Jose Saldana – The Stanford Daily https://stanforddaily.com Breaking news from the Farm since 1892 Thu, 07 Jun 2018 06:16:27 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.3 https://stanforddaily.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/cropped-DailyIcon-CardinalRed.png?w=32 Jose Saldana – The Stanford Daily https://stanforddaily.com 32 32 204779320 By the numbers: 2017-18 Stanford Cardinal https://stanforddaily.com/2018/06/13/by-the-numbers-2017-18-stanford-cardinal/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/06/13/by-the-numbers-2017-18-stanford-cardinal/#respond Thu, 14 Jun 2018 06:15:15 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1142079 The Stanford Cardinal athletics programs have delivered another year of high-quality production. This season, Stanford has won four NCAA national titles coming from women’s and men’s soccer, women’s swimming and diving, and women’s tennis. Here are a few of the stats showing how incredible Stanford sports were in the 2017-18 year.

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The Stanford Cardinal athletics programs have delivered another year of high-quality production. This season, Stanford has won four NCAA national titles coming from women’s and men’s soccer, women’s swimming and diving and women’s tennis. Here are a few of the stats showing how incredible Stanford sports were in the 2017-18 year.

 

3: Consecutive NCAA championships for men’s soccer. The Cardinal won its first title in the program’s history in 2015 and have been cranking titles ever since. The most recent championship came in a heated contest against Indiana, where junior midfielder Sam Werner nailed a sudden-death goal in overtime to lift Stanford to another title. The title signifies the amazing job head coach Jeremy Gunn and his staff have done since he became the head coach in 2012.

2,118: Rushing yards for junior running back Bryce Love in 2017, which broke Stanford’s single-season rushing record. After mercurial running back Christian McCaffrey went into the NFL after demolishing the college game, a big question mark was whether Love could replace McCaffrey’s production. Well, Love did just by breaking Stanford’s rushing record en route to a Heisman runner-up appearance.

19: Number of NCAA titles for women’s tennis. The best program at Stanford, and arguably, the entire nation, did what it has historically done — win championships. Tied at 3-3 against No. 1 Vanderbilt in the title game, the Cardinal relied on junior Melissa Lord to win one more match to claim the championship. Lord had suffered an injury which sidelined her until March, and the team faltered without her, being ranked as low as No. 46 (the lowest in the program’s history). With Lord back, the Cardinal went on a winning streak which saw themselves in the final against Vanderbilt. Lord split the first two sets, but clinched the title with a final set of 7-5.

91: Number of goals by women’s soccer on way to second national title. There isn’t one number to describe how dominant this team was on the offensive end, but goals scored is a good place to start. They set a program record with goals and had 30 more than the closest Division 1 school, and they had 99 more points than the next school. Goal No. 91 was the most special, though, as it came off the left foot of Jaye Boissiere while tied 2-2 in the final against UCLA to secure another College Cup for the program.

10: Total NCAA championships for women’s swimming and diving. The Cardinal won its second consecutive national title and conference title on the strength of an incredible group of athletes. Katie Ledecky and Simone Manuel once again were amazing, but they were part of large group of 16 All-Americans on the Cardinal team. Stanford ended with 593 points, which were the most since Georgia in 2005 and 220 points higher than the second-place team Cal.

46-12: Baseball’s record this season under first-year head coach David Esquer, most wins since 2004. The Cardinal had one of their best seasons in 14 years, which culminated in the program’s first conference title since 2004 and the No. 2 overall seed in the NCAA Division 1 Baseball Tournament. Unfortunately for Stanford, it drew rivals Cal State Fullerton in the NCAA Regional this year. The Titans eliminated the Cardinal this season, but Stanford’s season as a whole was still noteworthy.

38: number of times women’s volleyball has made it to the NCAA Tournament, which is every single one since starting in 1981. The Cardinal came close to appearing in back-to-back NCAA championship games, but the journey ended with a loss to Florida in the semifinals. Stanford won the conference for the 17th time, this time on the strength of AVCA National Player of the Year Kathryn Plummer.

39.6750: Senior gymnast Elizabeth Price’s point total in the NCAA Championships — the highest total in women’s gymnastics history. Price finished third overall in her final meet and delivered a perfect 10 on the uneven bars, which was her fourth perfect score this season. Her additional accolades include her second Pac-12 Gymnast of the Year and Regional Gymnast of the Year.

2: Juniors drafted for the MLB on Monday. Nico Hoerner (picked 24th overall) and Kris Bubic (40th overall in the Competitive Balance Round) were picked by the Chicago Cubs and the Kansas City Royals, respectively. This is the first time Stanford has a pair drafted since 2013.

4: Number of consecutive Intercollegiate Rowing Association (IRA) Championships won by women’s lightweight rowing. The team won the last of these on Sunday morning on Lake Mercer.

3:04.84: School record in the 4×400 set by one of Stanford’s men’s relay teams. This time allowed the relay team to advance to the NCAA Championships held in Eugene, Oregon. It is made up of  sophomore Julian Body, senior Isaiah Brandt-Sims, senior Frank Kurtz and freshman Gabriel Navarro. The same quartet also advanced to the finals for the 4×100 and is joined by one women’s relay team.

9: Number of consecutive trips to the NCAA title game for women’s water polo. The Cardinal have been in the championship game every year since 2010, winning five of them in that span. Stanford won in 2017, and it tried to do the same in 2018, but the title bid was denied by USC in the NCAA championship game.

 

Contact Jose Saldana at jsaldana ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Hoerner, Bubic, Beck selected in 2018 MLB Draft https://stanforddaily.com/2018/06/06/hoerner-bubic-beck-selected-in-2018-mlb-draft/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/06/06/hoerner-bubic-beck-selected-in-2018-mlb-draft/#respond Thu, 07 Jun 2018 06:13:47 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1142078 Juniors shortstop Nico Hoerner and pitchers Kris Bubic and Tristan Beck were selected in the 2018 MLB Draft on Monday and Tuesday.

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Juniors shortstop Nico Hoerner and pitchers Kris Bubic and Tristan Beck were selected in the 2018 MLB Draft on Monday and Tuesday.

Hoerner, an Oakland native, was drafted 24th overall by the Chicago Cubs. He is the first Stanford player to be selected in the first round since Cal Quantrill in 2016.

Hoerner has been a staple in the middle infield for the Cardinal since his freshman season, playing in 168 career games through three seasons.

He was great at the plate, batting .345 (second on the team), hitting 17 doubles and knocking in 40 RBI.

Hoerner was also lauded for his defense, earning a spot on the All-Pac-12 Defensive Team in his sophomore season. He was also a two-time All-Pac-12 selection for his sophomore and junior seasons.

Bubic, the southpaw out of San Jose, was the next Cardinal drafted at the 40th spot to the Kansas City Royals in the Competitive Balance Round-A.

The 6-foot-3 lefty was relatively unknown prior to his sophomore season, but he became the Cardinal’s Friday ace shortly into his second season on The Farm.

In 15 starts, Bubic led Stanford with a 2.79 ERA and 96 strikeouts as a sophomore.

He followed that up with a superior junior season where he had a 2.62 ERA and 101 strikeouts, including a 130-pitch, 10-strikeout performance in his final start.

Hoerner and Bubic make the first Cardinal pair to be drafted in the first two rounds since Mark Appel and Austin Wilson went in the first and second rounds, respectively, in 2013.

Beck was the third person drafted, going 112th overall (fourth round) to the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday.

The 6-foot-4 right hander from Corona, CA was the Friday starter for the Cardinal this past season. He ended the season with a 2.98 ERA and 73 strikeouts in 90.2 innings (lead the team).

Beck was the Cardinal’s ace since his first Opening Day back in his freshman year in 2016, earning an All-Pac-12 First Team selection in his debut season.

He would not play his sophomore season due to injury, but he came back to his original role in the Cardinal rotation for his junior year.

The 2018 MLB Draft continues with Rounds 11-30 on Wednesday at 9 a.m. PT.

 

Contact Jose Saldana at jsaldana ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Baseball avoids elimination to Baylor, sets up rematch with Cal State Fullerton https://stanforddaily.com/2018/06/03/baseball-avoids-elimination-to-baylor-sets-up-rematch-with-cal-state-fullerton/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/06/03/baseball-avoids-elimination-to-baylor-sets-up-rematch-with-cal-state-fullerton/#respond Sun, 03 Jun 2018 23:42:18 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1142007 The offense finally flashed some signs of life and the pitching staff was dominant for the third day in row as first-seeded Stanford baseball (46-11) defeated second-seeded Baylor (37-21) 4-2 in the early-afternoon elimination game in Sunken Diamond.

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The offense finally flashed some signs of life and the pitching staff was dominant for the third day in row as first-seeded Stanford baseball (46-11) defeated second-seeded Baylor (37-21) 4-2 in an early-afternoon elimination game in Sunken Diamond.

After losing to third-seeded Cal State Fullerton yesterday on a walk-off home run, the Cardinal had to overcome the Bears to stay alive in the Stanford Regional. With the job completed, Stanford will have a short rest before a rematch against Fullerton at 6 p.m.

Freshman starter Brendan Beck earned the victory, going a season-high 6.2 innings, striking out one batter while giving up four hits and two earned runs. Beck worked quickly and efficiently, with 16 pitches in the first two innings, and 71 total pitches before being pulled in the seventh.

Beck came on strong with his changeup, utilizing the pitch with great success, but both the home runs he gave up came on the off-speed pitch.

“My changeup was my go-to pitch today,” Beck said. “I gave up two home runs on it, so there is room to improve, but I got a lot of outs with it.”

After yielding his second run, Beck was relieved by fellow freshman Jacob Palisch, who needed only seven pitches to get four outs. Palisch has pitched 4.2 shutout innings this weekend with four strikeouts.

Sophomore closer Jack Little started the ninth, and the usually suffocating righty came dangerously close to giving up a home run. Baylor leadoff hitter Nick Loftin nearly homered when a fly ball he sent to left field was inches to the left of the foul pole.

Loftin would eventually single after junior shortstop Nico Hoerner had trouble digging the grounder on a bad hop.

Little settled down to strike out the next two batters, and then got the last batter to fly to center to complete the save. He now has tied the Stanford record for most saves in a season, with his 16 matching Colton Hock ‘17, who set the record last season.

The offense provided a much-needed spark early in the game, scoring four runs in the first two innings, but reverted back to its malaise starting in the third inning against reliever Alex Phillips.

Hoerner walked with two outs in the first, which brought sophomore first baseman Andrew Daschbach up to plate. He promptly hit a two-run home run on the first pitch he saw over left field.

“My approach was to be aggressive early in the count and find something to drive,” Daschbach said. “[Baylor starter Tyler Thomas] made a mistake, and I was able to capitalize on it.”

In the second inning, sophomore Will Matthiessen delivered his first hit of the regional with an RBI triple that scored junior right fielder Brandon Wulff. The 6-foot-5 Matthiessen nearly caught the slower-footed Wulff on their way around the bases.

The good times continued for the Cardinal when junior center fielder Alec Wilson brought Matthiessen home on a sacrifice fly to extend Stanford’s lead to 4-0.

Matthiessen finished the game 2-for-3 with a run scored and one RBI.

However, that’s when the good times ended. The Cardinal only had two baserunners for the rest of the game.

Phillips gave the Cardinal bats trouble as he went 5.2 innings to hold Stanford at four runs.

The Cardinal offense has struggled for most of the weekend, scoring nine runs in 30.0 innings, which makes the early-inning explosion an exception rather than the rule for the regional.

It will need to do better if it hopes to defeat Fullerton twice in order to advance to the NCAA Super Regionals.

Sophomore starter Erik Miller will pitch the second game of the double header against Fullerton.

First pitch of the nightcap is at 6 p.m. PT. The game will be broadcast on ESPN3 and the radio call will be on KZSU 90.1 FM.

 

Contact Jose Saldana at jsaldana ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Robinson’s walkoff double lifts baseball over Wright State https://stanforddaily.com/2018/06/02/robinsons-walkoff-double-lifts-baseball-over-wright-state/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/06/02/robinsons-walkoff-double-lifts-baseball-over-wright-state/#respond Sun, 03 Jun 2018 01:56:19 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1141976 Freshman outfielder Christian Robinson’s walkoff RBI double in the bottom of the 13th inning sealed first-seeded Stanford baseball’s (45-10) 4-3 victory over fourth-seeded Wright State (39-16) on Friday night in Sunken Diamond.

The Cardinal will next face third-seeded Cal State Fullerton, which defeated second-seeded Baylor 6-2 earlier on Friday.

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Freshman outfielder Christian Robinson’s walkoff RBI double in the bottom of the 13th inning sealed first-seeded Stanford baseball’s (45-10) 4-3 victory over fourth-seeded Wright State (39-16) on Friday night in Sunken Diamond.

The Cardinal will next face third-seeded Cal State Fullerton on Saturday, which defeated second-seeded Baylor 6-2 earlier on Friday.

“That right there was what playoff baseball is all about,” Stanford head coach David Esquer said. “I tip my cap to Wright State – they played a heck of a ballgame and really made it difficult on us.”

The Cardinal struggled with RISP all night, going 3-for-16. Stanford had a leadoff batter reach base in eight of the 13 innings, and sophomore first baseman Andrew Daschbach was the eighth when he was hit by a pitch from Raiders’ reliever Jeremy Randolph to start the bottom of the 13th.

It appeared that the game would go on longer when the next two batters couldn’t advance Daschbach from first base. Then, facing an 0-1 count and two outs, Robinson hit a rope under the first baseman’s glove that would stay fair and would escape into the corner of right field.

Daschbach lumbered all the way from first base to score the game-winning run.

“[Randolph] threw a good fastball, and I was just trying to move [Daschbach] over,” Robinson said on his walkoff hit. “It just happened to work that way.”

The Raiders tied the game at 3-all in the bottom in the seventh, and the game remained at an impasse until Robinson’s hit six innings later.

“A lot of credit has to go to our bullpen for keeping a tough lineup off the scoresheet through all those extra innings,” Esquer said.

The bullpen had to pitch 6.2 innings with the game going so deep into extra innings, but it only allowed one hit and struck out six Raiders. The performance from the pen was almost perfect except for the beginning of sophomore closer Jack Little’s appearance as he allowed two inherited runners to score.

Little relieved junior starter Tristan Beck, who went 6.1 innings and allowed two earned runs to go along with seven strikeouts.

That was Beck’s most punchouts since striking out nine batters against USC on March 23.

Despite giving up a solo home run on his second pitch of the game, Beck settled down and used his fastball to power through the Raiders’ lineup.

“It was a great job by the defense to rally behind us,” Beck said. “When they show that kind of fire, it’s easy to go out there and pitch.”

However, he ran into trouble at the start of the seventh inning. After forcing the first batter to pop out, Beck allowed a walk and a single to yield runners at first and second with one out. He would not face another batter as he would be relieved by Little.

“In the seventh, it kind of snuck up on me,” Beck said on his command. “I started to let fastballs go, and I got to get better in that aspect.”

The offense started strong, but faltered as the game progressed.

Down 0-1 in the first, junior shortstop Nico Hoerner hit a liner to left field which skipped past the left fielder’s glove to score senior second baseman Beau Branton. Then, Hoerner would score on a wild pitch.

After wasting RISP chances in the second and third innings, including having runners at the corners with no outs in the third, the Cardinal finally scored with RISP when freshman third baseman Tim Tawa’s RBI single scored junior center fielder Alec Wilson from third base.

Tawa had the most hits on the night on either team, going 3-for-6.

The 2-3-4 hitters on the Cardinal lineup combined to bat 7-for-16, but the rest of the lineup went 5-for-30.

The offensive malaise kept the game going deep into extra innings, causing the Cardinal to use Little, and freshmen relievers Jacob Palisch and Brendan Beck extensively.

With the bullpen stretched thin, the Cardinal will need a great performance from junior starter Kris Bubic against Cal State Fullerton.

First pitch between the Cardinal and Titans begins at 8 p.m. PT on Saturday. The game will be broadcast on ESPN3 and the radio call will be on KZSU 90.1 FM.

 

Contact Jose Saldana at jsaldana ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Baseball roundtable: How far will Cardinal go? https://stanforddaily.com/2018/06/01/baseball-roundtable-how-far-will-cardinal-go/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/06/01/baseball-roundtable-how-far-will-cardinal-go/#respond Fri, 01 Jun 2018 14:37:59 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1141959 Coming off their first conference title since 2004, the Stanford Cardinal (44-10, 22-8 Pac-12) will host their 17th NCAA regional this weekend. With their dominant pitching and high-scoring offense, the Cardinal have had, in Year 1 of head coach David Esquer’s tenure, one of the program’s best seasons in recent years, ultimately earning them the No. 2 national seed in the tournament. Yet the road only gets more difficult from here: The Stanford Regional is arguably one of the most competitive in the entire tournament, as it includes red-hot Big 12 champ Baylor, powerhouse and rival Cal State Fullerton and one of the best four-seeds in the tournament, Wright State.

