior Eric Jeon had an oustanding weekend, batting .714 with five runs scored, a double and three home runs to the tune of a 2.143 slugging percentage ... Jeon, who finished with four RBIs, had a pinch-hit home run on Friday night before rattling off a single, double and two home runs in his next four at bats to conclude a string of five straight hits to begin his weekend
• Sophomore shortstop Charlie Bates collected a pair of home runs, while Jimmy Nati (.364) and Rintaro Sasaki (.357) each hit better than .350 with a home run over the three-game series
• The Cardinal pitching staff combined for a 12.00 ERA while allowing 33 runs (32 earned) over 24 innings with 30 strikeouts ... Cardinal pitchers walked 18 batters while allowing a .387 average against

POWERING UP

• Stanford homered in just two of the first eight games, connecting for three home runs over the span, but has multiple home runs in each of the last eight contests - launching 22 home runs over the span
• The Cardinal set a season best with five home runs at Wake Forest on March 7 - the most in a game for the Cardinal since connecting for five vs. Duke on March 15, 2025

TIGHT GAMES EARLY

• Six of Stanford’s first nine games this season were decided by one run and the Cardinal went 3-3 in those contests
• Four of Stanford's six losses over a six-game skid from February 28 - March 7 were been decided by three runs, with a fourth coming by four runs
• Despite suffering 10 losses this season, the Cardinal has had at the least the tying run at the plate in the eighth or ninth inning of eight of the 10 setbacks
• The Cardinal is being outscored 117-101 through the first 16 games of the season

LEADING OFF FOR THE CARDINAL...

• After hitting fifth (10 times) and sixth (one time) in the lineup in each of the first 11 games of the season, Rintaro Sasaki has been shifted to the leadoff spot over the last five contests
• The power-hitting first baseman has responded well to the move, hitting .429 (9-for-21) with two doubles, two homers, six runs scored, six RBIs and four strikeouts while posting a .500 on-base percentage and an .810 slugging percentage over the five games
• So far this year, Sasaki has batted a combined .171 (6-for-35) with three doubles, two home runs, two RBIs and eight strikeouts hitting outside of the leadoff spot

OPENING WEEKEND NOTES

• Including a 10-7 victory over No. 24 Arizona this year, Stanford is 51-16-1 overall on Opening Day since 1959 and has won seven of its last 11 games to open a season
• Stanford opened the 2025 season against Cal State Fullerton for the fourth straight season and 12th time since 2000 (13th time overall) ... with a four-game sweep last year, Stanford is now 8-4 in the 12 season-opening series (24-13 overall record) since 2000
• The Cardinal has played 28 opening weekend series of three-or-more games since 1959 and is 19-9 in those series ... Stanford has compiled a 58-28 record over the 86 games in those sets

OUR AUSSIE IS A PRESEASON ALL-AMERICAN

• Jimmy Nati was tabbed a Preseason All-American according to National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association, landing on the publication’s second team
• Stanford's starting second baseman a year ago, Nati was named a finalist for the ABCA/Rawlings Gold Glove at the conclusion of the season
• Nati started all 52 games for the Cardinal last year, posted a .980 fielding percentage and batted .300 with 45 runs scored, nine doubles, a team-best 16 home runs and a team-leading 50 RBIs while slugging a team-best .581 with a .367 on-base percentage

A FEW TO WATCH

• Sophomore Charlie Bates was listed on the 100-player initial watch list for the 2026 Brooks Wallace Award ... the Brooks Wallace Award is an award given by the College Baseball Foundation to the best college baseball shortstop ... the award has been given annually since 2004 and until 2008, the award was presented to the nation's most outstanding player ... in 2009 the recipient list was changed to only include shortstops ... it is named after former Texas Tech shortstop and assistant coach Brooks Wallace, who died of leukemia in 1985 at the age of 27
• Freshman Brock Ketelsen was listed on the 49-player initial watch list for the 2026 John Olerud Award ... the John Olerud Two-Way Player of the Year Award is a college baseball award given to the best two-way player ... the award is named after former Washington State University standout John Olerud, who achieved success both as a first baseman and left-handed pitcher during the late 1980s ... he was inducted into the National College Baseball Hall of Fame in 2007
• Sophomore Parker Warner was listed on the initial watch list for the 2026 National Pitcher of the Year Award ... the National Pitcher of the Year Award is a college baseball award given to the best pitcher of the college baseball season by the College Baseball Foundation ... a total of 141 of the nation’s best hurlers are listed on the Pitcher of the Year watch list, and they represent 26 different conferences

