No. 9 Stanford (22-5, 3-0) hosts Utah for the team's first home Pac-12 series of the season this weekend. The Cardinal is coming off of a three-game sweep at No. 17 California last weekend.
Utah Familiarity
The Cardinal and Utes have played 39 times since 2000, with the Card leading 21-18
• Last season, Stanford lost all three games at Utah
• At home, the Cardinal has won the last two series, taking a 2-1 series win each time.
• In the last 12 games against Utah, Stanford has gone 8-4.
Big Series Sweep
The Cardinal will host its first Pac-12 series of the season, after opening the conference slate with a sweep at No. 17 Cal.
• The three-game sweep was the first for the Cardinal in Berkeley since 2013.
Canady Cruising
Sophomore pitcher NiJaree Canady is putting together an electric season in her second year on The Farm.
• Canady leads the nation in strikeouts (145), strikeouts per 7 innings (12.1) and hits per 7 innings (2.42).
• Canady also leads the Pac-12 in ERA (0.42), opposing batting average (.104) and saves (3).
• The sophomore has struck out 10+ batters in each of her last 6 starts
Kern Catching Fire
Through 17 games, sophomore Taryn Kern leads the Cardinal in OPS (.928), OBP (.495) walks (25) and HBP (11).
• Kern's 0.93 walks per game is the sixth-most in the NCAA, and her 0.41 HBP per game is the ninth-most.
• Through 27 games, the sophomore has drawn multiple walks in a game six times.
• Kern has been dangerous once reaching base too, with her 16 runs good for second on the team.
• The HBP total is already the 10th-most in a single season in program history. The single-season record is 18, set by Arden Pettit in 2018.
• Kern's .516 OBP is the second-highest in the Pac-12.
Regan rolling
Senior Regan Krause is coming off of a strong week, earning Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week honors.
• Krause went 3-0 with a complete game in 16.1 IP, striking out 17 with a 1.29 ERA.
• In a complete game win against Sacramento State, Krause struck out a career-best 10 batters.
RPI representing
The Card moved up to the top spot in the RPI, after coming in at No. 2 in last week's second iteration of the weekly ranking. Stanford is in the top 10 of all four major polls:
• NFCA/USA Today - 9 ESPN/USA Softball - 8
• D1 Softball - 4 Softball America - 6
Power Surge
Through 62 games last season, the Cardinal combined to hit just 26 home runs. Through the first 27 games of 2024, the Card has already hit 22.
• In 2023, the team combined for a .394 slugging percentage while batting .280.
• This season, the slugging percentage is up to .437 while the batting average has dipped slightly to .270.
• Last season, seven different players hit at least one home run. This year, that number is up to nine already.