We asked Daily managing editor of sports Jose Saldana, Stanford insiders R.J. Abeytia (The Bootleg) and Jacob Rayburn (Cardinal Sports Report) to reflect on the Cardinal’s trajectory going into the postseason, what’s different from last year and the team’s prospects for advancing to Omaha.

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Coming off their first conference title since 2004, the Stanford Cardinal (44-10, 22-8 Pac-12) will host their 17th NCAA regional this weekend. With their dominant pitching and high-scoring offense, the Cardinal have had, in Year 1 of head coach David Esquer’s tenure, one of the program’s best seasons in recent years, ultimately earning them the No. 2 national seed in the tournament. Yet the road only gets more difficult from here: The Stanford Regional is arguably one of the most competitive in the entire tournament, as it includes red-hot Big 12 champ Baylor, powerhouse and rival Cal State Fullerton and one of the best four-seeds in the tournament, Wright State.

We asked Daily managing editor of sports Jose Saldana, Stanford insiders R.J. Abeytia (The Bootleg) and Jacob Rayburn (Cardinal Sports Report) to reflect on the Cardinal’s trajectory going into the postseason, what’s different from last year and the team’s prospects for advancing to Omaha.

 

Earlier in the season, Stanford topped good non-conference teams like Fullerton, Rice, Michigan and Texas (on the road) in non-conference play. More recently, though, the Cardinal have struggled in conference play against other top Pac-12 teams: They lost two out of three at UCLA, Oregon State and Washington — but granted, those were all on the road. Given this, do you think Stanford doesn’t have the momentum now that it seemed to have earlier in the year against elite competition? Could it not be peaking at the right time?

R.J. Abeytia: Momentum, Schomentum. Stanford played all those series while missing key personnel (Wulff vs. UCLA, Maverick Handley vs. OSU, UW) and the postseason means it’s basically a clean slate. As soon as Tristan Beck throws the first pitch on Friday, the past becomes prologue and nothing more. What matters more than momentum is that they won’t have Handley’s services for the regional.

Jacob Rayburn: I might have been a little worried if not for the epic rally Saturday to clinch the Pac-12 championship. Until that ninth inning, it appeared the Cardinal were going to become one of those marathon runners of YouTube infamy that dominates until wobbly crashing in sight of the finish line. But this team’s success has been built by resilience in the face of injuries and everyone on the team feeling empowered to be the hero on any given day. Stanford flew home with Big Mo after that win and the Cardinal’s 30-3 record at Sunken Diamond this season is a great comfort.

Jose Saldana: I agree with R.J. and Jacob that lack of momentum going into the regional is nothing that we should be worried about. All of those bad losses took place on the road against the best teams in the Pac-12, and Stanford worked hard all year to be able to host a regional and, potentially, a super regional. With home cookin’, the team should perform better. Ace Tristan Beck has only yielded 11 earned runs in 48.0 innings in the comfy confines of Sunken and only allowed one combined run to Arizona State and Cal in 13 innings, which featured some of the best hitters in college baseball. The Cardinal probably drew the toughest regional, but these Stanford players are molded for this moment.

 

Last year’s Stanford team was a national seed but lost in the regional, getting knocked out by perennial postseason rival Cal State Fullerton, which happens to be in Stanford’s region again this year. In what ways do you think this year’s Stanford team and postseason potential are different from those of last year?

R.J.: Last year’s team had a much more readily identified core of pitchers and hitters on which it relied. This year, we’ve been beating the drum of the “25-man approach” to winning games that has carried this team. Guys like Beau Branton, Kyle Stowers, Will Matthiessen, Christian Robinson and Jacob Palisch have emerged without much expectation this season, and many different players have impacted victories this year. In terms of postseason potential, this Stanford team is going in with two starters with elite talent, a deeper bullpen and what appears to be a stronger offense. Last year’s team scored 327 runs and hit 39 homers in 58 games. This squad has scored 361 runs and hit 54 ding dongs in 54 games so far. Finally, this is a team with a much younger core than last year’s team.

Jacob: Stanford is deeper and more talented this year than the squad that won 21 of 23 games to last year’s regular season and earned the No. 8 overall seed in the tournament. That team was a good example of how meaningless momentum can be when transitioning from the regular season to the postseason. The return of Brandon Wulff also is very important. It was a great sign for Stanford that he hit a two-run home run Saturday. And whenever you’re in a tournament, the bullpen is almost certainly going to be tested at some point. Last year, Stanford relied entirely on three relief pitchers, including an All-American closer. Stanford again has an All-American caliber pitcher at the back end in Jack Little. He’s supported by Jacob Palisch, Will Matthiessen, Zach Grech, Austin Weiermiller and either Brendan Beck or Erik Miller, depending on who is tabbed to be a starter instead. No one wants to be in the loser’s bracket, but Stanford’s pitching is built to get out of it.

Jose: Starting pitching matters so much this time of the year, and the Cardinal have better starters this year than last season. Bubic, who was the No. 1 last season, is even better this season, but is only the No. 2 this season with the return of Tristan Beck from an injury that sat him out last year. The bullpen is better this year because the pair of closer Jack Little and freshman Jacob Palisch have been sensational in the late innings. The fact that Little-Palisch has somehow been better than last year’s elite duo of Colton Hock-Tyler Thorne just reveals how amazing Little and Palisch have been this season.

On the offensive side, the team is filled with depth despite injuries to key players in Duke Kinamon, Brandon Wulff, Maverick Handley and Will Matthiessen. Different players have stepped up to fill these roles, such as Beau Branton and Kyle Stowers, who have excelled after getting starting reps. Now, the team has Wulff and Matthiessen back, the latter of which won Perfect Game National Player of the Week earlier this season after a five-home run week. Nico Hoerner improved on his productivity from last season and Andrew Daschbach has had the best power-hitting season for a Cardinal in a decade. Top to bottom, this team is better than last year’s iteration of Stanford baseball.

 

While Stanford has been very balanced this year, in each of its big conference matchups, one aspect of the team failed to show up (pitching against UCLA and OSU, hitting against UW). Which phase of the game concerns you most as the Cardinal face more elite competition in the postseason?

R.J.: There are arguments to made for being concerned about each phase of Stanford’s game, but if forced to choose, I’d say, overall, the offense is more of a variable than the team’s pitching and defense. That being said, I will say that Stanford doesn’t want any of these games coming down to somebody other than maybe Stowers having to make a throw from the outfield.

Jacob: Stanford’s bats have gone quiet at times this season. This weekend will be the first significant postseason experience for several of Stanford’s most important hitters. Keeping their minds right will be key. If I had to name a second concern, it’s which versions of Tristan Beck and Kris Bubic we will see. Both of them have gone through stretches in the past month when they weren’t pitching to their typical standards. The good news for Stanford is that below average for them is still good enough to win games against tough competition.

Jose: The offense has definitely laid eggs at times this season, where the bats strike out a ton and many men are left on base. There will be tough pitching facing the Stanford offense, so it could prove a major concern even if the Stanford staff is limiting the opposing lineup. Another thing that worries me is sophomore catcher Maverick Handley’s absence. He’s an excellent defensive catcher, as he still leads all players in throwing out baserunners, with 17 caught stealings despite not having played since May 8. The Cardinal’s first opponent, Wright State, is seventh in the nation in stolen bases per game at 2.04, and if runs are at a premium, then the aggression of the Raiders could prove the difference. Additionally, Handley is just a great presence for the pitchers, and he has the most familiarity with the pitching staff. Christian Molfetta has done an admirable job filling in, but Handley makes me more comfortable in tight games.

 

What does Stanford need to do to win the regional? What’s your prediction for how Stanford fares in the regional — and if you have them advancing, the rest of the tournament?

R.J.: Play downhill, and that means winning the first game on the strength of a good Tristan Beck start. That would allow the team to go into the weekend without taxing its bullpen on the first night, without having to play an elimination game until Sunday at the earliest, and with a sense of normalcy that the task in front of them is well within its capabilities. Baseball is an insane sport, and anything can happen from here on in for Stanford. That being said, I will not be surprised to see this group in Omaha in two weeks. They’ve been one of the best teams the entire season, and they’ve bounced back from the kind of body blows you need to take to handle the ebbs and flows of the postseason.

Jacob: Any time a team earns the right to host all the way to Omaha, it’s an upset when they don’t get there. Stanford should be in the College World Series later this month for the first time since 2008. The first step is that Tristan Beck comes out ready to deliver the first punch Friday. Pitching coach Thomas Eager and head coach David Esquer have each said Beck has to start games stronger. That was a problem Friday at Washington. If Beck dominates Wright State like he’s able to, I think that will steady the team and allow the Cardinal to roll through the weekend like they have more often than not on the way to winning 44 games.

Jose: I echo Daschbach’s sentiments before the Oregon State series when he said that the Cardinal could beat any team in the country if they play a complete game. The potential of Tristan Beck and Kris Bubic is a duo that will shut out opponents for seven innings each, but that hasn’t been the case for them in the past month. Given the absurd difficulty of the opponents, if Beck and Bubic can prove that they can compete at a high level, then the Cardinal have a real shot at a third championship banner.

 

Contact Jose Saldana at jsaldana ‘at’ stanford.edu, R.J. Abeytia on Twitter at @rj_abeytia and Jacob Rayburn at @jnrayburn. 

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Baseball begins road to Omaha in Sunken Diamond https://stanforddaily.com/2018/06/01/baseball-begins-road-to-omaha-in-sunken-diamond/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/06/01/baseball-begins-road-to-omaha-in-sunken-diamond/#respond Fri, 01 Jun 2018 14:19:32 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1141961 The last time David Esquer was in a Stanford baseball uniform before 2018, he was celebrating the first national title in the program’s history — as a player.

Thirty-one years later, Esquer dons the uniform again, but this time, as the first-year head coach of his alma mater. He will try to end this season as he did in his final start of his career — with a championship.

The first-seeded Cardinal (44-10) begin their postseason quest when they host fourth-seeded Wright State (39-15) in the first round of the NCAA Stanford Regional tonight at 7 p.m. at Sunken Diamond.

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The last time David Esquer was in a Stanford baseball uniform before 2018, he was celebrating the first national title in the program’s history — as a player.

Thirty-one years later, Esquer dons the uniform again, but this time, as the first-year head coach of his alma mater. He will try to end this season as he did in his final start of his career — with a championship.

The first-seeded Cardinal (44-10) begin their postseason quest when they host fourth-seeded Wright State (39-15) in the first round of the NCAA Stanford Regional tonight at 7 p.m. at Sunken Diamond.

The road to Omaha, the historic backdrop to the College World Series, is always daunting, and this year’s road seems particularly so, as Stanford has been dealt a tough regional.

The Raiders, the champions of the Horizon League, are joined by Big 12 champion Baylor, the second seed, and third-seeded Cal State Fullerton in the regional.

Wright State fields a team with a RPI of 69, which is the second-highest RPI of a fourth seed in the tournament.

“[Wright State] offers a couple problems,” Esquer said. “They steal a lot of bases, and they’ve got a little bit of power. Not your typical fourth seed, and I think many people projected them to be the best fourth seed in the tournament.”

Stealing a lot of bases is an understatement. The Raiders have stolen 110 bases, eighth-best in the country. That number is nearly double the amount of bases stolen by UCLA, which led the Pac-12 in steals.

One remedy to stopping this base larceny is to have a great defensive catcher. Unfortunately, the best defensive catcher in the conference, Cardinal sophomore Maverick Handley, is out with an injury, and according to Esquer, he will be out until a possible super regional.

Junior Christian Molfetta has replaced Handley in the backstop and has done a solid job filling in, but it’s tough to replace Handley’s arm strength, accuracy and instincts.

So if you don’t have your elite defensive catcher, then what other elixirs can you draw up?

Having a pitcher as good as junior Tristan Beck certainly helps.

The veteran right-hander sports a 2.99 ERA this season, which ranks 12th in the conference, and pitched a team-high 84.1 innings a year after missing his entire sophomore season due to injury.

He missed out on a chance to pitch in front of home fans when Stanford hosted a regional last season, so his start on Friday is special for him.

“It’s an honor to be in the position to pitch the first game of our regional,” Beck said. “The Sunken [Diamond] crowd is always great. It’s going to be a great experience playing in front of a huge crowd with a lot on the line.”

Other returners have been waiting for this moment, too. The Cardinal lost in the regional to Fullerton last season despite hosting it, and the defeat left a bad taste in the players’ mouths.

Those players, including junior shortstop Nico Hoerner and sophomore first baseman Andrew Daschbach, have been the fulcrum of the Stanford offense in the three and four spots in the lineup. They have led an offense that is fourth in the Pac-12 in runs (361) and second in home runs (54).

The Cardinal, although balanced in pitching and hitting, have at times struggled to find all elements of their game against elite opposition, and as a result, have dropped their last two road series.

Those performances came against top Pac-12 teams in Oregon State and Washington, but Wright State has the tools to aggravate the Cardinal, too. The Raiders have a bona fide ace in starting pitcher Ryan Weiss, who was an all-conference selection in the Horizon League.

However, he might not start against the Cardinal, as his coaches might opt to let his arm recover an extra day after he pitched twice in last weekend’s Horizon League Tournament.

If he can’t go, then Horizon League Freshman of the Year Caleb Sampen could be the Raiders’ starter. Sampen is unbeaten in six starts this season.

Wright State is also on an upswing, winning its last eight games, whereas the Cardinal have lost two consecutive road series.

However, negative momentum means nothing to this team, and instead it will rely on the resilience it has shown all season.

“We know that until the scoreboard says final that we are still in it,” Beck said.

“No matter the score.”

First pitch is at 7 p.m. at Sunken Diamond. The game will be broadcast on ESPN2 and the radio call will be on KZSU 90.1 FM.

 

Contact Jose Saldana at jsaldana ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Reid Travis withdraws from NBA Draft, to transfer for 2018-19 season https://stanforddaily.com/2018/05/31/reid-travis-withdraws-from-nba-draft-to-transfer-for-2018-19-season/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/05/31/reid-travis-withdraws-from-nba-draft-to-transfer-for-2018-19-season/#respond Thu, 31 May 2018 09:52:07 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1141789 Senior forward Reid Travis declared his intention on Wednesday afternoon to transfer schools for his final year of eligibility.

The two-time All-Pac-12 First Team forward had declared for the 2018 NBA Draft, but waited until the final day to withdraw to announce he was not going to enter the draft and transfer for his fifth year.

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Senior forward Reid Travis declared his intention on Wednesday afternoon to transfer schools for his final year of eligibility.

The two-time All-Pac-12 First Team forward had declared for the 2018 NBA Draft, but waited until the final day to withdraw to announce he was not entering the draft and instead transferring for his fifth year.

Travis, who played in 98 games for the Cardinal, was granted an additional year after the NCAA accepted Travis’ medical hardship petition, which he filed after missing 22 games in the 2015-16 season.

The 6-foot-8 big man set career highs across the board in his senior season, dropping a career high in points (19.5), three pointers made (18), games played (35) and free throw percentage (67.5 percent).

He was third in the Pac-12 in both scoring and rebounding, and he was the only player in the conference this past season to be in the top-five of both stats in the last two years.

Travis’ name is etched across all the Cardinal record books as he leaves Stanford ranked 16th in career points scored and 10th in career rebounds despite playing hundreds of minutes fewer than the people above him on the list.

In his final year on The Farm, Travis led the team to its best conference record (11-7) since the 2007-08 season, when Stanford went 13-5 under then-head coach Trent Johnson.

Travis joins a contingent of five players who will leave the Cardinal program. Seniors guard Dorian Pickens and Michael Humphrey do not have any years of eligibility remaining.

Senior guard Robert Cartwright announced he was transferring to UC Irvine back on May 1, and junior guard Cameron Walker, who didn’t play last season, will not return due to an NCAA medical disqualification.

The Cardinal will lose three-fifths of its starting lineup from last season and 48.4 percent of its minutes with the seniors leaving for the 2018-19.

Although Stanford didn’t make the NCAA Tournament in Travis’ tenure, he has been one of the best college players in the country, and wherever he transfers, Travis should make an immediate impact as a force in the paint.

 

Contact Jose Saldana at jsaldana ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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NCAA bracket released, baseball to host NCAA Regional https://stanforddaily.com/2018/05/29/ncaa-bracket-released-baseball-to-host-ncaa-regional/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/05/29/ncaa-bracket-released-baseball-to-host-ncaa-regional/#respond Tue, 29 May 2018 10:12:42 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1141698 The bracket and seeding for the NCAA Division 1 Baseball Tournament was revealed on Monday morning.

As one of the eight national seeds (the Cardinal are second overall), Stanford baseball (44-10) will host a regional and if it wins the regional, then it will have a chance to host a super regional.

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The bracket and seeding for the NCAA Division 1 Baseball Tournament was revealed on Monday morning.

As one of the eight national seeds (the Cardinal are second overall), Stanford baseball (44-10) will host a regional, and if it wins the regional, then it will have a chance to host a super regional.

The Cardinal are the first seed in its region with Baylor (second seed), Cal State Fullerton (third seed) and Wright State University (fourth seed) all set to face off this weekend.