CALIFORNIA KINGS

• Stanford is the winningest Division I program in California since the 2017 season, compiling 323 victories
• UC Santa Barbara has won 322 games since 2017, followed by UCLA (319), UC Irvine (310) and Sacramento State (277)

PRESEASON FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR WATCH LIST

• Freshmen Brock Ketelsen and Brock Sell have been listed on Baseball America’s Preseason Freshman of the Year watch list
• Ketelsen, the 2025 West Coast League Top Prospect, is a two-way player who will see action as a left-handed pitcher and outfielder
• Sell, ranked 55th on Baseball America’s Top 500 draft prospects entering last year’s draft, is a versatile player who can play all across the diamond
• This season marks the first that Baseball America has officially named preseason collegiate national award winners and preseason award watch lists
• According to the publication, the Freshman of the Year race is defined less by résumé and more by immediate impact, projection and how quickly a player asserts himself at the college level ... the players listed represent early standouts entering their first Division I seasons, offering a snapshot of freshmen positioned to make an immediate mark while also carrying long-term upside ... amateur track record served as the primary evaluation factor for preseason inclusion, with tools, role opportunity and feedback from professional evaluators also considered
• Mississippi State lefthander Jack Bauer was named Baseball America Preseason Freshman of the Year

GOODBYE PAC-12, HELLO ACC

• The 2024 season was Stanford's final in the Pac-12 conference, as the Cardinal joined Bay Area rival California as new members of the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2025
• Stanford was one of the oldest members of the Pac-12 Conference, joining the then Pacific Coast Conference, founded in 1915, for the 1918 season
• The Cardinal won 21 Pac-12 titles, with the first coming in 1924 and the last in 2023
• The ACC sent nine teams to the NCAA Tournament in 2025, including Louisville to the College World Series
• A national-best five ACC baseball programs competed in the Super Regional round with three teams earning the right to host
• The ACC has placed at least one team in each of the last 19 College World Series and at least six teams in each of the last 21 NCAA Tournaments

CARDINAL TABBED 10TH IN PRESEASON POLL

• Preparing for its second season in the ACC, Stanford was picked to finish 10th in the conference standings according to the league’s 16 head coaches
• The Cardinal, which has made a trip to the College World Series in three of the last five seasons, is looking for a bounce-back year after missing the NCAA Tournament the last two seasons ... has not gone more than two straight years without reaching the postseason since a 13-season stretch from 1968-1980
• Georgia Tech was selected as the 2026 Atlantic Coast Conference Baseball preseason favorite, collecting seven of the possible 16 first-place votes to garner 237 total points
• Just one point separated Georgia Tech and second-place finisher North Carolina, who logged 236 points and six first-place votes
• Also earning first place votes were Florida State (one) and Clemson (two)
• The Seminoles finished third in the poll, logging 221 points, while Louisville, who represented the ACC in the 2025 Men’s College World Series, finished fourth with 196 points
• Clemson’s two first-place votes propelled them to a fifth-place projection, totaling 185 points
• NC State was slotted sixth in the coaches’ poll, with 169 points, just ahead of Virginia, who was projected to finish seventh with 165 points
• With 159 points, Miami was picked to finish eighth, while Wake Forest was projected to finish ninth with 145 points and Stanford 10th with 99 points
• Stanford was followed by Virginia Tech (89), Notre Dame (87), Duke (67), Pitt (45), California (41) and Boston College (35)
• The ACC has placed at least one team in each of the last 19 College World Series, including Louisville in 2025, and at least six teams in each of the last 21 NCAA tournaments
• Eight ACC baseball teams began the season in the D1Baseball Preseason Top 25, led by Georgia Tech at No. 4 ... the Jackets were followed by No. 8 Louisville, No. 11 North Carolina, No. 16 Florida State, No. 17 NC State, No. 19 Clemson, No. 21 Wake Forest and No. 22 Miami

