STANFORD, Calif. - It's the longest road trip of the season for the 16th-ranked Stanford baseball team. The Cardinal head to Houston to take on Rice for a four-game set beginning on Thursday.
| Weekend Info | ||
| Game Notes • Live Stats • Watch • Listen | ||
| Thursday, 4:30 p.m. PT | LHP Kris Bubic (1-2, 1.45 ERA) vs. Willy Amador (0-2, 15.88 ERA) | |
| Friday, 4:30 p.m. PT | LHP Andrew Summerville (1-0, 1.38 ERA) vs. Matt Canterino (0-1, 4.61 ERA) | |
| Saturday, Noon PT | LHP Erik Miller (1-0, 2.50 ERA) vs. Ricardo Salinas (1-1, 6.32 ERA) | |
| Sunday, 11 a.m. PT | LHP Chris Castellanos (2-0, 2.55 ERA) vs. Dane Myers (0-1, 3.38 ERA) | |
Series History vs. Rice
• Overall Record: 15-10 (.600)
• First meeting was Feb. 16, 1991 (Stanford won, 6-5)
• Last meeting was a four-game set at Rice in 2015. The teams alternated wins with the Cardinal earning wins in Game 1 and Game 3.
• Rice took two of three from Stanford at Sunken Diamond to open the 2014 season.
• Rice and Stanford have faced each other three times in postseason play, all coming in the 2003 College World Series Championship Series.
• Rice won two of three to claim its first national title in any team sport.
• Stanford's Sam Fuld set the CWS career hits record with 24.
• Rice AD Joe Karlgaard is a former Stanford administrator.
Current Cardinal Against the Owls
• Junior Mikey Diekroeger is 5-for-13 (.385) in four games against Rice, including two doubles, a triple and three RBI.
• Junior Matt Winaker was 7-for-14 against Rice in 2015 with a pair of RBI and .611 OBP.
• Senior Brett Hanewich has a 0.00 ERA in 10.2 career innings against Rice, including seven shutout innings in a 2015 victory over the Owls.
• Senior Chris Castellanos has made two appearances and has allowed three earned runs in 2.2 innings against Rice (10.12 ERA).
• Junior Quinn Brodey has gone just 2-for-13 (.154) against Owls pitching, and also threw 2.0 innings in the last meeting with Rice, allowing two earned runs.
We're No. 1
• Stanford ranks atop the Pac-12 in fielding percentage after the first three weeks (.982). Last year, the Cardinal ranked No. 1 in the nation in fielding percentage (.983), and set a school record, which eclipsed the previous mark set in 2005 (.977). The Cardinal's 35 errors last season were the fewest in the country (295 teams), and also a program record. The previous Stanford standard for fewest errors in a season was 49, set in 2009.
• Stanford pitching is atop the Pac-12 in strikeouts (109) and opponent average (.172). They also rank No. 9 in the nation in ERA (2.06) and No. 3 in the country with just 66 hits allowed.
Stanford Stats
• At 9-3, this matches Stanford's best start after 12 games since 2013, when the Cardinal started the season by dropping two of three against Rice.
• Since trailing 6-0 in the fifth inning at No. 8 Cal State Fullerton, the Cardinal is 9-1 with a 1.65 ERA and has outscored its opponents, 45-21.
» In that stretch, Stanford's pitching had a string of 27.0 scoreless innings & allowed just two runs in a span of 40 innings. The bullpen had a 17.1-inning scoreless streak.
• Stanford has not lost when scoring first this year (6-0) and is 9-1 when not shut out.
• Stanford is 8-0 this year when scoring more than three runs and has won 11 straight games when scoring that many.
• Stanford is 30-2 (.938) since the start of last season when allowing two or fewer runs.
• Stanford is undefeated in day games this year (6-0) and has won seven straight.
• The Cardinal is 29-4 (.879) when out-hitting its opponent since 2016.
Stanford Streaks
• Stanford has won the last eight games started by Chris Castellanos (last loss, 4/23/16).
• Junior Matt Winaker has played in 80 straight games. The last time he did not enter Coach Marquess' lineup was April 28, 2015 vs. SJSU).
• Winaker has gone 77 straight games without an error (last was May 3, 2015 at Oregon). Since then, he's been perfect on all 681 chances. For his career, Winaker has made just two errors in 118 games and 1,020 chances (.998 fielding percentage).
• Junior Quinn Brodey has started 76 consecutive games for the Cardinal — last time he was not in starting lineup was May 5, 2015 vs. Santa Clara.