This is the second consecutive year the Cardinal will host a regional, and it will be the second year that Fullerton will be in the regional with the Cardinal, but this time as the third seed instead of the second seed.

The Titans defeated Stanford twice in the regional last season to advance to the super regionals.

This is the 17th time the Cardinal have hosted an NCAA Regional.

Stanford will first play against Wright State on Friday at 7 p.m. PT, while Baylor and Fullerton will battle it out at 2 p.m. PT.

The NCAA Regional round has round-robin, double-elimination format, so if the Cardinal lose they still have a chance to make it out of the regional.

Friday’s game against Wright State will be broadcast on ESPN2.

 

Contact Jose Saldana at jsaldana ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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No. 3 baseball rallies in ninth inning to capture first Pac-12 title since 2004 https://stanforddaily.com/2018/05/29/no-3-baseball-rallies-in-ninth-inning-to-capture-first-pac-12-title-since-2004/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/05/29/no-3-baseball-rallies-in-ninth-inning-to-capture-first-pac-12-title-since-2004/#respond Tue, 29 May 2018 10:07:31 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1141692 Coming into the weekend series against Washington (30-23, 20-10 Pac-12), No. 3 Stanford baseball (44-10, 22-8) had the magic number of one in order to clinch the Pac-12 championship.

Easy, right? Not exactly.

The Huskies, who needed wins to make the postseason, seemed the better team for 26.0 innings, taking the first two games of the series. A sweep at the hands of Washington would mean that the Cardinal would have to share the Pac-12 title with the Huskies.

Down 5-3 with three outs left, Stanford and sophomore designated hitter Will Matthiessen had other plans.

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Coming into the weekend series against Washington (30-23, 20-10 Pac-12), No. 3 Stanford baseball (44-10, 22-8) had the magic number of one game in order to clinch the Pac-12 championship.

Easy, right? Not exactly.

The Huskies, who needed wins to make the postseason, seemed the better team for 26.0 innings, taking the first two games of the series. A sweep at the hands of Washington would mean that the Cardinal would have to share the Pac-12 title with the Huskies.

Down 5-3 with three outs left, Stanford and sophomore designated hitter Will Matthiessen had other plans.

Matthiessen hit a two-run home run to tie the game, and then junior shortstop Nico Hoerner hit in the go-ahead run by beating out the throw to first base to give the Cardinal a 6-5 win and outright ownership of the Pac-12 championship.

The title is the first for the Cardinal since 2004 and the first for Stanford head coach David Esquer, who replaced Mark Marquess in June 2017.

“I can’t tell you how proud I am of this team and every single one of these players,” Esquer said. “This team is never out of it. I love coaching these guys, I love watching them play and our coaching staff has done just a great job of preparing them for moments like this.”

The Huskies had the Cardinal’s number all series, defeating Stanford 7-0 on Thursday and 4-2 on Friday.

The Cardinal offense struggled with the Huskies pitching staff until tagging starter Joe DeMers with five earned runs in the final game of the series.

Sophomore left fielder Kyle Stowers drew a walk to begin the top of the ninth and then Matthiessen hit his homer over the left field wall to the tie the game.

It was his seventh home run of the season.

Then, a single by senior second baseman Beau Branton loaded up the bases with Hoerner up to bat with two outs. He knocked a grounder deep to the Huskies shortstop, but the throw to first couldn’t make it in time to get Hoerner out. The runs to give the Cardinal a lead and sophomore closer Jack Little, who came in the eighth, shut the Huskies out to get the win.

Matthiessen went 2-for-3 with two runs scored, two RBI and a walk in the final game of the series. Hoerner, the other hero, went 3-for-5 with the game winning RBI.

Little had four strikeouts in 2.0 innings and got the win with a dominant performance.

Junior left-handed pitcher Kris Bubic was the starter, and he had an up-and-down performance with five strikeouts, three earned runs (four overall) and five hits allowed in 5.0 innings pitched.

The Cardinal will host the NCAA Regional as the first seed where they will first play fourth-seeded Wright State on Friday at 7 p.m. PT and then will play the winner of the Baylor-Cal State Fullerton game on Saturday.

“This league proved how much quality it has top to bottom,” Esquer said. “Heading into the postseason, the key is getting comfortable being uncomfortable, and I have full confidence in this team.”

 

Contact Jose Saldana at jsaldana ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Eventual champions Arizona eliminates Cardinal https://stanforddaily.com/2018/05/25/eventual-champions-arizona-eliminates-cardinal/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/05/25/eventual-champions-arizona-eliminates-cardinal/#respond Fri, 25 May 2018 10:28:15 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1141624 Fifth-seeded Stanford women’s golf were eliminated in the NCAA Championships semifinals to eventual national champions eighth-seeded Arizona on Tuesday in Karsten Creek Golf Club.

The 4-1 loss put an end to a strong stretch for the Cardinal. They defeated Northwestern 3-2 in the quarterfinals and won the NCAA Women’s Golf San Francisco Regional to advance to the Championships.

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Fifth-seeded Stanford women’s golf was eliminated in the NCAA Championships’ semifinals to eventual national champions, eighth-seeded Arizona on Tuesday in Karsten Creek Golf Club.

The 4-1 loss put an end to a strong stretch for the Cardinal. They defeated Northwestern 3-2 in the quarterfinals and won the NCAA Women’s Golf San Francisco Regional to advance to the Championships.

“I’m very proud of this team and what we were able to accomplish this season,” Stanford head coach Anne Walker said. “This morning against Northwestern, our putts were falling, and we navigated the course well. Making putts is the key to match play, and we were not able to do that as well against Arizona.”

However, the Cardinal ran into the Wildcats at the wrong time as Arizona went on a miraculous run from low seed to national champions after defeating second-seeded Alabama.

Sophomore Ziyi Wang and Albane Valenzuela dropped their games to put the Cardinal down 2-0 quickly.

Freshman Mika Liu battled in her outing before ultimately succumbing to her Wildcat opponent.

The only win came from senior Shannon Aubert in the final competition of her career. Aubert is the only Cardinal to participate in four-straight match-play competitions.

In the previous round, the Cardinal had more success against Northwestern as the Cardinal only dropped the rounds from Liu and Wang.

Stanford made the match-play round by finishing fifth in the NCAA Championships on Monday. Despite ending the first day in 16th, the Cardinal shot better each round to get a top-five spot with the top-15 advancing to match play.

Sophomore Andrea Lee had a historic performance, finishing in second, which is the best finish for a Cardinal golfer in over two decades, She tied a course record with a 7-under-65 as she had zero birdies.

A couple of Cardinal were rewarded with All-American honors on Thursday. Lee earned a spot to the All-American first team after an incredible performance in the final round of the NCAA Championships to send the Cardinal to the match-play rounds.

Valenzuela saw herself as an honorable mention as the Swiss golfer had three Top-10 finishes during the season.

Women’s golf was also one of the 10 Cardinal women’s programs, which were recognized for having a perfect 1000 multi-year score according to the Academic Progress Rate.

Despite losing Aubert for next year’s squad, the team is full of talented sophomores and freshman, and they should be expected to compete for a title again next season.

 

Contact Jose Saldana at jsaldana ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Cardinal drop first game to Washington https://stanforddaily.com/2018/05/25/cardinal-drop-first-game-to-washington/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/05/25/cardinal-drop-first-game-to-washington/#respond Fri, 25 May 2018 10:25:15 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1141628 A three-run home run allowed by Cardinal starter Erik Miller in the first inning set the tone in No. 3 Stanford baseball’s (43-9, 21-7 Pac-12) 7-0 loss to Washington (29-22, 19-9) on Thursday night in Seattle, WA.

The rough loss means that the Pac-12 title remains unclaimed for at least one more day. The Cardinal need one win to earn their first Pac-12 championship since 2004.

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A three-run home run allowed by Cardinal starter Erik Miller in the first inning set the tone for No. 3 Stanford baseball’s (43-9, 21-7 Pac-12) 7-0 loss to Washington (29-22, 19-9) on Thursday night in Seattle, WA.

The rough loss means that the Pac-12 title remains unclaimed for at least one more day. The Cardinal need one win to earn their first Pac-12 championship since 2004.

“We got off to a really rough start, and that’s all Washington really needed tonight,” Stanford head coach David Esquer said. “We had our opportunities, and maybe a couple breaks didn’t go our way, but we have been in this situation before, and we know what we need to do to come back stronger over these next two games.”

Miller, who made his first start on May 6, lasted only 0.2 innings after giving up the home run and then walking the next batter. He was relieved by freshman Austin Weiermiller, who came in and gave the Cardinal 4.2 innings of one-run ball in one of the best performances of the southpaw’s young career.

“Credit our bullpen for keeping it close for a while,” Esquer said. “Weiermiller did a nice job in relief with Miller struggling, keeping us in it for so long.”

The bullpen kept it close until it couldn’t when the Huskies scored three unearned runs.

Even if the bullpen had not allowed a single run, the offense would have squandered the opportunity.

The bats could not get anything going off of Huskies starter Lucas Knowles, who pitched 5.2 innings and struck out six Cardinal.

Misfortune also plagued the Stanford offense. In the top of the eighth with two outs, senior second baseman Beau Branton drew the only walk of the game for the Cardinal. Freshman third baseman Tim Tawa hit a shot over the center fielder, which bounced over the center field wall for a ground-rule double.

If the ball did not go over the fence, then Branton would have scored the Cardinal’s first run. Instead, the situation was runners at third and second with junior shortstop Nico Hoerner at the plate.

Hoerner hit a hard grounder that almost went into the outfield to score two runners, but the Huskies second baseman AJ Graffanino made a nice diving grab to rob Hoerner and the Cardinal of runs and steal any Cardinal momentum.

To add misery to misfortune, in the bottom of the eighth, sophomore reliever Zach Grech struck out Huskies Joe Wainhouse, but the ball bounced behind junior catcher Christian Molfetta, and he couldn’t find it. Wainhouse reached first base, and the Cardinal would go on to yield three runs in the inning.

Tawa and sophomore left fielder Kyle Stowers were the only Cardinal with multi-hit efforts. Tawa went 3-for-4, and Stowers went 2-for-4. Branton was the only other Stanford batter with a hit.

The Cardinal will have two more tries to clinch the Pac-12 with Game 2 against Washington coming on Friday at 7 p.m. PT. The game will be broadcast by the Pac-12 Networks.

 

Contact Jose Saldana at jsaldana ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Men’s golf take on NCAA Championships https://stanforddaily.com/2018/05/24/mens-golf-take-on-ncaa-championships/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/05/24/mens-golf-take-on-ncaa-championships/#respond Thu, 24 May 2018 11:06:18 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1141511 16th-seeded Stanford men’s golf travel to Stillwater to take place in the NCAA Men’s Golf Championships in Karsten Creek Golf Club beginning on May 24.

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16th-seeded Stanford men’s golf travel to Stillwater to take place in the NCAA Men’s Golf Championships in Karsten Creek Golf Club beginning on May 24.

This is the Cardinal’s 11th appearance in the NCAA Championships in the past 14 years, and they are gunning for their ninth national title.

In order to get to Stillwater, Stanford placed second in the NCAA Pacific Regional, surging to the runner-up spot with a final-round-best 11-under par 277. Junior Brandon Wu paced the Cardinal with a second-place finish with rounds of 67-67-68.

Stanford has had a recent string of success as it has placed third at The Goodwin and fourth at the Pac-12 Championships.

“There’s so many good teams in college golf,” Stanford head coach Conrad Ray said. “To have a seat at the table with that group is a nice accomplishment. Anything can happen.”

 

Contact Jose Saldana at jsaldana ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Track and field to compete in NCAA West Preliminary in Sacramento https://stanforddaily.com/2018/05/24/track-and-field-to-compete-in-ncaa-west-preliminary-in-sacramento/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/05/24/track-and-field-to-compete-in-ncaa-west-preliminary-in-sacramento/#respond Thu, 24 May 2018 11:04:55 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1141512 Stanford track and field will not have to travel far for the NCAA West Preliminary Round beginning on May 24.

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Stanford track and field will not have to travel far for the NCAA West Preliminary Round beginning on May 24.

The three-day event will be hosted in Sacramento, CA and only the top-12 placers will earn themselves in the NCAA Championships, which will be hosted in Eugene, OR.

In USTFCCCA rankings, the Cardinal women are ranked sixth and the men are ranked 31st. The women will have 23 individuals participate in competitions, while the men will have 15.

Ten of the individuals are on the All-American first team, including junior Mackenzie Little, who is a two-time Pac-12 javelin champion and is expected to take the javelin competition in the prelims.

The field events will begin at noon on each day, while the running events begin on 4:30 p.m. PT on the first two days and 6 p.m. PT on the final day.

 

Contact Jose Saldana at jsaldana ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Remarkable season is more than just winning Pac-12 https://stanforddaily.com/2018/05/24/remarkable-season-is-more-than-just-winning-pac-12/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/05/24/remarkable-season-is-more-than-just-winning-pac-12/#respond Thu, 24 May 2018 10:18:38 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1141504 It has been 14 years since No. 3 Stanford baseball (43-8, 21-6 Pac-12) were crowned Pac-12 Championships. Back then, would-be MLB players Jed Lowrie and Sam Fuld roamed sunkissed lawn of Sunken Diamond.

14 years of coming up short in the regular season. All those ghosts on the diamond who tried their damndest to win a conference title can be appeased when the Cardinal travel to the Evergreen State to play Washington (28-22, 18-9) in their final series of the season.

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It has been 14 years since No. 3 Stanford baseball (43-8, 21-6 Pac-12) were crowned Pac-12 champions. Back then, would-be MLB players Jed Lowrie and Sam Fuld roamed sunkissed lawn of Sunken Diamond.

14 years of coming up short in the regular season. All those ghosts on the diamond who tried their damnedest to win a conference title can be appeased when the Cardinal travel to the Evergreen State to play Washington (28-22, 18-9) in their final series of the season.

The magic number is only one, which means Stanford only needs to win one game to claim the Pac-12. However, even with the grandeur that can be and has been made of winning the conference, the players are focusing on something greater.

“We just we want to go in and sweep [Washington],“ sophomore Will Matthiessen said.“You know that’s the goal. But we also have in mind that we just got to win one to win the Pac 12 Championship. So we’re hoping to do that Thursday night and then continue to beat them on Friday and Saturday and keeping that momentum going into the postseason.”

The Cardinal haven’t made it to an NCAA Super Regional since 2014 and haven’t made it to the College World Series since 2008.

Even further still, the storied program hasn’t won a national title since winning it back-to-back in 1987-88.

On the first championship team was a shortstop named David Esquer, who just happens to be in his first year coaching the Cardinal. Esquer replaced his former head coach Mark Marquess (Nine) after 44 years of leading the team back in June of last year.

11 months and 43 wins later, Esquer has managed his team to an unprecedented season as they knock on a conference title and a deep postseason run.

“I know it’s been a goal of our team before the season,” Esquer said of winning the Pac-12.  

Stanford only needs one game to do it, so do the Cardinal go all out on Thursday and win it and call it a regular season? Nope. That’s not how Esquer and this team operate.

“I jokingly have said that if if there’s anybody in that locker room that just wants to go win one game this weekend, I think I want to leave them home,” Esquer said.

The man who replaced Nine has preached playing their brand of baseball every single game, whether home or away.

The coaching staff has put more responsibility on the players and on the leaders of this team to motivate even when it’s not their best game. The players have responded as well as you could hope for.

“I don’t think that I’ve had a group that I trust as much as to internally and self-motivated and stay accountable to their teammates as much as this group,” Esquer said. “There are many times I have asked my assistant coaches kind of half jokingly if our team needed me for some extra motivation.”

“They usually say, ‘No, I think we’re good.’”

This responsibility that Esquer has given the players has been a huge reason for the success of this team. Games that they shouldn’t win like last Sunday against Washington State or the final game against No. 2 Oregon State on the road are deemed more like challenges than daunting obstacles.

A blossoming sophomore class and a burgeoning freshman class have been consequences of this mentality. Esquer isn’t afraid to put in less-used players, which has sped up the development of many players on the team.

And he’s had to do it with key injuries to players such as Duke Kinamon, Brandon Wulff and Matthiessen.

Sophomore first baseman Andrew Daschbach is the first Stanford hitter to have more than 16 home runs or more than 60 RBI in a season since the power-hungry 2008 squad. The home-run-hitting righty batted .183 in 60 at-bats with zero home runs as a freshman, a far cry from this season.

Freshmen Tim Tawa and Jacob Palisch have been key cogs since the start of the season. Tawa, who has played third base and center field this season, is hitting .295 and has the third most home runs on the team with seven, which includes one of the most indelible moments in the season when Tawa hit a walk-off three-run home run to defeat Michigan back in March.

“That was one of the coolest moments I have ever had in my entire sports life,” Tawa said after the Michigan game. “Just seeing the reactions from the rest of the guys — that was special for me.”