ACC BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP

• The 2026 ACC Baseball Championship will be held Tuesday, May 19, through Sunday, May 24, at Truist Field in Charlotte, N.C.
• ACC Network will be on hand for the first five days of the tournament with ESPN2 set to carry Sunday’s championship game
• All 16 teams in the ACC will compete in a single-elimination championship
• The top four seeds in the championship will be based off the performance in the regular season and will receive a double-bye into the quarterfinal round, which is scheduled to be held on Thursday and Friday ... seeds five through eight will earn a bye into Wednesday’s second round ... seeds 9-16 will begin play with four first-round games on Tuesday
• The single-elimination championship format will feature four games per day on Tuesday (first round) and Wednesday (second round) ... two quarterfinal games will take place on both Thursday and Friday, while Saturday will host the two semifinal contests ... Sunday will host the championship game

MARSH READY FOR YEAR TWO FOLLOWING FRESHMAN ALL-AMERICA SEASON

• Tatum Marsh was recognized by Baseball America, NCBWA and Perfect as a Freshman All-America second team selection following a standout first season on The Farm
• Marsh appeared in 50 of Stanford’s 52 games, including starting 49, reached base safely in all but two of his games played and hit safely in all but nine contests with an at bat
• Marsh led the team with a .377 batting average, and aided by a team-best 19 hit-by-pitches, also paced the Cardinal with a .459 on-base percentage while scoring a team-high 47 runs and collecting a team-best 13 doubles, two triples, three home runs and 25 RBIs
• The native of San Jose, Calif. ranked second on the team with 20 multi-hit games while batting .376 with 21 runs scored, six doubles, two homers and 16 RBIs in ACC play

NO PLACE LIKE HOME

• Often considered one of the most beautiful college baseball facilities in the country, Klein Field at Sunken Diamond is the home to Stanford baseball
• The “Sunken Diamond” name comes from the excavation to provide fill for the earthen berm within which Stanford Stadium was built in 1921, leaving a large, sunken field
• The fixed seating capacity at Sunken Diamond is 2,113 ... with the addition of ADA seating and general admission lawn seating, the total capacity of the facility is 4,000
• The original dimensions were 360 feet to left field, 350 to right field, and 500 feet to center field ... in 1978, a new seven-foot high fence was installed, bringing the dimensions to the current 335 to both left and right fields, and 400 to center field ... the outfield fence was increased to 10 feet in 1995
• Sunken Diamond features ample foul ground from first to third base, with home plate sitting approximately 70 feet from the backstop

FAMILY ON THE FARM

• Stanford has a handful of players on this year's roster with ties back to The Farm
• Trevor Moore's father, Tim, played baseball at Stanford in 1992 and was a fifth-round pick of the Chicago White Sox that season
• Ben Reimers' father, Tom, played baseball at Stanford from 1994-96 and helped the Cardinal to a conference title in 1994 and a trip to the College World Series in 1995 ... was drafted by the Chicago White Sox in the 15th round of the 1996 MLB June Amateur Draft
• Teddy Tokheim's mother, Trish McGonigle, played golf at Stanford from 1985-87 and was a 1987 WGCA Academic All-American
• Charlie Bates' first breath was literally taken on The Farm, born at Stanford Hospital in 2005
• The Cardinal also features a pair of brothers on this year's roster as Tatum and Quinten Marsh will suit up as a sophomore and freshman, respectively