?? homestand. Eight wins in 10 days #GoStanford??
A post shared by Stanford Baseball?? (@stanfordbsb) on Mar 4, 2017 at 8:12pm PST
Roommates Sweep
• Junior outfielder Quinn Brodey was named Pac-12 Conference Player of the Week, while roommate and junior reliever Colton Hock was named Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week on Tuesday.
• Brodey had walk offs in two straight games and the game-winning RBI in three consecutive games -- all in 24 hours – to lead No. 22 Stanford to a four-game series win over Texas last week. Both walk offs came with two outs.
• In that same 24-hour span, Hock went 2-0 with a 0.00 ERA in 5.0 innings, including a win in Game 1 of Saturday's doubleheader and a save in the nightcap.
In the Rankings
• Stanford moved up in all six polls last week. The Cardinal is now No. 13 in the NCBWA Top 25, No. 11 by Perfect Game, No. 12 according to D1Baseball.com, No. 16 on Baseball America's list, No. 14 in the USA Today Coaches' Poll and No. 17 for Collegiate Baseball News.
Still rising ?? #GoStanford pic.twitter.com/hhYgF0KGmd
— Stanford Baseball (@StanfordBSB) March 6, 2017
Freshman Debuts
• Will Matthiessen has not allowed a run in 9.0 innings of work this season and has racked up two long-outing saves (3.0 inn vs. Kansas and 4.0 inn vs. UC Davis).
• Reliever Jack Little struck out the side in his inning of work at Fullerton.
• Andrew Daschbach started 2-for-2 with a double and RBI after his first two career at-bats—he was a pinch-hitter in both instances. He has started six of the last seven games.
• In his two starts, Erik Miller has allowed two earned runs in 14.1 innings (1.26 ERA).
#FinalSeas9n
• Shortly after the 2016 season, head coach Mark Marquess announced that 2017 would be his final season.
» Six wins away from becoming fourth Division I head coach (fifth ever) to win 1,600 games
» Will coach in 2,500th game at Cal on Sunday, May 14
» Most wins in Pac-12 history, fourth-most wins in Division I history
» Two national championships (1987, 1988) and 29 NCAA Tournament berths and 14 CWS
» Stanford has finished .500 or better in 38 of his first 40 seasons.
» Nine-time conference Coach of the Year, three-time national Coach of the Year
» 38 winning seasons in first 40 years, including six 50-win campaigns
• Other "9" Notables
» All his student-athletes get at least one quarter ahead academically by their junior year.
» Handwrites all his practice schedules.
» Carries his signature briefcase to the dugout before/after each game.
» Student-athletes are responsible for Sunken Diamond groundskeeping
Honoring
• Colloquially known by his jersey number "9", here are some ways the University and team will be honoring Coach Marquess this season:
» Served as football's honorary captain for the weekend and game against Rice (Nov. 26)
» More than 100 alumni returned to Sunken Diamond for a pregame ceremony to honor Coach Marquess on Feb. 25.
» A "9" flag was raised on Feb. 25 and will fly at Sunken Diamond all season.
» Final season logo was created as well as #FinalSeas9n hashtag
» All season ticket prices end in 9, and Two for Tuesday ticket deals are now $9 (was $12).
» May 9 will have a 1977 theme and ticket prices based on his first season as head coach.
» Majority of first pitches this season will be thrown by Marquess friends and family.
» Personal messages can be sent to Coach Marquess at this link: bit.ly/NineNote
» More to come
Last Time Out
• On Thursday, Kris Bubic was on the short end of another pitcher's duel as Stanford fell 4-0 in the series opener with Texas at Sunken Diamond. He has allowed 1 ER in his two losses.
• On Friday, junior Quinn Brodey delivered a two-out, walk-off single in the ninth to give Stanford a 3-2 win. Stanford trailed 2-0 after six batters, but did not surrender another run and rallied to tie the game entering the ninth.
• Brodey hit a second straight walk off in Game 1 of a doubleheader. His three-run home run in the 10th inning lifted Stanford to a 5-2 victory. Brodey then registered his third two-out, game-winning RBI with a single in the fifth inning of a 2-1 win in Game 2. Colton Hock earned the win in Game 1 and the save in the nightcap.
Up Next
• This is Stanford's longest road trip of the season and marks the fifth straight season Stanford has traveled to the state of Texas. The Cardinal will not be back on the road again unitl April 6-8 at USC and will not have another flight until the trip to Oregon, April 21-23.
• Stanford begins conference play after its break with a three-game set against defending Pac-12 champion Utah on Pac-12 Networks.