Palisch has had an unexpected rise, being forced into a larger role because of Matthiessen’s injury to start the season. But he has been the second best arm in the Cardinal’s bullpen (behind closer Jack Little). The southpaw sports an 1.74 ERA in 41.1 innings, which is the most innings pitched by a reliever in the Cardinal pen.

But if his performance were expected, it would have been news to most people.

“We didn’t know that Palisch was going to be like this,” Esquer said after the Washington State game on Sunday.

Esquer provided a challenge of accountability and self-motivation that allowed players such as Daschbach, Tawa and Palisch to grow and be ready whenever it was their turn to make something happen.

Even with how young this team is, the onus of success still falls squarely on the veterans.

Senior second baseman Beau Branton, who was not a starter to begin the year, leads the team in batting average (.383) and seems to get on base every single game.

“That guy never fails to impress,” Daschbach praised of Branton. “Every time I think he is going into a slump, he gets four or five hits. He is unslumpable.”

The junior group that features heralded players such as shortstop Nico Hoerner and pitching aces Tristan Beck and Kris Bubic.

Beck, the Friday starter, has become somewhat an extension of the coaching staff’s philosophy.

“He’s the most energetic guy on the team,” Bubic said of Beck. “He brings a lot of passion and is supporting guys every day, which is what you love to see.”

You can see how these players talk about each other with a respect and affection, from seniors to freshmen. Esquer has said that this group shares many of the qualities the ‘87 national title team had, which is high praise indeed.

It only needs one game to win the conference, but there is a good chance, that 14 years from now, this team is remembered for something greater.

 

Contact Jose Saldana at jsaldana ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Stanford women’s tennis advances to NCAA finals https://stanforddaily.com/2018/05/21/stanford-womens-tennis-advances-to-ncaa-finale/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/05/21/stanford-womens-tennis-advances-to-ncaa-finale/#respond Tue, 22 May 2018 03:52:56 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1141393 Junior Caroline Lampl’s comeback in three sets served as the clincher to send 15th-seeded Stanford women’s tennis to the NCAA Championship finale over third-seeded Duke in a 4-2 victory on Monday in Winston-Salem, NC.

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Junior Caroline Lampl’s comeback in three sets served as the clincher to send 15th-seeded Stanford women’s tennis to the NCAA Championship finale over third-seeded Duke in a 4-2 victory on Monday in Winston-Salem, NC.

The Cardinal have ticketed their third consecutive NCAA final match, after winning the title in 2016 and losing last season. They will play the first-seeded Vanderbilt on Tuesday for all the marbles.

In 2016, Stanford was the lowest seed ever to win the championship, which was seeded 15th as the current iteration of the team is.

The program is now 19-3 in NCAA tournament matches as the lower seed since 2010.

Much like how the season has gone for the Cardinal, the girls bounced back after a rough start. They dropped the doubles point, when the Melissa Lord/Janice Shin pairing lost in a hard-fought battle 7-5.

Stanford had previously dropped the doubles point to second-seeded UNC on Thursday and, similarly to that match, when the singles matches started, it was all Cardinal.

In many ways, it was appropriate that Lampl would serve as the clincher. The junior was inconsistent to begin the season and faced a similar challenge when she dropped the first set to Duke’s Kaitlyn McCarthy 2-6. However, the veteran showed her resilience and captured the second set 6-2. Lampl’s record in three-setters this season was 1-4, but that hardly mattered as she dominated the final set 6-2 to close out the victory.

Lampl has won her last 11 of 12 matches, which is more indicative of her skill than her No. 98 ranking.

After the doubles loss, sophomore Emma Higuchi tied the match at 1-1 winning against Blue Devil Hannah Zhao 6-4, 6-0. Higuchi’s last loss was back in winter, as she has 16-straight wins dating back to Feb. 24.

Following her lead was freshman Janice Shin, who prevailed easily in her singles match 6-1, 6-1 to give the Cardinal a 2-1 lead.

Then, the ever-dependable junior Melissa Lord displayed her grit by forcing a tiebreaker at 6-6 in the second set. Lord broke the tiebreaker to take the set 7-6 and the game as she won the first set 6-2.

She remains perfect in NCAA team matches with a sterling record of 14-0.

Now with a 3-1 lead, the Cardinal needed just one more win to go to the finals.

Freshman Michaela Gordon, who is ranked 15th and was named Pac-12 Freshman Player of the Year, fought brilliantly after dropping the first set to No. 6 Samantha Harris. She lost the tiebreaker in the second set to lose the match, but she was able to finish her first NCAA match after the Cardinal won before she could conclude her appearances in the previous rounds.

After Gordon’s defeat brought Duke back to within one, it was up to Lampl and sophomore Emily Arbuthnott. Both players had dropped the first set, but each roared to take the second set 6-3.

A victory in either spot would have clinched the game, but Lampl was just a bit faster to win the match for the Cardinal.

The Cardinal will vie for its 19th NCAA national championship when they go head-to-head against top-seeded Vanderbilt on Tuesday at 10 a.m. The match will be broadcast on ncaa.com.

 

Contact Jose Saldana at jsaldana ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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No. 3 baseball sweeps Washington State with win on Senior Day https://stanforddaily.com/2018/05/21/no-3-baseball-sweeps-washington-state-with-win-on-senior-day/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/05/21/no-3-baseball-sweeps-washington-state-with-win-on-senior-day/#respond Mon, 21 May 2018 09:06:12 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1142479 On Senior Day, it was only fitting that a senior would come through to knock in the go-ahead run, but it was a sophomore that closed the show.

No. 3 Stanford baseball (43-8-0, 21-6-0 Pac-12) sweeps Washington State (15-31-1, 7-19-1) by winning Game 3 4-2 with the help of an eight-out save by sophomore closer Jack Little.

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On Senior Day, it was only fitting that a senior would come through to knock in the go-ahead run, but it was a sophomore that closed the show.

No. 3 Stanford baseball (43-8-0, 21-6-0 Pac-12) swept Washington State (15-31-1, 7-19-1) by winning Game 3 4-2 with the help of an eight-out save by sophomore closer Jack Little.

Because No. 2 Oregon State lost to USC on Sunday, the Cardinal have a 2.5-game lead on the Beavers for the Pac-12 championship. If Stanford can win its next days, then it will claim the conference title for the first time since 2004.

Seniors Beau Branton, Bryce Carter, Jesse Kuet and John Henry Styles were honored before the game to commemorate their final regular season home game of their careers.

The game wasn’t exactly pretty with the Cougars’ starting pitcher Parker McFadden racking up nine strikeouts in 4.2 innings.

“It’s just Pac-12 baseball,” Stanford head coach David Esquer said. “Doesn’t matter what the records are, if they come out to play, it is going to be hard to win. It looked like one of those Sundays where we were going to lay an egg, but our guys won’t let that happen.”

The Cardinal were down 2-1 in the 6th before junior center fielder Alec Wilson tied the game at 2-2. One batter later, Branton broke the impasse in the bottom of the sixth inning with an RBI single through right center field. The second baseman had an impressive series, going 7-for-12 with five runs scored and five RBI, including a hit and walk on Senior Day.

Freshman starter Brendan Beck didn’t have a clean sheet, giving up six hits and two earned runs in 4.1 innings pitched, but freshman reliever Jacob Palisch and Little were up to task to close out Washington State.

“We didn’t know that Palisch was going to be like this and we didn’t know what Little would be back in the fall,” Esquer said of the unexpected rise of the underclassman.

Little made his second appearance, in the series as his first came abruptly on Saturday due to a ninth-inning meltdown by the Cardinal. His coaching staff has been confident in giving their closer more than three-outs to get and he relayed their convictions once again by going 2.2 innings and striking out five Cougars. Once he came into the game, Washington State could do very little.

“He has been big every weekend we put him out there,” Esquer said of his closer. “We wouldn’t be where we are at without Jack Little.”

“Today, was definitely the changeup,” Little said on what was working for him. “I’ve been working on it the last couple of weeks in order to fine tune it. Along with the good defense behind me, it has been really comfortable being out there.”

Palisch earned the victory after pitching 2.0 innings of shutout ball. The southpaw has been great all year with an 1.74 ERA, but he has been even better as of late, yielding zero runs in his last 8.2 innings.

Beck went through 3.0 scoreless, but his command was shaky as he left pitches in the middle of the zone far too often. In the fourth, the Cougars bit him for two runs, and he left in the fifth with one out.

Beck has been filling in for sophomore left-handed pitcher Erik Miller, but the freshman has filled in admirably even if the recent results haven’t been too kind to him.

Sophomore first baseman Andrew Daschbach, probably inspired by Senior Day, sent a solo home run over the left field in the second on the first pitch he saw to give the Cardinal an early 1-0 lead.

The shot was Daschbach’s 16th home run of the season, which ranks fourth in the Pac-12 and is the first Stanford hitter to have 16 or more homers in a season since 2008, when Sean Ratliff ‘08 had 22.

Daschbach is also tied for third in the Pac-12 with 60 RBI (leads the team) and is the first Cardinal to have 60 or more RBI in a season since 2008, when Jason Castro ‘08 knocked in 73 runners.

The Cardinal play their final series of the season on the road against Washington beginning on May 24 at 6 p.m. PT. They only need to win one game to win the Pac-12.

“That would be incredible,” Little said of the prospect of winning the Pac-12 championship. “I don’t remember the last time Stanford won the Pac-12, but to win one…you can’t take that away from us.”

 

Contact Jose Saldana at jsaldana ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Cardinal breeze through UNC and Georgia, take on Duke in NCAA semifinals https://stanforddaily.com/2018/05/21/cardinal-breeze-through-unc-and-georgia-take-on-duke-in-ncaa-semifinals/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/05/21/cardinal-breeze-through-unc-and-georgia-take-on-duke-in-ncaa-semifinals/#respond Mon, 21 May 2018 09:04:39 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1142478 When high-seeded women’s tennis programs found out that Stanford women’s tennis (22-3) was ranked as the 15th-seed for the NCAA Round of 16, they were probably quivering in the sneakers at the thought of having to play of the hottest teams this side of the galaxy.

Their fears were realized when the Cardinal defeated second-seeded UNC (28-4) 4-1 in emphatic fashion on Thursday and followed that up with a quick 4-0 thrashing of seventh-seeded Georgia (18-7) on Saturday in Winston-Salem, NC.

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When high-seeded women’s tennis programs found out that Stanford women’s tennis (22-3) was ranked as the 15th-seed for the NCAA Round of 16, they were probably quivering in their sneakers at the thought of having to play of the hottest teams this side of the galaxy.

Their fears were realized when the Cardinal defeated second-seeded UNC (28-4) 4-1 in emphatic fashion on Thursday and followed that up with a quick 4-0 thrashing of seventh-seeded Georgia (18-7) on Saturday in Winston-Salem, NC.

“I think we are mentally a strong team,” Stanford head coach Lele Forood. “We have two players (Caroline Lampl and Melissa Lord) who have been part of winning a national championship. They define to the rest of the team that you need to be there and be ready physically and mentally for four matches to win a national championship.”

Stanford will face three-seeded Duke in the NCAA semifinals on Monday to determine which program will play for a national title.

All the players have stepped up, as the program tends to do, but junior Melissa Lord has been exceptional. Against the Tar Heels in the No. 2 spot, Lord, who ranks 40th, ran through No. 26 Alle Sanford for a 6-4, 6-1 victory. Then, against the Bulldogs, she made quick work of No. 75 Kennedy Shaffer with a 6-1, 6-2 win.

Lord is now 13-0 in NCAA team matches, which means she rises to the occasion during the Cardinal’s annual run for the title.

Sophomore Emily Arbuthnott, ranked 43rd, has been as consistent as they come in the No. 4 spot, winning both her singles matches against her opponents from UNC (6-3, 6-1) and Georgia (6-4, 6-2).

Although in hindsight, the Cardinal blew through the Tar Heels, it didn’t line up in Stanford’s favor. UNC was ranked No. 1 in the country despite being the second-seed and played the match 90 minutes from Chapel-Hill.

The Tar Heels even took the coveted doubles point in a close 7-5 finish.

But when the singles match began, the Cardinal took over. Lord tied the overall match 1-1, then sophomore Emma Higuchi and Arbuthnott won their matches in straight sets, giving Stanford a 3-1 advantage.

The clincher fell on the shoulders of freshman Janice Shin, and she delivered with a 6-3, 6-2 victory to give the Cardinal a 4-1 victory.

“Janice has been been a star. Just incredibly clutch,” Forood said. “She has been the clincher now a couple times in this tournament and she is getting the hang of it. But everybody played awesome today.”

Even with the pressure of facing the top team in the country and being down after the doubles point, the Cardinal displayed the trademark resilience that has been reflected throughout the history of the nation’s winningest program.

“We like to think we’ve got a lot of points once we get to the singles, but we were disappointed after the doubles,” Forood said. “It was pretty close overall. After doubles, we had a little anger, a little frustration and I think we channeled it pretty well in how we came out in singles.”

Stanford showed more composure in the doubles match against Georgia, winning it on the strength of the Caroline Lampl/Kimberly Yee (6-3) and Lord/Shin (6-4) doubles matches.

“Today we weren’t as nervous on the court like we were the other day,” Lampl said. “We knew if we played our game and we were aggressive, we would be just fine. In the doubles, we were aggressive and that is how we normally are able to win the doubles point.”

Ferood agreed with the junior’s sentiment.

“We started better in the doubles,” Ferood said. “We were pretty solid on all three courts and that was a good opening for us. I thought we came out well in the singles and got ahead in a lot of first sets. We were competitive in every match and were able to pull away a little bit at the end to win it.”

Then, during the singles matches, the Cardinal cleaned up with Lord again finishing her victory first, then Lampl and Arbuthnott acted as the clincher to send Stanford to the NCAA semifinals.

The Cardinal is now one round away from the final match with three-seeded Duke in the way. The match will take place in Winston-Salem at 7 a.m. PT. The semifinals will be streamed at http://www.wakeforestsports.com/ncaatennis/.

“I give Stanford a lot of credit for losing the doubles point and coming back in singles,” North Carolina head coach Brian Kalbas said after losing to the Cardinal. “They really played well, seemed like every big play and opportunity went their way. We didn’t so much lose: rather, they just grabbed the win. They’ve won a lot of championships and are a very confident team. Down the stretch they were believers.”

 

Contact Jose Saldana at jsaldana ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Cardinal nearly blow nine-run lead, clinch series against Washington State https://stanforddaily.com/2018/05/20/cardinal-nearly-blow-nine-run-lead-clinch-series-against-washington-state/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/05/20/cardinal-nearly-blow-nine-run-lead-clinch-series-against-washington-state/#respond Sun, 20 May 2018 15:33:44 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1142473 It was fitting that the uniforms between the two teams on the diamond were essentially indiscernible (both squads wore red tops) as it appeared only one team was out on the field, but a ninth inning meltdown did in fact reveal that there were two teams out there.

No. 3 Stanford baseball (42-8-0, 20-6-0 Pac-12) almost let a nine-run lead slip in the ninth in the 9-6 victory over Washington State (15-30-1, 7-18-1) on Saturday afternoon.

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It was fitting that the uniforms between the two teams on the diamond were essentially indiscernible (both squads wore red tops) as it appeared only one team was out on the field, but a ninth inning meltdown did in fact reveal that there were two teams out there.

No. 3 Stanford baseball (42-8-0, 20-6-0 Pac-12) almost let a nine-run lead slip away in the ninth in the 9-6 victory over Washington State (15-30-1, 7-18-1) on Saturday afternoon in Sunken Diamond. 

The Cardinal take the series victory a week after losing their second series loss to Oregon State, and they maintain their 1.5-game lead over the Beavers in the conference.

Stanford led 9-0 before the Cougars pounced on the less-used arms in the bullpen.

“Sometimes you try to get some guys in there that haven’t been there,” Stanford head coach David Esquer said of his relievers in the ninth. “It doesn’t always work out.”

Sophomore closer Jack Little had to come in after three pitchers couldn’t deliver the final out, but the silver lining was that Little is now two saves away from Colton Hock’s ‘17 Stanford season saves record of 16.

The similar uniforms weren’t an issue for junior starter Kris Bubic, who had nine strikeouts in 5.2 innings, lowered his ERA to 2.55 and shut out the Cougars for the second year in a row.

“Early on I was feeling pretty good, and then later in the outing, I got a little fatigued,” Bubic said of his performance. “My stuff wasn’t as crisp, but I found a way to battle through and the defense made good plays behind me.”

Bubic wasn’t economical with his pitches, needing 111 total pitches, but he kept his walks down despite being down early in counts.

The offense took advantage of the shoddy pitching by Washington State. Senior second baseman Beau Branton was the table setter for Stanford at the leadoff spot, hitting 2-4 with three runs and one walk. He went 4-4 yesterday and extended into this game a nine-straight on base appearance.

Putting up a career-high four hits, junior shortstop Nico Hoerner had his 20th multi-hit game of the season, which leads the team. Hoerner added two RBI and two runs to his ledger in five at-bats.

Sophomore first baseman Andrew Daschbach, who was probably inspired by the fireworks show from last night’s game, blasted his 15th home run in the fourth and went 3-4 with four RBI.