2025 SEASON IN REVIEW

• Beginning its tenure in the Atlantic Coast Conference, Stanford finished the 2025 season with a 27-25 overall record and an 11-19 conference mark
• The Cardinal navigated what proved to be a hot-and-cold campaign, beginning the season 9-0 for the first time since opening the 2018 campaign at 10-0 ... Stanford’s torrid start continued into ACC play as the Cardinal took two-of-three at No. 4 North Carolina before sweeping Duke to improve to 15-3 through 18 contests and earn a No. 14 national ranking according to D1Baseball
• Experiencing a drastic shift in momentum, the Cardinal suffered a sweep at the hands of California in ACC play ... those three losses proved to be the start of an 11-game conference skid as the Cardinal battled preseason No. 2 Virginia, No. 25 Georgia Tech and No. 4 Clemson along the way ... series losses to Notre Dame and Wake Forest followed from there, but the Cardinal rebounded to take two-of-three at Boston College and No. 13 NC State to close out the conference slate
• Stanford was swept in four series of three-or-more games last year for just the third time in program history (also swept four times in 1980 and 2015)
• The Cardinal's final victory at NC State was No. 800 in Clarke and Elizabeth Nelson Director of Baseball David Esquer’s illustrious head coaching career
• The Cardinal hit .297 as a team with 329 runs scored, 90 doubles, 10 triples and 64 home runs ... averaged 6.33 runs per game
• Stanford compiled a string of 16 straight games with a home run from February 16 to March 16 (29 home runs over the span) - the longest streak of games with a homer since belting 52 homers in an 18-game span from May 1 - June 3, 2022 ... Stanford homered in all but 16 games last season
• The Cardinal pitched to a 6.42 ERA with 430 strikeouts in 451 1/3 innings ... averaged 8.57 strikeouts per nine innings
• Trevor Haskins was the lone Cardinal drafted in the 2025 MLB Draft, selected in the 15th round by the St. Louis Cardinals
• Tatum Marsh was named Freshman All-America second team according to Baseball America, NCBWA and Perfect Game

HOME OF CHAMPIONS

• Stanford is the all-time leader with 137 NCAA team championships (70 men, 67 women), and 173 national championships overall
• The Cardinal owns the most recognizable streak in college athletics, having won at least one NCAA team title during each of the last 49 seasons, dating back to the 1976-77 campaign
• The Cardinal has also produced 565 NCAA individual champions and 658 overall
• Stanford has won the Learfield Directors’ Cup in 26 of the possible 31 seasons, including a 25-year streak from 1995-2019

#OLYMPIANSMADEHERE

• Less than two months after starting at defender in the 2025 College Cup final for the Stanford women’s soccer team, sophomore Sammy Smith has achieved her lifelong goal of making an Olympic team ... Smith earned a spot as a member of the U.S. Olympic Cross Country Ski Team ahead of the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Games, which got underway February 6 ... Smith’s selection to the national team is extremely rare, if not, unprecedented: a current Division I varsity student-athlete competing for the national team of a different sport within the same academic calendar year ... a native of Boise, Idaho, Smith is believed to be Stanford’s first American varsity student-athlete to also participate in a Winter Olympics since Bonny Warner, a member of the Cardinal’s field hockey team from 1982-84 who competed for Team USA’s luge squad in 1984, 1988 and 1992 ... Stanford’s most recent Team USA Winter Olympian was Rachael Flatt, a figure skater who competed in the 2010 Games and graduated in 2015
• Stanford concluded the 2024 Paris Olympic Games with a school-record 39 medals, shattering its previous best while cementing its reputation on the world’s biggest stage as the nation’s top collegiate program
• The 39 medals were 12 more than the previous record of 27 at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Games
• Stanford’s haul of 39 medals (12 gold, 14 silver, 13 bronze) was the most by any school at one Olympics
• Cardinal student-athletes medaled in 13 of Stanford's 36 varsity sports: artistic swimming, women’s basketball, women’s fencing, men’s gymnastics, sailing, men’s rowing, women’s soccer, women’s swimming and diving, men’s track and field, men’s volleyball, women’s volleyball, men’s water polo, women’s water polo
• The Cardinal boasted 19 first-time medalists - a total that ranks second in school history behind the 21 at the 2008 Beijing Games
• If Stanford was a country in the 2024 Games, it would have finished tied with Canada for 11th place
• Boasting a school-record 59 Olympians with Cardinal ties, Stanford won at least 20 medals for the sixth time in school history (2020, 2016, 2008, 1996, 1924)
• The Cardinal’s 59 Olympians (20 male, 39 female) represented 14 countries across 20 varsity sports
• In addition to the 59 qualifiers, Stanford’s Olympic representation also included five alternates, one national team head coach and three national team assistant coaches
• For the third straight Olympics, Stanford totaled more Team USA selections (37) than any other school, reinforcing its status as the preeminent training ground for U.S. national team competition
• Stanford has won 128 medals combined over the last five Summer Games
• All told, Stanford’s affiliates have captured 335 overall medals (162 gold, 93 silver, 80 bronze) from 196 medalists, and the Cardinal has produced at least one medalist in every Olympics in which the U.S. has competed since 1912