STANFORD, Calif. – No. 2 Stanford continues Pac-12 conference play this weekend with a three-game series against California in Berkeley, California, starting Friday at 7 p.m. on Pac-12 Networks.
The Cardinal (35-8-0, 17-4-0) enters the week tied with Oregon State atop the Pac-12 standings after a 2-1 series win over USC in Los Angeles last weekend. The series continues Saturday at 2 p.m. with Sunday's finale slated for Noon. All three games will broadcast live on Pac-12 Networks with live statistics available at GoStanford.com.
Weekend Opponent, California
• Stanford enters the weekend with a 206-108-1 record (since 1959) against California, most recently earning a 2-1 series win over the Golden Bears (28-15-0, 13-8-0 Pac-12) at Sunken Diamond last season. The Cardinal dropped a nail biter, 4-3, in Game 1 but stormed back to outscore California 19-3 over Games 2-3 and take the series.
• California is led by the reigning Golden Spikes Award winner Andrew Vaughn, who ranks third in the Pac-12 in batting average (.375), third in slugging percentage (.704) and second in on-base percentage (.532). Cal's offense ranks third in the Pac-12 in batting average (.294) and slugging percentage (.489) while five Golden Bears have hit at least six home runs on the season – Vaughn (13), Korey Lee (12), Sam Wezniak (8), Cameron Eden (8) and Quentin Selma (6).
• Cal's pitching staff ranks fifth in the Pac-12 in earned-run average (4.11) and is led by right hander Jared Horn, who enters with a 2.03 earned-run average and a .215 opposing batting average across 53.1 innings pitched in nine starts.
• Prior to his appointment at Stanford ahead of the 2018 season, Clarke and Elizabeth Nelson Director of Baseball David Esquer spent the previous 18 seasons as head coach at California. During that time, he won 525 games while producing 13 All-Americans and 81 MLB draft picks, including five first rounders.
Tuesday's Opponent, Cal Poly
• Stanford enters Tuesday with a 41-4-0 all-time record against the Mustangs (23-22-0, 12-3-0 Big West), most recently earning a 5-2 win in 2017 at Sunken Diamond.
• The Cardinal's pitching coach Thomas Eager was an All-American pitcher at Cal Poly, also spending three seasons as coach at his alma mater – during that time, Eager produced seven MLB draft picks, posted the lowest earned-run average in school history and helped lead the Mustangs to at No. 1 seed in the NCAA Regionals.
We will honor former Cardinal Mike Mussina prior to our series opener against Oregon State on May 17! Mussina is the only former Card to be inducted into the @baseballhall!
— Stanford Baseball (@StanfordBSB) May 8, 2019
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Where Do We Stand?
• The Cardinal ties with Oregon State atop the Pac-12 conference standings with a 17-4-0 record, one game ahead of UCLA (16-5-0) with California (13-8-0) in fourth place and Arizona State (14-10-0) fifth. After Stanford's series at California, the Cardinal hosts Oregon State (May 17-19) for the final regular-season Pac-12 series at Sunken Diamond before wrapping up the regular season at Arizona State (May 23-25). The Cardinal's remaining midweek opponents include Cal Poly (May 14) and Pacific (May 21).
• Stanford maintained its place at No. 2 in this week's D1 Baseball top-25. The Cardinal also ranked top-four in the Baseball America (3), Collegiate Baseball Newspaper (4), NCBWA (3), Perfect Game and USA Today Coaches (3) polls.
• The Cardinal enters the week at No. 22 in the NCAA RPI (ratings power index). Five of Stanford's 2019 opponents rank in the top 50 – No. 2 UCLA, No. 21 Oregon State, No. 34 California, No. 37 Arizona State and No. 50 Fresno State.
Two-Way Talisman
• Junior Will Matthiessen has been a standout performer on both sides of the ball as a designated hitter and pitcher, having started in each of Stanford's last four Pac-12 series.
• Offensively, Matthiessen leads the team in batting average (.342), on-base percentage (.424), hits (54), RBI (41) and multi-hit games (16), also ranking second on the team in slugging percentage (.576) and total bases (91).
• In his five starts on the mound, Matthiessen leads the Cardinal in earned-run average (2.25) and opposing batting average (.176) with a 4-0 record and 28 strikeouts in 24.0 innings pitched. In 11 total appearances, Matthiessen carries a 3.20 ERA and a .191 opposing batting average across 39.1 innings.
• In his five starts, Matthiessen is slashing .550/.850/.591 with 11 hits, six runs, three doubles, one home run, six RBI and 17 total bases.
WATCH | After dominating in 7.0 IP in Saturday's win, @willmatthiessen has our biggest swing of the day so far to get Stanford on the board on @Pac12Network. Game on.
— Stanford Baseball (@StanfordBSB) May 5, 2019
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Pitching Leading the Cardinal
• Stanford's earned-run average of 3.05 ranks fifth, nationally, and third in the Pac-12. Stanford has allowed the fewest walks (124), home runs (18) and doubles (54), and the second-fewest runs (150) and earned runs (131) while accruing the second-most saves (12).
• Stanford has allowed one or less earned run in 12 games this season and two or less in 25.
• In addition to Will Matthiessen, three other starting pitchers carry an ERA or 3.00 or less – Erik Miller (2.64), Alex Williams (2.72) and Brendan Beck (2.74).
• Miller (6-1) leads the team in strikeouts (65), including a career-high 11 in a win at Oregon (April 20).
• Beck (4-3), Stanford's Friday-night starter, leads the team in innings pitched (65.2) while surrendering just 11 walks in those innings.