“I was just trying to get a pitch up and the [pitcher] made a mistake,” Daschbach said of his home run. “I was happy to put a good swing on it.”

The action began in the bottom of the first inning when Branton nailed a double on the first pitch he saw. After advancing to third on sac bunt, Branton would score on Hoerner’s RBI single to give the Cardinal a 1-0 lead.

An inning later, the Stanford offense would drive even more runs, and again, Branton would be behind the wheel, hitting an RBI-double to score junior catcher Christian Molfetta and then scoring on another Hoerner hit — this one a double to shallow right field.

Sophomore first baseman Andrew Daschbach would cap off the Cardinal scoring in the second inning with an RBI single straight up the grass between the middle infielders. Hoerner scored from second on the hit to give Stanford a 2-0 lead.

After a fruitless third inning, the fourth bore something ripe when, guess who, Branton drew a five-pitch walk for his third straight appearance on base. Freshman third baseman Tim Tawa singled through the left side and Hoerner flied out to give runners on the corners with one out for Daschbach. With a 3-1 count, he sent a three-run home run over the left field wall for a 7-0 lead.

Sophomore left fielder Kyle Stowers continued the scoring for the Cardinal in the bottom of the sixth by hitting an RBI double on a hit-and-run to score Hoerner from first base. Junior right fielder Brandon Wulff, who recently came back from an injury suffered in late March, smacked his first hit since March 25 to score Stowers and to give Stanford a 9-0 lead.

After 2.1 innings of relief by sophomores Luke Sleeper and Will Matthiessen, freshman reliever Carson Rudd began the ninth and gave up one, but got two outs. Esquer put in senior John Henry Styles to finish the game, but the southpaw was unable to keep the ball in the zone and yielded four runs.

Sophomore reliever Zach Grech came in, but he couldn’t get the final out, so Little was brought in to finish the job, which he did thanks to a solid 9-6 force out of the runner at second base.

The conclusion to Stanford v. Washington State begins on Sunday at noon in Sunken Diamond. The game will be broadcast by the Pac-12 Networks.

 

Contact Jose Saldana at jsaldana ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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No. 3 baseball hosts final home series against Washington State https://stanforddaily.com/2018/05/17/no-3-baseball-hosts-final-home-series-against-washington-state/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/05/17/no-3-baseball-hosts-final-home-series-against-washington-state/#respond Thu, 17 May 2018 07:37:48 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1142451 After a grueling series against No. 2 Oregon State, No. 3 Stanford baseball (40-8, 18-6 Pac-12) will be back in the homely confines of Sunken Diamond this weekend when Washington State (15-28-1, 7-16-1) comes to The Farm for a three-game series.

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No. 3 baseball hosts final home series against Washington State
Junior pitcher Tristan Beck (above) battled for 7.0 innings in his previous start against No. 2 Oregon State. Beck will have an easier challenge against a Washington State offense that ranks poorly in the Pac-12.(JOHN P. LOZANO/isiphotos.com)

After a grueling series against No. 2 Oregon State, No. 3 Stanford baseball (40-8, 18-6 Pac-12) will be back in the homely confines of Sunken Diamond this weekend when Washington State (15-28-1, 7-16-1) comes to the Farm for a three-game series.

This is the final home series in the regular season for the Cardinal.

The Cardinal lost their second series of the season after they dropped the first two games to the Beavers, losing 2-6 and 0-10. A late inning comeback in the final game of the series helped Stanford avoid the sweep.

After winning its final midweek game against BYU this past Tuesday, the Cardinal have finished their second consecutive year without a midweek loss. They also hit the 40th win mark of the season in 48 games, which is the fastest since the 1990 season.

Sophomore outfielder Kyle Stowers led the Cardinal offense on Tuesday, going 3-for-4 with three RBI. Stowers is now batting .310, which is the highest it has been since the opening series of the year.

Washington State is coming into this weekend series losing eight of its past 11 games and has the second-worst conference record behind Utah. The Cougars haven’t won a series since sweeping Santa Clara back on April 22.

The Cougars offense is led by senior outfielder Blake Canton who slashes a line of .328/.628/.405 with nine home runs and 28 RBI.

Canton and junior outfielder Justin Harrer have combined for 19 of the 32 home runs that Washington State has knocked out.

The Cougars offense ranks second-to-last in the Pac-12 in batting average (.250), eighth in slugging (.373) and last in runs scored (18), hits (371) and RBI (167). Facing the Washington State lineup might end up being a panacea for a Cardinal pitching staff that had been dominated by the Beavers bats.

Stanford’s team ERA of 2.75 still ranks first in the Pac-12 and third in the NCAA even after allowing Oregon State to score 22 runs in three games.  

Junior pitcher Tristan Beck, who started on Friday, had a gritty performance despite giving up four earned runs (six total) by pitching 7.0 innings and striking out five batters. Beck should have a much better mound experience against the Cougars batting order.

The offense, which didn’t show much in the first two games of the last series, won’t have to deal with the hard-throwing pitchers they faced last weekend. Washington State’s pitching staff ranks second-to-last in ERA (5.39).

Stanford holds an all-time record of 52-24 against Washington State, including sweeping the Cougars last season.

The three-game series begins on Friday at 6 p.m. PT and every game will be broadcast by the Pac-12 Networks.

 

Contact Jose Saldana at jsaldana ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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No. 5 women’s golf heads to Stillwater for NCAA Championships https://stanforddaily.com/2018/05/17/no-5-womens-golf-heads-to-stillwater-for-ncaa-championships/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/05/17/no-5-womens-golf-heads-to-stillwater-for-ncaa-championships/#respond Thu, 17 May 2018 07:34:49 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1141202 No. 5 Stanford women’s golf will compete in the NCAA Championships beginning on May 18 after claiming winning the NCAA Women’s Golf San Francisco Regional Championships last weekend.

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No. 5 Stanford women’s golf will compete in the NCAA Championships beginning on May 18 after winning the NCAA Women’s Golf San Francisco Regional Championships last weekend.

The NCAA regional victory was the Cardinal’s third consecutive title in the event, and it was the their first victory of the season.

Stanford posted an eight-under 856 to win with four stroke lead over No. 1 UCLA, which led for most of the regional.

The Cardinal had to come back after being down seven strokes from the Bruins after round one. However, Stanford saved its best for last by hitting a third-round best six-under 282.

“We’ve known all year that this team had the ability to come in and compete with a great field such as this, and a great top-seed in UCLA,” Stanford head coach Anne Walker said. “To see that all come together has been great.”

After having one of the best showings her career with a fourth-place finish in the Pac-12 Championships, sophomore Ziyi Wang excelled last weekend by claiming second place in the regional.

All-Pac-12 First Team sophomore teammates Andrea Lee and Albane Valenzuela had solid showings as well. Lee finished tied for eighth, which was her eighth top-10 finish this season and Valenzuela finished sub-par in the final round to cap off the Cardinal’s rally.

The Cardinal now move on to the NCAA Championships, which will take place at the Karsten Creek Golf Club in Stillwater, OK.

Stanford last won the NCAA Championships back in 2015 and were the runner-ups in 2016 and 2000. In 2015, Mariah Stackhouse ‘16 sent the match with Baylor to sudden death by hitting birdies in the last two holes and then hit a two-putt par to elevate the Cardinal over Baylor for the program’s first national title.

Three years later, the Cardinal have come close to the final prize, but have fallen short each year. Maybe by winning the regional, this team has developed the resilience the 2015 squad had in its title run.

“We’ve had some close calls this season, and we’re glad we were able to earn a victory,” Walker said. “No we’re excited about giving it a run in the NCAA Championships.”

 

Contact Jose Saldana at jsaldana ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Seventh national title eludes women’s water polo https://stanforddaily.com/2018/05/14/seventh-national-title-eludes-womens-water-polo/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/05/14/seventh-national-title-eludes-womens-water-polo/#respond Mon, 14 May 2018 09:50:31 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1141010 No. 2 women’s water polo (20-4) had dominated almost every team on its way to the NCAA Championship game.

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No. 2 women’s water polo (20-4) had dominated almost every team on its way to the NCAA Championship game.

The keyword here is “almost”: No. 1 USC (26-1) defeated the Cardinal 5-4 in the title game. Stanford played the Trojans four times this season, and it lost to their SoCal rivals three times: in the regular season, in the MPSF tournament and in the NCAA title match.

Tied at 4-4 in the fourth quarter, the Trojans found the back of the net with 1:57 left for the go-ahead score. USC refused to allow the Cardinal to score for the remainder of the match to defeat Stanford.

The Cardinal couldn’t quite break through against an impressive USC team, whose only loss all season was against Stanford.

“That’s not how we pictured that going,” Stanford head coach John Tanner said on the title match. “The flow and rhythm of the game was herky-jerky, and we never felt that we were in good rhythm on offense. As a result, we were scrambling a lot.”

Despite the defeat, the Cardinal made it nine straight NCAA title appearances, which means children born since 2010 have only known a world with Stanford women’s water polo competing for a national title. Additionally, it had won five out of the last eight title matches.

Senior Katie Dudley and sophomore Makenzie Fischer had last gasp tries at equalizing, but both shots came up fruitless.

After Fischer’s shot with 22 seconds remaining, Stanford committed its eighth offensive foul. The number of fouls proved costly for an usually discipled program.

“I don’t think we’ve ever committed that many offensive fouls,” Tanner said. “That really hurt us.”

However, ultimately, the Trojans’ all-around game was too much for the Cardinal in the end.

“USC does a really good job of pressuring on defense, and then they keep the pressure on during counterattacks,” Tanner said of USC. “The final [Trojans] goal coming off a counterattack was something in the cards during the game.”

Fischer and senior Jordan Raney earned spots on the all-tournament first team while freshman Aria Fischer and junior Kat Klass saw themselves on the second team.

Stanford’s tournament run began on Friday against No. 8 UC Irvine. In a high-scoring affair, the Cardinal defeated the Anteaters 14-8.

The victory advanced the Cardinal to play a familiar foe in Bay Area rivals No. 3 Cal for a spot in the national title game. The Bears were one of the two teams to defeat Stanford this season, but even so, the Cardinal dropped 11 goals on Cal to advance to another NCAA championship.

In the championship game, the Cardinal could not find their offensive flow after scoring 25 goals in the previous two games. Fischer, who scored four goals in the semifinals and two goals in the quarterfinals, couldn’t find nylon as she went scoreless in the final.

Even with the loss, the Cardinal have experience an unprecedented amount of success the last decade and they should be favorites for a 10th straight appearance in the NCAA championship next year.

“The best part of this team is literally the team,” Dudley said. “The group of girls that we play with are just so inspiring. Although losing is not fun at all, being with the people that I am doing it with, I wouldn’t change any of that for the world.”

 

Contact Jose Saldana at jsaldana ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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No. 2 baseball drops series against No. 3 Oregon State https://stanforddaily.com/2018/05/14/no-2-baseball-drops-series-against-no-3-oregon-state/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/05/14/no-2-baseball-drops-series-against-no-3-oregon-state/#respond Mon, 14 May 2018 09:45:25 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1140972 Through the first two games of the series, No. 2 Stanford baseball (39-8, 18-6 Pac-12) was utterly dominated by No. 3 Oregon State (38-8-1, 16-7-1) as the Cardinal were outscored 16-2 in front of an intimidating venue in Corvallis.

After the second game, Stanford head coach David Esquer had to focus his young team before the final game of the series.

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Through the first two games of the series, No. 2 Stanford baseball (39-8, 18-6 Pac-12) was utterly dominated by No. 3 Oregon State (38-8-1, 16-7-1) as the Cardinal were outscored 16-2 in front of an intimidating venue in Corvallis.

After the second game, Stanford head coach David Esquer had to focus his young team before the final game of the series.

“We have to learn from this,” Esquer said. “We’re asking a lot of our younger players to take on a lot of responsibility at the moment, and we certainly need to come back tomorrow and play much better than we have over last couple days.”

And for four innings, down 1-6, in the Sunday matinee, the Cardinal still felt gasping for any answers to the Beavers. Then, slowly, and with the resilience it has shown all season, Stanford chipped away at the lead until it was gone in the top of the 9th, sending the once-thought defeat to extra innings.

Then, sophomore and reigning Perfect Game National Player of the Week Will Matthiessen capped off the comeback with a missile down the left field line to score the go-ahead runs to salvage a silver lining to this series.

“I said yesterday that today would be a real test of character for this team and they came through,” Esquer said. “It took us quite a while to really get going in this series, but I watched this team grow up right before my eyes today.”

This was only the Cardinal’s second series loss of the year, the first to UCLA, but the victory in the final game assured that Stanford would hold an 1.5-game lead on the Beavers for the Pac-12.

The Oregon State offense was just as advertised averaging 7.3 runs a game in the series against one of the best pitching staffs in the country.

The Stanford starters struggled immensely against the Beavers bats, giving up 15 earned runs in 14.1 innings pitched.

Junior Tristan Beck put in a gutsy performance, going 7.0 innings after an early blitz by the Beavers. The Beavers bit him early for four runs in the first two innings, but Beck hunkered down to give the Cardinal a chance, but Oregon State was just too much.

Fellow junior Kris Bubic started the Saturday game and unlike Beck, he got through the first couple of innings smoothly before running into trouble. Bubic could only make it 4.1 innings before being relieved as he gave up a home run to Beavers outfielder Trevor Larnach.

Then, in the Sunday game, freshman Brendan Beck got the nod over Erik Miller for the start. Beck couldn’t honor his coach’s confidence in him as he gave up six runs in 3.0 innings.

The bullpen found more success against the Beavers. Through 11.2 innings, four out of the total five runs give up by the relievers came from freshman Carson Rudd in the 8th of the second game when the game was out of hand.

Sophomore closer Jack Little got the victory in the final game as he pitched 3.1 innings and shutout the Beavers in his appearance, including getting out of a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the 8th.

One of the real surprises of the series was how much the offense struggle.

Oregon State pitcher Luke Heimlich who was Beck’s foil on Friday, dropped the hammer on the Stanford bats for 14 strikeouts.

Matthiessen was the only batter to get anything good off Heimlich as he hit a two-run home run for the only scores for the Cardinal.

The Cardinal offense struggled even mightier in the second game. It was shut out for the second time this season.

The offense finally reappeared in the final game, scoring nine runs.

Senior second baseman Beau Branton continued his imitation of former Cardinal great Jed Lowrie with a five-hit game and three runs scored on Sunday.

Junior shortstop Nico Hoerner and sophomore Andrew Daschbach, the three- and four-hitters, combined for 5-10, four runs scored and three RBI.

Oregon-natives Matthiessen and freshman Tim Tawa made their contributions. Matthiessen had the home run on Friday and the game-winning double on Sunday. Tawa went hitless in the first game, but had a hit in each of the last two games.

The Cardinal will come home for a Tuesday matchup with BYU, before playing their final home series of the season against Washington State starting on Friday.

This wasn’t the result that the Cardinal wanted, but they rectified something with the victory.

“I’ve been coaching baseball for a lot of years and I don’t think I have had a better win than today,” Esquer said. “I’m proud of our guys, and today meant so much for them and their progress.”

 

Contact Jose Saldana at jsaldana ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Clearing benches: No. 2 Stanford vs. No. 3 OSU https://stanforddaily.com/2018/05/10/clearing-benches-no-2-stanford-vs-no-3-osu/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/05/10/clearing-benches-no-2-stanford-vs-no-3-osu/#respond Fri, 11 May 2018 06:52:31 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1140930 No. 2 Stanford baseball is heading into a weekend of epic proportions when it goes on the road to battle No. 3 OSU for the right be the best in the Pac-12, and maybe even the country. Daily baseball writer Jose Saldana talked with The Daily Barometer sports editor Anna Weeks about the status of this current Beavers squad and how they would fare against the Cardinal.

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No. 2 Stanford baseball is heading into a weekend of epic proportions when it goes on the road to battle No. 3 OSU for the right to be the best in the Pac-12 and maybe even the country. Daily baseball writer Jose Saldana talked with The Daily Barometer sports editor Anna Weeks about the status of this current Beavers squad and how they would fare against the Cardinal.

The Stanford Daily (TSD): Last season, OSU went into Stanford and swept the Cardinal. Stanford is a much different team this season with a new coaching staff. How different is this Beavers squad from last year’s iteration?

Anna Weeks (AW): OSU is back this year with new talent and a vengeance to redeem last year’s visit to the College World Series. After clinging to the number one spot for most of the 2017 season, the Beavers fell to LSU in an elimination game which cut their stay in Omaha short. The team added a number of new faces that are showing promise like freshman catcher Troy Claunch and freshman utility Christian Chamberlain, who have had success in their debut season.

TSD: The Beavers had series losses to Arizona and Utah earlier in the season, but they have gone 12-1-1 since then. What has helped spur on this strong run to give OSU its top-3 status back?

AW: OSU came out of the gate hot this season. Six games in, junior infielder Nick Madrigal suffered from a broken left wrist, pulling him out indefinitely. The two series losses gave the Beavers the kick they needed in order to keep the wins coming. I think the team has come to realize that while you can be ranked No. 1, you have to continue to bring it in order to maintain that place. The players have had to work to get back up to the top of the rankings, which will only make them push more in the game against Stanford. Like Pat Casey, the team knows how to win. They just have to make it happen.

TSD: Stanford ranks first in the country in ERA at 2.54, while OSU is fourth in the nation in batting average (.324) and 10th in runs per game (7.4). Which player do you expect to come up huge for the Beavers on offense against an elite pitching staff? Who might make a surprise contribution?

AW: One of OSU’s best qualities is their well-rounded starting lineup. In the most recent game against University of Oregon, OSU racked up 19 hits with each starter getting their piece of the pie. Just based on numbers in the Pac-12 rankings, junior outfielder Steven Kwan comes in fourth in triples with six, and senior infielder Michael Gretler is ranked fourth in doubles with 16. Junior outfielder Trevor Larnach and sophomore infielder/catcher Adley Rutschman are neck in neck with 52 RBI and 51 RBI for the season. Rutschman’s .395 batting average is second in the Pac-12. I think we are going to see Rutschman and Kwan rise to the challenge against Stanford’s bullpen. Madrigal is also fresh out of the gate and is bound to show up and prove himself. With such a talented starting lineup, Chamberlain is sure to make a surprise contribution to this week’s series. He showed promise against Oregon, holding them scoreless for 6.2 innings with only one hit.

TSD: On the opposite end, OSU’s pitching staff comes in at 38th, while Stanford’s offense has been trending upward (8.56 runs per game in the past 16 games). What can the pitching staff not do in order to prevent the hot Cardinal bats from finding success?

AW: OSU’s star pitcher senior Luke Heimlich currently leads the Pac-12 with 101 total strikeouts and leads OSU with a 3.01 ERA. After being selected as the Pac-12 Pitcher of the Week for the sixth time in his college career, Heimlich will be the first challenge the Cardinal offense runs into. However, with such a strong pitching lineup, OSU will need to limit Stanford’s hits. Stanford can score quickly, like in the game against Arizona where Stanford scored five in the ninth to comeback and win the series. OSU cannot get too comfortable with an early lead, however neither can Stanford with OSU’s batting history.

TSD: Goss Stadium at Coleman Field has featured home crowds of 3,000 or more people in 39 consecutive games. Does the team thrive off the home field advantage more so than other teams would, especially with the first top-5 matchup since 2014?

AW: This season, OSU has lost two series titles, which both occurred away. One thing OSU knows is their baseball. I don’t think that OSU thrives off of the home field advantage significantly more than any other team, nonetheless it’s an advantage. With Stanford coming to Corvallis, they are going to be playing for a much bigger crowd than they are used to at Klein Field at Sunken Diamond. The top-5 matchup is sure to raise more attention as far as attendance. If there’s one thing OSU knows, it’s how to pack the stands of a baseball game.

TSD: OSU right fielder Trevor Larnach and Stanford first baseman Andrew Daschbach have been battling it out for third place on the home run tally. They are tied as of now with 14 home runs each. Which player will (if at all) come out of the series with sole possession of the third spot?

AW: While Larnach and Stanford first baseman Andrew Daschbach have been battling it out for home runs, what sets them apart is their batting averages. Larnach maintains a .339 batting average and has tallied 111 total bases throughout the season, putting him in fourth for the Pac-12, compared to Daschbach’s .304 batting average and 100 total bases. Both players will most likely stay neck in neck throughout the season, however Larnach will prevail and be in sole possession of the third spot, based on his overall stats.

TSD: What is your prediction for the series?

AW: While I foresee this weekend to consist of close-scoring games, my prediction is OSU wins the first of the three and with Stanford taking the second win of the series. While it could go either way, with OSU coming off of a 10-0 win against rival the Oregon Ducks, they will not be going into this series lightly. OSU will ultimately come back in the third game of the series to take home the series win.

 

Contact Jose Saldana at jsaldana ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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No. 2 baseball faces tall task against No. 3 Oregon State https://stanforddaily.com/2018/05/10/no-2-baseball-faces-tall-task-against-no-3-oregon-state/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/05/10/no-2-baseball-faces-tall-task-against-no-3-oregon-state/#respond Thu, 10 May 2018 08:17:08 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1140843 When the 2018 schedule was announced, many fans of college baseball circled their proverbial calendars the date of this weekend’s series.

It’s not every week that the second-ranked team in the nation battles it out for baseball supremacy against the third-ranked team.

No. 2 Stanford baseball (38-6, 17-4 Pac-12) is travelling to Corvallis to play No. 3 Oregon State (36-7-1, 14-6-1) in a three-game series at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field.

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When the 2018 schedule was announced, many fans of college baseball circled their proverbial calendars the date of this weekend’s series.

No. 2 baseball faces tall task against No. 3 Oregon State
Junior pitcher Tristan Beck (above) has been excellent in his last four starts, yielding one run or fewer in each game. However, he will need to be even better against the Pac-12’s best offense in Oregon State.(JOHN P. LOZANO/isiphotos.com)

It’s not every week that the second-ranked team in the nation battles it out for baseball supremacy against the third-ranked team.

No. 2 Stanford baseball (38-6, 17-4 Pac-12) is travelling to Corvallis to play No. 3 Oregon State (36-7-1, 14-6-1) in a three-game series at Goss Stadium at Coleman Field.

The Cardinal have won seven straight and 15 of the last 16 games. In that span, Stanford’s offense has been on another level, averaging 8.56 runs per game.

However, doing that against the Beavers is probably too much to ask for. After losing series to Arizona and Utah, Oregon State has gone 12-1-1 and climbed back up the D1Baseball rankings.

The Cardinal and the Beavers have nearly played themselves equal with Stanford owning a 41-42 all-time record against Oregon State.

Oregon State’s pitching staff hasn’t performed up to its preseason expectations, but the Beavers are still led by Luke Heimlich, who had a complete-game victory over Stanford in Oregon State’s sweep over the Cardinal last season.

Offense is what has kept the Beavers afloat in the standings. Their batting average ranks fourth in the nation (.324) and their runs per game ranks 10th (7.4). Reigning Pac-12 Player of the Year shortstop Nick Madrigal is back with the team after sitting out the first couple of months due to injury.

Madrigal, who is a consensus top pick in this year’s MLB Draft, has only aggrandized the Beavers formidable lineup.

The Cardinal pitching staff ranks first in the country in ERA (2.54), but they could have trouble against of the best offenses in college baseball, especially in the environment of Goss Stadium.

Junior pitcher Tristan Beck, who didn’t pitch against Oregon State last season due to injury, has not allowed more than two runs in a game in four straight games.

Sophomore Will Matthiessen has elevated his game after sitting out the first month due to a tender elbow. Matthiessen was named Perfect Game national player of the week after hitting his first four career home runs last week. He knocked out another one in Tuesday’s 9-0 victory over Santa Clara.

Oregon State right fielder Trevor Larnach and Stanford first baseman Andrew Daschbach have been battling it out for third-place in the home run tally at 14 each. Daschbach has the most home runs since Brent Milleville had 14 in 2009.

The three-game series begins on Friday at 7 p.m. PT and every game will be broadcast by the Pac-12 Networks.

 

Contact Jose Saldana at jsaldana ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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No. 2 baseball has historic showing in sweep over Utah https://stanforddaily.com/2018/05/07/no-2-baseball-has-historic-showing-in-sweep-over-utah/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/05/07/no-2-baseball-has-historic-showing-in-sweep-over-utah/#respond Mon, 07 May 2018 10:54:48 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1140618 There are a few levels of good offensive showing in baseball. They range from solid outing to a volcanic eruption. No. 2 Stanford baseball’s (37-6, 17-4 Pac-12) performance against Utah (12-32, 6-15) on the road ranked something between historic and unthinkable.

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There are a few levels of good offensive showing in baseball. They range from solid outing to a volcanic eruption. No. 2 Stanford baseball’s (37-6, 17-4 Pac-12) performance against Utah (12-32, 6-15) on the road ranked something between historic and unthinkable.

Through the three-game sweep, the Cardinal outscored the Utes 43 to 10, which included a 25-5 beatdown in the second game of the series.

The 25 runs were the most scored by Stanford since scoring the same amount against then-No. 19 Nevada in 1995. The 28 hits in the victory were the most in the program’s history.

The Cardinal are now in sole possession of first place in the Pac-12 after being tied with UCLA before the weekend.

“We keep creating opportunities, and that’s what we want to see — even if we’re stopped a couple times, we’re doing a great job of continuing to give ourselves chances to score,” Stanford head coach David Esquer said. “I think we’re getting more and more comfortable in the RBI spots — hitting is contagious, and our guys look very, very comfortable in the batter’s box right now.”

Plenty of familiar faces made their marks like junior shortstop Nico Hoerner (7-13), sophomore first baseman Andrew Daschbach (six RBI), freshman center fielder Tim Tawa (six hits) and senior second baseman Beau Branton (5-12). However, the mantra of the team this season has been a 35-man approach to every game, and this series wasn’t any different.

Sophomore Will Matthiessen, who usually has mostly played as a relief pitcher, hit three home runs in the series, including two on the final game.

Matthiessen had zero home runs on Monday of last week, and he now has four home runs this year, adding to the Cardinal’s power surge for the season.

Junior Nick Oar had six at-bats all season prior to the weekend series against Utah, and he added two home runs to his score sheet, which were the first two of his career.

“I give our guys credit for learning how to win in many different ways,” Esquer said. “Will Matthiessen really gave us a shot in the arm this week, coming up huge in the designated hitter spot. It’s great to see players taking their opportunities like that.”

“The bar has been set high, the guys are hungry and everyone coming off the bench is doing a great job of keeping that intensity up when our starters come out,” Esquer added.

The pitching was stellar for the most part as the starting pitchers combined for 16.0 innings and allowed only three runs. The bullpen was solid as it didn’t let the huge leads get it too comfortable. Freshmen relief pitchers, Carson Rudd, Austin Weiermiller and Jacob Palisch, totaled for 5.1 innings and four earned runs, but three came in an 0.1 inning from Rudd.

The first game began in the brisk mountain air on Friday morning. Junior pitcher Tristan Beck was on the mound, and he continued his string of quality starts, going 6.0 innings, striking out five batters and yielding one run.

“Beck has looked better and better as the season has gone on, and today was another impressive showing from our Friday night guy,” Esquer said. “This was yet another improvement from his last start, and we’re going to need more of that from him.”

Beck didn’t need to have his best performance because the offense put on a show in the high altitude. The Cardinal bats used a balance effort to drop 12 runs on the Utes struggling pitching staff.

The offensive showing was capped off by Oar’s first career home run in the top of the 9th, which gave the Cardinal a dozen runs.

Beck was relieved by the freshman Weiermiller and Rudd, who shut out the Utes for 3.0 innings to end the game.

Junior southpaw pitcher Kris Bubic started for the Cardinal in the second game. With the same start time, Bubic put up a similar standout performance as his teammate as he pitched 5.0 innings, seven strikeouts and zero earned runs.

However, the real story of this game was the offense. The Cardinal scored 25 runs and had innings of 10, five and six runs in this game alone. Seven batters ended the game with more than three hits and the Cardinal hit a season-high four home runs, including Branton’s first career home run.

In the 5th inning, the Cardinal had 11 straight runners reach on-base, and freshman Christian Robinson hit the program-record 28th hit with an RBI double in the top of the 9th.

The bullpen would give up five runs, but the damage was too much to overcome for Utah.

The final game featured sophomore Erik Miller starting, and he delivered one of the best performances of his season by going 5.0 innings and allowing two runs.

This game was a lot more contentious than the previous two as Utah tied the game at 3-apiece in the 6th.

The Cardinal used a final big inning, only three runs this time, in the 8th to put Stanford over the top 6-4. Sophomore closer Jack Little pitched 3.0 innings to get the win.

“Today was what you expect in baseball,” Esquer said. “It took us a while to get our feet on the ground after two big wins to start the series, and today was a definitely a dogfight.”

The Cardinal have a short reprieve before going back on the saddle to play Santa Clara on Tuesday at home and then travelling to Corvallis for a pivotal three-game series against No. 3 Oregon State starting on Friday.

 

Contact Jose Saldana at jsaldana ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Cardinal remain atop standings, head to Utah for weekend series https://stanforddaily.com/2018/05/04/copy-nd-cardinal-remain-atop-standings-head-to-utah-for-weekend-series/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/05/04/copy-nd-cardinal-remain-atop-standings-head-to-utah-for-weekend-series/#respond Fri, 04 May 2018 08:34:05 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1140524 No. 2 Stanford baseball (34-6, 14-4 Pac-12) heads to the salt lakes of Utah’s campus to play a three-game series against the last-place-in-the-Pac-12 Utes (12-29, 6-12) beginning on Friday at a brisk 10:30 a.m. PT.

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No. 2 Stanford baseball (34-6, 14-4 Pac-12) heads to the salt lakes of Utah’s campus to play a three-game series against the last-place-in-the-Pac-12 Utes (12-29, 6-12), beginning on Friday at a brisk 10:30 a.m. PT.

The Cardinal remain tied for first-place in the Pac-12 after winning their series against rival Cal this past weekend. Stanford also holds the top spot in the RPI, which uses stats like opponent records and strength of schedule to rank the best teams in college baseball.

The pitching staff has been dealing ever since faltering in the UCLA series. Their collective staff ERA of 2.57 is first in the Pac-12 and second in the nation (only behind Indiana).

The two-headed monster of juniors Tristan Beck and Kris Bubic has carried an elite staff. Beck has yielded only two runs in his last three starts (19.0 innings pitched), and Bubic has the most innings pitched on the roster and sports a 2.44 ERA.

The usual Friday and Saturday starters are supported by great bullpen. Sophomore closer Jack Little has an ERA that almost matches his last name at 0.91. His fastball command has been deadly striking batters at a rate of 12.33 per nine innings, which is elite stuff.

Utah’s offense ranks in the middle-of-the-pack in most offensive categories. The Utes rank sixth in batting average, seventh in slugging, seventh in runs scored and last in walks.

The Utes are lead by junior outfielder DeShawn Keirsey Jr., who is first on the team in batting average (.392), doubles (18) and on-base percentage (.440).

If the Cardinal pitchers can work around Kiersey, then Stanford offense might not need to work hard in the high elevation.

Speaking of the offense, the bats found paydirt against the Golden Bears last weekend, scoring a season-high 10 runs in the second inning.

The offense has been an all-hands approach with many players filling the 7-8-9 spots in the batting order. Senior second baseman Beau Branton, who wasn’t the starter to begin the year, leads the team in batting average (.347), and junior shortstop Nico Hoerner has been his ever-dependable self by hitting (.321) and stealing a team-high 11 bases.

The offense is probably looking forward to playing Utah as the Utes rank last in ERA with an abysmal 6.26. Their Friday starter Tanner Thomas has a 5.40 ERA in 11 starts, which is almost double that of Beck’s.

The Cardinal also have history on their side, owning a 13-6-0 all-time record over their mountainside counterparts. However, they shouldn’t take the Utes so lightly as they have series wins against No. 3 Oregon State and Arizona.

After the three-games series against Utah, which airs on the Pac-12 Networks, Stanford will head home for a Tuesday matchup against Santa Clara before heading to the state of Oregon to play No. 3 Oregon State in a series that could decide the Pac-12 and could have College World Series implications.

Contact Jose Saldana at jsaldana ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Matthiessen’s home run propels No. 2 baseball over Dons https://stanforddaily.com/2018/05/03/matthiessens-home-run-propels-no-2-baseball-over-dons/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/05/03/matthiessens-home-run-propels-no-2-baseball-over-dons/#respond Thu, 03 May 2018 10:11:34 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1140439 Part-time relief pitcher, part-time smasher of the baseball sophomore Will Matthiessen hit his first career home run with a three-run which was the difference in No. 2 Stanford baseball’s (34-6) 5-2 Tuesday victory over San Francisco (24-21) in Sunken Diamond.

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Part-time relief pitcher, part-time smasher of the baseball sophomore Will Matthiessen hit his first career home run with a three-run which was the difference in No. 2 Stanford baseball’s (34-6) 5-2 Tuesday victory over San Francisco (24-21) in Sunken Diamond.

The Cardinal couldn’t make quick work of their Bay Area opponent despite the disparity in records. Sophomore closer Jack Little had to be sent in to close out the Dons, which he did to get his Pac-12-leading 13th save of the season.

“We made this one harder than it should have been but a lot of credit goes to our pitching and defense for finishing this one off,” Stanford head coach David Esquer said. “[Matthiessen] hadn’t had a look in a while – he has kept himself ready and it showed here tonight.”

Matthiessen had 20 at-bats in his career, all coming this season, prior to Tuesday’s matchup as he has been an effective relief pitcher. But he appeared more like an everyday hitter against the Dons, going 2-4 with one run scored and three RBI.

His home run came on an 0-2 pitch high in the strike zone which Matthiessen crushed, with aid by the wind, over the left field wall.