• Williams (6-1), Stanford's midweek starter, carries a 2.72 earned-run average with just six walks in 46.1 innings pitched.
• Six pitchers – Austin Weiermiller (1.71 ERA in 26.1 IP), Carson Rudd (1.93 ERA in 18.2 IP), Cody Jensen (2.08 ERA in 26.0 IP), Jack Little (2.48 ERA in 29.0 IP), Zach Grech (3.81 ERA, 28.1) and Jacob Palisch (4.89 ERA in 46.0 IP) have spearheaded a bullpen which carries a 2.96 earned-run average and a .231 opposing batting average this season across 167.0 innings.
• Grech leads the team in appearances (20), ahead of Weiermiller (19).
• Little, a 2018 and 2019 preseason All-American, has 38 strikeouts compared to nine walks in his 29.0 innings while leading the team with eight saves – Little's 24 career saves rank third in program history behind Colton Hock (25) and Steve Chitren (26).
• Since moving from the starting rotation to the bullpen, Palisch owns a 2.87 ERA in 15.2 relief innings.
A Balanced Attack
• Seven Cardinal enter the weekend with a slugging percentage of .440 or higher – Brandon Wulff (.646), Will Matthiessen (.576), Andrew Daschbach (.566), Kyle Stowers (.487), Nick Bellafronto (.458), Maverick Handley (.446) and Duke Kinamon (.440).
• Seven have at least 22 RBI – Matthiessen (41), Wulff (36), Daschbach (32), Tim Tawa (29), Stowers (27), Bellafronto (22) and Kinamon (22).
• Eight Cardinal have scored at least 23 runs – Wulff (43), Daschbach (41), Handley (37), Matthiessen (34), Stowers (29), Kinamon (27), Tawa (23) and Bellafronto (23).
• Five Cardinal have hit at least six home runs – Wulff (16), Daschbach (10), Matthiessen (9), Stowers (6) and Tawa (6).
• In Pac-12 play, six Cardinal are batting at least .299 – Daschbach (.392), Matthiessen (.337), Handley (.318), Wulff (.308), Stowers (.301) and Tawa (.299).
Kyle Jacob Stowers. That's it. That's the tweet. #GoStanford pic.twitter.com/WRgncHreW0
— Stanford Baseball (@StanfordBSB) May 6, 2019
Quick Hitters
• Stanford is 13-2 on the road, including 8-1 in conference action, and 16-2 in games played away from Sunken Diamond.
• Stanford's .977 fielding percentage ranks 29th in the NCAA and third in the Pac-12 – Stanford has played error-free defense in 17 games this season.
• The Cardinal is 29-0 when leading after seven innings and 32-0 when leading after eight.
• Stanford leads Pac-12 play in slugging percentage (.497), ranking second in home runs (35), third in batting average (.292), third in runs (163) and third in hits (214).
• The Cardinal's 1.35 home runs per game ranks 12th in the NCAA.
• Forty one of Stanford's 58 home runs on the season came in the month of April – during the month, Stanford slashed .297/.565/.385, scoring 8.22 runs per game with a 14-4 record.
• Stanford has hit 42 home runs in its last 19 games with 160 runs during that span.
• Since a 20-5 win at Oregon (April 19), Stanford has homered 28 times in 12 games with 114 runs (9.5 per game). In those 12 games, Stanford is slashing .321/.591/.404 as a team.
• Stanford has hit at least one home run in 19-of-21 games with multiple home runs in 12 of those games and five in two of them.
• Stanford has double-digit hits in 16 games this season and seven in the last 12 contests.
• Brandon Wulff's 16 home runs rank 15th in the NCAA and third in the Pac-12. In Pac-12 play, Wulff ranks second in home runs (10) and runs (28), third in slugging percentage (.731) and fourth in total bases (57). Wulff played the national anthem on the piano prior to Stanford's 13-3 win over Arizona (April 27). It was the third-consecutive season Wulff has played the national anthem – Stanford is 3-0 in those games with a 25-9 run differential.
• In Pac-12 play, Andrew Daschbach ranks ninth in home runs (10) while leading the team in batting average (.392), slugging percentage (.759), on-base percentage (.473) and doubles (8). In conference contests, Daschbach ranks fourth in the league in batting average, second in slugging percentage, sixth in on-base percentage, fourth in runs and second in total bases (60).
• Maverick Handley has thrown out nine-of-22 stolen base attempts him on the season and leads Pac-12 catchers in pickoffs (4). Since his arrival on The Farm in 2017, Stanford's record stands at 91-20 (.820) with Handley starts behind home plate. A bioengineering major, Handley aspires to be an orthopedic surgeon following his baseball career.
• Since moving to the lead-off spot in April 9, Stowers is slashing .316/.592/.395 with five home runs, 15 RBI, 45 total bases, six doubles and 13 runs in 18 games. 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 leads the team with 10 stolen bases, which ranks eighth in the Pac-12.
• Prior to April 18, Kinamon, Nick Brueser and Nick Bellafronto had not homered this season – the trio has combined for eight since then. Bellafronto hit the first two homers of his career last week against San Jose State (April 23) and Arizona (April 27), the latter of which was a grand slam. Kinamon made it two grand slams in as many games for the Cardinal with a four-run four bagger in Stanford's 13-5 win over Arizona (April 28).
• 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 and 27-7 in April under the Clarke and Elizabeth Nelson Director of Baseball David Esquer, whose overall record at Stanford stands at 80-20 (.802).
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2019 Season Recap
• 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).
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.
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.