The offense outside of Matthiessen was out of sorts against San Francisco’s bullpen, leaving 12 men on base and scoring only one run in six innings.

It had markedly more success against the Dons’ starter Benji Post as the Cardinal left four runs (three earned) on his score sheet.

Despite the struggles, the Cardinal were aggressive on the bases, stealing a season-high five bases. Juniors shortstop Nico Hoerner and right fielder Alec Wilson each stole two bases.

The Cardinal pitching appeared to be on all-cylinders except for hiccups from relief pitchers freshman Austin Weiermiller and sophomore Zach Grech.

Sophomore southpaw Erik Miller was tabbed to the start this game. He has usually been the third starter for the Cardinal, but the coaching staff decided to hold him out of the Cal series this past weekend. Miller, limited to 3.0 innings by the coaches, struck out four and allowed zero runs.

Freshman Brendan Beck replaced Miller to start the 4th and held down the fort more than admirably matching Miller in innings pitched with 3.0 and one-upping his teammate with five strikeouts.

Weiermiller and Grech were the next Cardinal pitchers up for relief and they combined for 1.1 innings, four hits, two runs (one allowed by each) and three strikeouts. They allowed a run in the seventh and eighth innings to cut the Cardinal lead to 5-2, which meant Little had to do his job sooner in the week than expected. Little pitched 1.2 shutout innings and struck out three batters.

The offense, at first, appeared motivated for the midweek soiree, scoring all of its five runs before the fifth inning.

Hoerner scored the Cardinal’s first run in the 1st on a couple errors by the Dons’ first baseman.

Matthiessen would step up to plate with two runners on in the third and cranked out his home run to give Stanford a 4-0 advantage, before a wild pitch scored the Cardinal’s final run in the fourth.

The Cardinal are on the road this weekend as they play last-place Utah for a three-game series beginning on Friday at 10:30 a.m. Every game will be broadcast by the Pac-12 Networks.

 

Contact Jose Saldana at jsaldana ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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No. 2 Stanford baseball powers through Bears https://stanforddaily.com/2018/04/30/no-2-stanford-baseball-powers-through-bears/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/04/30/no-2-stanford-baseball-powers-through-bears/#respond Tue, 01 May 2018 05:51:20 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1140338 No. 2 Stanford baseball (33-6, 14-4 Pac-12) kept chugging along this weekend as it took the three-games series Cal (24-17, 10-11) in Sunken Diamond. The rivalry battle had a little bit more nuance than in previous matchups. Stanford head coach David Esquer coached at Cal for 17 years before jumping onto the Farm after former head coach Mark Marquess retired at the end of last season.

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No. 2 Stanford baseball (33-6, 14-4 Pac-12) kept chugging along this weekend as it took the three-games series Cal (24-17, 10-11) in Sunken Diamond.

The rivalry battle had a little bit more nuance than in previous matchups. Stanford head coach David Esquer coached at Cal for 17 years before jumping onto the Farm after former head coach Mark Marquess retired at the end of last season.

“It’s a little bit of a relief to be done with this series,” Esquer said. “I can’t say it was a comfortable series for me – there are a bunch of kids over there that I have very strong relationships with. To get the win for Stanford and to represent Stanford with my family here is very satisfying.”

After dropping the first game, the Cardinal pitching and offense took it to another gear against the Bears. Starting pitchers juniors Tristan Beck and Kris Bubic combined for 11.1 innings, two earned runs and 10 strikeouts against a top-three offense in the Pac-12.

The bullpen was just as stellar, recording 10.1 innings and yielding only two earned runs all weekend.

The offense couldn’t help freshman pitcher Brendan Beck out in the first game, scoring only three runs in the 4-3 loss, but it made up with his older brother, Tristan. In the bottom of the 2nd, the Cardinal hung 10 runs, which were capped off by sophomore catcher Maverick Handley’s three-run home run.

The 10 runs scored were the most plated in any inning this season.

Then, in the final game, the Cardinal flexed their home run potential when sophomore first baseman Andrew Daschbach and freshman center fielder Tim Tawa each hit one.

Daschbach is tied with Oregon State’s Trevor Larnach for third in the conference with 12 home runs. The last Stanford hitter to hit 12 home runs was Alex Blandino in 2014.

One of the best hitters in the country, Cal’s Andrew Vaughn, who is in the top-five of almost any significant offensive statistic, was held below his season averages. Vaughn went 3-10 with one home run and two RBI through the series.

The Cardinal dropped the first game on Thursday 4-3 in Brendan Beck’s solid start. Despite giving up three runs in 5.1 innings, the younger Beck still leads all starters with a 1.69 ERA.

Stanford jumped first on Cal, scoring the first three runs of the game in the 5th inning. However, an inning later, Beck gave up back-to-back home runs to Vaughn and Jonah Davis, which tied the game at 3-3.

Beck would be relieved by freshman relief pitcher Jacob Palisch with one out in the 6th. An inning later, Palisch gave up an RBI single to left field to score the go-ahead run for the Bears.

The Cardinal offense couldn’t materialize a rally as most bats swung through air to end the game with a defeat.

“This was a tough ball game and we knew they were going to come at us hard, probably even harder considering they need big wins at the moment,” Esquer said.

Game 2 rolled around with Tristan Beck on the mound and the Cardinal offense showed their trademark resilience by exploding in the bottom of the 2nd.

There were 14 at-bats, four singles, two doubles and a three-run homer. Cal’s starter Jared Horn could only muster one out in the inning, on a sac bunt by senior second baseman Beau Branton, before leaving the game.

With a 10-0 lead, Beck could have eased up, but he went full bore, pitching 6.0 innings and yielding only one run.

“Beck was outstanding on the mound tonight, and we really needed a big outing from him with some of our pitchers unavailable,” Esquer said.

The Cardinal would score four more runs to end the game with a 14-1 victory.

Bubic started for Stanford in the final game, coming up huge by pitching 5.1 innings, allowing one run to score and striking out seven Bears.

Like in the first two games, the Cardinal got on the board first, when Tawa hit a two-run home run in the 3rd. An inning later, Handley would score on a trot to home plate from a wild pitch. An inning after that, Daschbach sent his team-leading 12th home run over the left field wall to give the Cardinal a 5-0 lead.

The Bears responded in the 6th, tagging Bubic with a run on an RBI single. Two innings later, Cal would cut the lead even further with Davis’ second home run of the series, which cut the lead to 5-2.

Grech replaced Bubic in the 5th with one out and delivered a shutout inning before sophomore closer Jack Little came in the 6th to end Cal’s night.

Outside of the Davis home run, Little was excellent, pitching 2.2 innings and striking out four Bears.

Little has 37 strikeouts in 28.0 innings pitched.

The Cardinal have a Tuesday matchup in Sunken Diamond against San Francisco at 6:05 p.m before heading to Salt Lake City to face Utah in a three-game series beginning on Friday at 10:30 a.m. The Tuesday game will be broadcast by Stanford Live Stream and the Utah series will be shown on the Pac-12 Networks.

“Our guys have a toughness about them which I am very proud of,” Esquer said. “We preach resiliency a lot – our assistant coaches do a great job of coming in every day and preparing our guys for what’s next.”

 

Contact Jose Saldana at jsaldana ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Sports podcast #004: Breaking down Stanford in the 2018 NFL Draft https://stanforddaily.com/2018/04/26/sports-podcast-004-breaking-down-stanford-in-the-2018-nfl-draft/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/04/26/sports-podcast-004-breaking-down-stanford-in-the-2018-nfl-draft/#respond Thu, 26 Apr 2018 23:40:19 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1140128 Current co-managing editor of sports Bobby Pragada joins the show to talk about the Cardinal prospects, who were invited to the NFL Combine, and their strengths/weaknesses and their projected draft selection. Daily writer Alexa Philippou comes on later for the segments Cardinal of the Week and Games that we are looking for.

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Current co-managing editor of sports Bobby Pragada joins the show to talk about the Cardinal prospects, who were invited to the NFL Combine,  and their strengths/weaknesses and their projected draft selection. Daily writer Alexa Philippou comes on later for the segments Cardinal of the Week and Games that we are looking for.

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Sloppy offensive affair with Pacific ends with eventual Cardinal win https://stanforddaily.com/2018/04/25/messy-pitching-affair-with-pacific-ends-with-eventual-cardinal-win/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/04/25/messy-pitching-affair-with-pacific-ends-with-eventual-cardinal-win/#respond Wed, 25 Apr 2018 08:47:39 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1139978 No. 2 Stanford baseball‘s (31-5) Tuesday night affair with Pacific (14-23) was not for the offensive-minded, as the Cardinal defeated the Tigers 4-1 in a brisk and chilly Sunken Diamond. “Well, that was like pulling out teeth out tonight,” Stanford head coach David Esquer said of the game. “I give our guys credit. I’ve probably […]

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No. 2 Stanford baseball‘s (31-5) Tuesday night affair with Pacific (14-23) was not for the offensive-minded, as the Cardinal defeated the Tigers 4-1 in a brisk and chilly Sunken Diamond.

“Well, that was like pulling out teeth out tonight,” Stanford head coach David Esquer said of the game. “I give our guys credit. I’ve probably played 100 games with that kind of feel and lost like 99 of them. Our guys kept pushing through…that was probably more will than talent tonight.”

The bullpen arms came up huge for Stanford, pitching eight shutout innings and striking out nine.

Freshman left-handed pitcher Austin Weiermiller started for the Cardinal but his appearance was short-lived due to his inability to keep the ball in the zone. Weiermiller only pitched 2.0 innings and walked three batters.

Sophomore closer Jack Little had a perfect 9th to close out the game, throwing 13 pitches and striking out the side for his 12th save.

Freshman relief pitcher Carson Rudd unexpectedly came in after an injury to sophomore relief pitcher Daniel Bakst in the 7th. Rudd had a good appearance, accruing a career-high three strikeouts and allowed zero runs.

“We really didn’t have Rudd in our map,” Coach Esquer said. “I thought [his performance] was the biggest moment of the game.”

“I saw Daniel holding his finger and Coach said ‘run down to the pen’ and then the umpire said ‘come out onto the field,’” Rudd said of his impromptu relief. “It was a little nerve wracking. It worked out pretty well.”

The Cardinal offense struggled to produce against Pacific’s subpar pitching. Stanford scored four runs, but only had three hits, as the rest of their runs came off errors by the Tigers defense. Senior second baseman Beau Branton continued his great stretch of hitting by having the only RBI hit of the game for Stanford.

Weiermiller’s command was shaky from the very beginning, only throwing 19 of his 37 pitches for strikes. He allowed a runner in the 1st and 2nd but great defensive plays from Branton and freshman center fielder Christian Robinson saved Weiermiller.

However, Weiermiller allowed a single and a walk on four pitches to start the top of the 3rd and was quickly relieved by sophomore righty sidearmer Zach Grech. Grech took over with runners at the corners and no outs, but he was able to keep the Cardinal unscathed by striking out his first two batters and inducing a fly out to center field.

The offense had as much success as Weiermiller had in the first three innings. Branton was able to draw out a leadoff walk in the bottom of the 1st, but the threat of scoring was neutralized as freshman designated hitter Tim Tawa struck out and junior shortstop Nico Hoerner hit into a double play.

Then, with one out in the 2nd, sophomore left fielder Kyle Stowers singled up the middle for Stanford’s first hit of the game, but it was for naught as the next two batters couldn’t create hits.

As easy as Grech made his first inning, he immediately ran into trouble in the top of the 4th, hitting Pacific’s Tyler Ryan with no outs. Ryan stole second base, but an error by senior catcher Bryce Carter allowed him to advance to third.

A single by the Tigers’ best hitter Alex LeForestier would score Ryan to break the ice and give Pacific a 1-0 lead.

Grech would limit it to one unearned run in the inning.

The Cardinal offense would respond in the bottom half of the inning by tying the game on sophomore first baseman Andrew Daschbach’s sac fly, which scored Tawa. However, Stanford left meat on the bone as the Cardinal could only get the one run despite having runners on third and second with no outs.

Grech was on to start the 5th and he again allowed the first hitter to reach first base, but this time on a walk. Grech got the first out on a fielder’s choice, which wiped out the runner reaching second base. He got the second out on a fly out, but he would walk the next batter to end his evening.

Sophomore right-handed pitcher Will Matthiessen came onto the mound and walked the first batter he saw to load the bases. The 6-foot-5 righty forced LeForestier to pop out to get out of the inning.

The Cardinal bats repaid Matthiessen in the bottom of the 5th. Carter walked to start the inning and senior third baseman Jesse Kuet pinch ran for Carter. After a strikeout and a groundout, Branton came up to plate with Kuet on second. Branton laid a single to center field to score Kuet and to take a 2-1 lead.

After a shutout 6th inning by Matthiessen, Hoerner reached third base on an error by the Pacific left fielder, who lost the ball in a cloudy Palo Alto sky. Daschbach and Stowers failed to score in the shortstop, so Hoerner took matters into in his own hands and took home on a wild pitch. The score gave Stanford a 3-1 lead.

Sophomore right-handed pitcher Daniel Bakst took over for Matthiessen in the top of the 7th, but he appeared to be injured after slipping on the forceout at first base. He was immediately replaced by freshman Carson Rudd. Rudd would strike out the next two betters to end the top half of the inning.

Rudd took care of business as well in the 8th with a quick 1-2-3 inning.

The Cardinal added more insurance runs in the bottom of the 8th, as a fielding error allowed junior pinch hitter Christian Molfetta to reach third base. Two outs later, he would score on a wild pitch to take a 4-1 lead.

Little came in at the top of the 9th to shut the door on the Tigers, which he did promptly, striking out all three batters.

The Cardinal play host to rivals Cal for a three-game series beginning on Friday at 7 p.m. PT. Every game in the series will be broadcast by the Pac-12 Networks.

Contact Jose Saldana at jsaldana “at” stanford.edu

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Stanford baseball sweeps Arizona on the road https://stanforddaily.com/2018/04/23/stanford-baseball-sweeps-arizona-on-the-road/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/04/23/stanford-baseball-sweeps-arizona-on-the-road/#respond Mon, 23 Apr 2018 08:42:07 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1139841 The theme of the weekend for No. 2 Stanford baseball (30-5, 12-3 Pac-12) in their three-game road sweep over Arizona (23-15, 6-9) was the number seven.

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The theme of the weekend for No. 2 Stanford baseball (30-5, 12-3 Pac-12) in their three-game road sweep over Arizona (23-15, 6-9) was the number seven.

The Cardinal scored 10 runs combined in the three 7th innings of the series, including a five-run 7th in the first game to break the game open. They have scored 38 runs in the 7th inning during the season.

Stanford has now won seven-straight after losing to UCLA a couple weeks ago. The Cardinal are averaging 7.71 runs in their winning streak.

The offense was brilliant through each game of the series, pouring games of 8, 8 and 7 runs on the Wildcats.

“We knew it would be important to come out and finish the job today,” Stanford head coach David Esquer said. “It’s tough to win three in a row in this league, let alone three on the road. We had a couple big hits and few big at-bats, but our pitchers really shined today to hold down their offense.”

The Cardinal were on the verge of dropping the second game as they were down 3-6 in the top of the 9th inning. However, after freshman third baseman Tim Tawa and sophomore catcher Maverick Handley cut the lead to one with double and a walk, respectively, freshman center fielder Christian Robinson scored the go-ahead runs with a two-run RBI single, which plated three total runs to give the Cardinal an 8-7 victory.

Robinson is on a four-game hitting streak and is 9-24 on the season.

Sophomores first baseman Andrew Daschbach and left fielder Kyle Stowers added to their home run totals in the Friday game as they hit back-to-back home runs in the 9th.

Daschbach would serve his best performance in the final game, going for a career-high four hits, scoring twice and walking once.

Starters Tristan Beck, Kris Bubic and Erik Miller had solid starts against a very good offensive ballclub. Neither starter gave up more than two runs and each pitched at least five innings.

The bullpen continued its strong play, allowing only two earned runs in 11.0 innings.

The Cardinal got the weekend series started with an 8-2 victory with Beck on the mound. Beck went six innings, gave up one earned run and scattered five hits.

Stanford needed a good performance from its ace because the offense hasn’t been at its best in the opening games on the road. Beck did just that, and the Cardinal bats awarded him by taking the game over in the 7th.

Down 2-0, senior designated hitter Bryce Carter got the action started with an RBI triple to score the opening run for the Cardinal. Robinson would tie the game on a sac fly, and then junior right fielder Alec Wilson hit his first career home run to give the Cardinal a 4-2 lead.

It would be a lead the team would not relinquish as the the Cardinal scored four more runs in the game, including Daschbach’s and Stowers’ 11th and 8th home runs of the season, respectively.

Freshmen Jacob Palisch and Austin Weiermiller would finish the job Beck started by pitching three clean innings to end the game.

In the Saturday game, Arizona jumped on the Cardinal early. Bubic allowed two runs in the first two innings, but like Beck, Bubic limited the Wildcats bats until the Cardinal were able to get going on offense.

Carter, again, batted in the Cardinal’s first run with an RBI single to center field in the 4th.

Then, the 7th rolled around, which meant the offense dropped in a couple more runs to take a 3-2 lead.

Arizona retaliated by hitting a homerun in the 7th and 8th innings to take a 3-6 lead.

The Cardinal had one last gasp in the top of the 9th, and they capitalized by scoring five runs, ending in Robinson’s go-head single.

The Wildcats nearly rallied in the bottom of the 9th, closing the lead to 8-7 on a fielder’s choice, but freshman right-handed pitcher Brendan Beck shut the door by inducing a groundout for the final out.

The Sunday matinee featured Miller on the mound for the Cardinal. He pitched five innings of shutout ball, which means he has now pitched three consecutive quality starts.

Arizona once again jumped on the board first, scoring a run in the second, but like Beck and Bubic before him, Miller wouldn’t let the Wildcats score again until Stanford’s offense woke up.

However, this time the Cardinal bats began scoring much sooner. Tawa doubled in the 3rd to tie the game. Stanford would score six runs the rest of the game to give the Cardinal a 7-2 win.

The Cardinal play a Tuesday game against Pacific before hosting Bay Area rivals Cal in a three-game series beginning on Thursday at 7 p.m. PT. The midweek game will be a broadcast by Stanford Live Stream, and the series against the Bears will be broadcast by the Pac-12 Networks.

Contact Bobby Pragada at bpragada “at” stanford.edu

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Sports podcast #003: Discussing mental health of collegiate athletes with Mikaela Brewer https://stanforddaily.com/2018/04/20/sports-podcast-003-discussing-mental-health-of-collegiate-athletes-with-mikaela-brewer/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/04/20/sports-podcast-003-discussing-mental-health-of-collegiate-athletes-with-mikaela-brewer/#respond Fri, 20 Apr 2018 23:04:35 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1139783 Stanford women's basketball guard and columnist for The Stanford Daily Mikaela Brewer joins us to talk about the different initiatives she has been a part of to help athletes deal with the stigma of mental health especially among college athletes. Freshman writer King Jemison comes on to recap the Cardinal and White Spring game that occurred over the weekend. And we end the episode with two segments: Cardinal of the Week and Games we are excited about.

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Stanford women’s basketball guard and columnist for The Stanford Daily Mikaela Brewer joins us to talk about the different initiatives she has been a part of to help athletes deal with the stigma of mental health especially among college athletes. Freshman writer King Jemison comes on to recap the Cardinal and White Spring game that occurred over the weekend. And we end the episode with two segments: Cardinal of the Week and Games we are excited about.

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Baseball to Tuscon to take on Wildcats https://stanforddaily.com/2018/04/20/baseball-to-tuscon-to-take-on-wildcats/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/04/20/baseball-to-tuscon-to-take-on-wildcats/#respond Fri, 20 Apr 2018 09:31:29 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1139734 No. 2 Stanford baseball (27-5, 9-3 Pac-12) travels to the desert land of wildcats in Tucson to battle Arizona (23-12, 6-6) in a three-game series beginning on Friday.

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No. 2 Stanford baseball (27-5, 9-3 Pac-12) travels to the desert land of wildcats in Tucson to battle Arizona (23-12, 6-6) in a three-game series beginning on Friday.

The Cardinal suffered a misstep when they lost their first series of the season to a top-15 UCLA squad, but the offense and defense steadied themselves in a sweep of Arizona State last weekend.

The pitching gave up 10 runs through three games against the Sun Devils, which featured tough hitters in home run leader Spencer Torkelson and one of the best overall hitters, Gage Canning.

Each Cardinal starter pitched at least five innings, and junior Tristan Beck had a gritty, solid performance despite not having his best stuff on the mound.

Through one game and seven innings, the offense was struggling to hit off Arizona State’s pitchers, scoring five runs through 16. However, the bats finally took advantage of the subpar Sun Devils bullpen for a nine-run inning in the second game of the series.

Then in the final game, the Cardinal offense had an all-around productive outing, scoring at least two runs in an inning twice for a 10-3 victory.

Sophomore first baseman Andrew Daschbach added to his team-leading home run total by hitting a grand slam in the second game and a two-run shot in the final game. His 10 home runs on the season tie him with Oregon State’s Trevor Larnach for third in the Pac-12.

But the real story of the final two games from the offense was the production from the bottom of the lineup. Bryce Carter, Matthew Decker, Alec Wilson and Christian Robinson all were productive from the 7-8-9 hitting positions even though none of them have been everyday starters.

This 35-man approach to any single game has helped the Cardinal maintain the No. 2 spot in RPI and in the D1 Baseball rankings.

A team that is surging in the RPI rankings is the one that Stanford will play this weekend. Arizona has won four straight series, including a series victory versus No. 7 Oregon State.

The Wildcats are doing this with a solid offense and great pitching. The Arizona batters get on base at a high rate (.405, which is first in the Pac-12) and knock them in at a high rate (second in runs scored and in RBI).

Four out of the Wildcats’ lineup are hitting at least .331, and four have an on-base percentage above .445. The consistency in the offense has been a large part of their success.

However, their pitching has really been the turning point in Arizona’s season. The Wildcats sport a 2.92 ERA, which is third in the Pac-12 (Stanford is first with a 2.75 ERA).

Arizona’s junior right-handed pitcher Cody Deason has been one of the most productive Friday starters in the conference. Deason ranks fourth in the Pac-12 in ERA (1.94), opposing batting average (.197) and fifth in strikeouts (53).

Given the Cardinal offense’s performances in the previous Friday games and with Deason on the mound for Arizona, Stanford’s Friday starter Beck might need to have a great performance to come out with a victory.

Stanford versus Arizona begins on Friday at 7 p.m. in Tucson. The entire series will be broadcast by the Pac-12 Networks.

Contact Jose Saldana at jsaldana “at” stanford.edu

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Softball bats go quiet in loss to Pacific https://stanforddaily.com/2018/04/19/softball-bats-go-quiet-in-loss-to-pacific/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/04/19/softball-bats-go-quiet-in-loss-to-pacific/#respond Thu, 19 Apr 2018 09:55:41 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1139656 Stanford softball (22-20) suffered a midweek defeat on Wednesday night, losing 6-0 to Pacific (13-25) in Boyd & Jill Smith Family Stadium.

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Stanford softball (22-20) suffered a midweek defeat on Wednesday night, losing 6-0 to Pacific (13-25) in Boyd & Jill Smith Family Stadium.

It was a well-rounded defeat except for the pitching, as starter junior pitcher Carolyn Lee had a solid performance, but the offense managed only one hit through the entire game.

Lee finished with six innings pitched, two earned runs and delivered eight strikeouts. She kept the game manageable, to a 3-0 lead, but the bats could not find a clean hit outside of sophomore left fielder Hannah Howell in the bottom of the fifth.

Sophomore pitcher Nikki Bauer relieved Lee to end the game and she was let down by the defense and fielding. She gave up zero earned runs, but three runs scored due to errors from senior shortstop Victoria Molina and herself.

The Tigers’ starter Kenya Lindstrom overwhelmed the Cardinal batters all night with a one-hit, complete-game strikeout. However, Stanford was able to walk six times, but it left eight on base.

The Cardinal are now in a four-game losing streak after defeating UCLA for the first time since 2014.

The game started shaky for Stanford as Pacific scored the first run of the game on an error by sophomore third baseman Teaghan Cowles in the top of the first.

In the bottom half of the inning, the Cardinal offense went down in order.

Lee came out strong for the second, getting two groundouts and a strikeout to finish a quick inning, and the third went similarly as she struckout a couple more batters.

The Tigers were able to tack on another run in the fourth when Lee allowed an RBI single with runners on the corners and two outs, but she got the next out to get out of the inning.

Lee went back to mowing down the Pacific batting order in the fifth inning, but she ran into trouble in her final inning in the sixth. With the bases loaded and with one out, Lee managed to strike out the next batter, but a single down the right side scored the runner from third to give the Tigers a 3-0 lead.

Lee struck out the final batter to end her appearance on the night.

The offense in the meantime had its biggest chance to score when the bases were loaded in the bottom of the fourth. Senior second baseman Lauren Wegner walked to fill up the bases with two outs. Sophomore right fielder Maya Jackson, though, hit into a fielder’s choice to end the Cardinal’s biggest threat of the game.

Bauer would take over for Lee to start the seventh, but errors killed any chance of keeping the score manageable for a last inning rally. Pacific doubled its lead to 6-0 and the Cardinal bats had one last swing in the bottom of the seventh and whiffed to close out a disappointing evening.

The Cardinal will next take the trail up north to play Oregon for a three-game series beginning on Friday at 6 p.m. PT. Every game will be broadcast on the Pac-12 Plus Live Stream.

 

Contact Jose Saldana at jsaldana ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Daschbach and the Cardinal bats best Arizona State in three-game series https://stanforddaily.com/2018/04/16/daschbach-and-the-cardinal-bats-best-arizona-state-in-three-game-series/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/04/16/daschbach-and-the-cardinal-bats-best-arizona-state-in-three-game-series/#respond Mon, 16 Apr 2018 08:35:21 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1139479 After losing its first series of the year to UCLA, No. 2 Stanford baseball (27-5, 9-3 Pac-12) bounced back with a clean sweep of Arizona State (14-22, 6-9) in a three-game series in Sunken Diamond.

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After losing its first series of the year to UCLA, No. 2 Stanford baseball (27-5, 9-3 Pac-12) bounced back with a clean sweep of Arizona State (14-22, 6-9) in a three-game series in Sunken Diamond.

The Cardinal were able to pull out the series primarily because of the deep depth the team still possesses, despite losing junior second baseman Duke Kinamon and junior right fielder Brandon Wulff to injury.

“We love the response coming back home this week and getting some quality wins against a solid Pac-12 team,” Stanford head coach David Esquer said. “The theme of guys stepping up on any given weekend continued with players like Alec Wilson, Christian Robinson and Matt Decker really coming up huge this weekend.”

The pitching staff got back on track, only yielding 10 runs in three games. Junior right-hander Tristan Beck went seven innings and struck out five in Friday’s game.

“Tristan found his groove a little bit,” Coach Esquer said of his ace. “His best days are still ahead of him.”

Sophomore closer Jack Little finally let in his first run of the season when he allowed an RBI double in the 8th inning of the first game. Despite running into his first real trouble of the season, Little got the six-out save for his 11th of the year, which ranks first in the Pac-12.

“You know it had to happen at some point,” Coach Esquer said of Little’s first run. “We’ve thrown Jack into a lot of different situations and tonight was another example of what a great pitcher he is.”

The offense got it done in different ways during the series. It flashed the power that has been present all season as sophomore first baseman Andrew Daschbach hit two home runs in the series, including a massive grand slam on Saturday.

Daschbach is tied for third in home runs (10) and is fourth in RBI (39) within the Pac-12.

Fellow sophomore right fielder Kyle Stowers also homered, increasing his tally to seven on the season.

The Cardinal also got contributions from the bottom of the lineup. Alec Wilson, Bryce Carter, Matthew Decker and Christian Robinson were all batting 7-8-9 at some point in the series and they all delivered key hits.

In the second game, Wilson hit 2-2 for a triple, three RBIs and two runs. In the final game, Robinson, a freshman playing center field, was 2-3 for two RBIs and two runs scored. Decker also scored two runs.

In the Friday game, the Cardinal did just enough on offense to support the pitching staff, scoring three runs, but leaving eight on base. Beck had to pitch around trouble in four out of his seven innings as he gave up singles and walks in those innings. However, the talented righty did just enough to get off the hook.

Stowers got the Cardinal on the board in the 2nd, when he pulled a solo home run over the right field wall. An inning later, junior shortstop Nico Hoerner tripled to right field to score freshman Tim Tawa.

Senior second baseman Beau Branton would score the final run of the game for the Cardinal on a wild pitch.

Little took over for Beck to start the 8th and ran into trouble right away. He gave up back-to-back singles then struck out the next batter, but he allowed a RBI double to yield his first run of the season.

Little limited the damage to the one run and then had 1-2-3 inning in the 9th to get the win and the save.

In the second game, the Cardinal were being no-hit through five innings but two runs in the 6th and a nine-run 8th inning gave Stanford a comfortable 11-6 victory.

“I think that’s a sign we’ve matured,” Daschbach said. “A good all-around team is if they can’t get something going for six or seven innings even and are able to grind something out late. That was a big sign for us.”

Junior left-handed pitcher Kris Bubic started, and for the second series in the row he didn’t have his best stuff, but he was still able to eat up seven innings.

Bubic allowed a home run to Arizona State’s Spencer Torkelson, who was the second batter of the game. After that, Bubic settled down and pounded the zone. His command began to falter in the 4th when he allowed a two-run double to increase the Sun Devils’ lead to 3-0.

The Cardinal offense finally woke up in the 6th on Carter’s double, which was the first hit of the game. Wilson would triple to score Carter and would then score on a groundout by Branton.

Bubic had a clean 7th and went on for the 8th, but was pulled after giving up a second home run to Torkelson.

Bubic finished with seven innings, four earned runs, seven strikeouts and eight hits allowed.

He was replaced by sophomore Daniel Bakst, who got an inning before being relieved by sophomore Will Matthiessen.

The Cardinal exploded in the 8th and completed their comeback, scoring nine runs, highlighted by Daschbach’s grand slam. It was the Cardinal’s second grand slam of the season (Wulff had the first).

The Sun Devils had one final push when they hit a two-run home run in the 9th, but freshman Austin Weiermiller was able to close out the game.

The final game saw a great deal of complete effort from the Cardinal. Sophomore left-handed pitcher Erik Miller had a quality start with five innings, two earned runs and three strikeouts in the 10-3 victory. The five innings were the most pitched by Miller since he pitched five against USC on March 25.

Freshman southpaw Jacob Palisch would relieve Miller, and Palisch was stretched out to four innings to finish the game.

The offense was balanced, scoring at least two runs in an inning four times. In the 3rd and 4th, the Cardinal jumped on the Sun Devils’ pitching, scoring six runs including a two-run home run by Daschbach. Then, in the 6th and 7th, Stanford scored four more runs as Robinson’s and Decker’s names began highlighting the boxscore.

“As a guy who doesn’t get many at-bats, I knew they were going to attack me with fastballs,” Decker said. “I have been here for five years and when I’m up there, I’ve been nervous. I was really calm, and when I saw a fast ball, I just tried to swing at it.”

With no midweek exhibition, the Cardinal can rest before travelling to Tucson to play Arizona in a three-game series beginning on Friday at 7 p.m. PT. Every game in the series will be broadcast by the Pac-12 Networks.

Contact Jose Saldana at jsaldana “at” stanford.edu

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Stanford baseball hosts the Sun Devils for a weekend series https://stanforddaily.com/2018/04/13/baseball-hosts-the-sun-devils-for-a-weekend-series/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/04/13/baseball-hosts-the-sun-devils-for-a-weekend-series/#respond Fri, 13 Apr 2018 08:58:20 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1139383 No. 2 Stanford baseball (24-5, 6-3 Pac-12) will face a familiar heat when Arizona State (14-19, 6-6) comes to Sunken Diamond for a three-game series beginning on Friday.

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No. 2 Stanford baseball (24-5, 6-3 Pac-12) will face a familiar heat when Arizona State (14-19, 6-6) comes to Sunken Diamond for a three-game series beginning on Friday. This series finale on Sunday will be the 200th contest between the two programs with Stanford holding a 95-102 overall record.

In their last series, the Cardinal played a top-tier UCLA team, eventually dropping their first series of the year. The pitching staff gave up 26 runs across the three games.

Stanford followed up that series with a Tuesday victory over Santa Clara. Freshman pitcher Brendan Beck made his second appearance against the Broncos. His first came in his collegiate debut.

Both starts materialized in very much the same way as Beck plowed through the Santa Clara batting order. On Tuesday, the Cardinal won 7-2 and Beck pitched 6.0 innings and delivered a career-high six strikeouts.

Arizona State is coming into the weekend matchup 5th in the Pac-12 and riding a three-game losing streak, failing twice against USC and then once to the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

The Sun Devils feature a couple of fear-inducing hitters in junior Gage Canning and freshman Spencer Torkelson.  

Canning’s batting average is right at the four century mark (.400) which is third in the Pac-12. He hits triples like no other player in the nation, with nine on the season which ranks first in the country. His blend of hitting ability and speed could prove dangerous against a defense caught napping.

Torkelson has otherworldly power as be broke ASU’s school record for most home runs hit by a freshman. The previous record holder was San Francisco Giants legend Barry Bonds who had 11 in 64 games. Torkelson hit his 12th home run in only 26 games. The 6-foot-1, 205-pound freshman is still chugging along as his current total of 16 homers ranks first in the Pac-12 and in the nation.

For perspective, sophomore first baseman Andrew Daschbach leads the Cardinal team with eight home runs. Torkelson has double that. Also, anytime you can break one of Barry Bonds’ records at any level is truly special.

The Cardinal are fifth in the conference in home runs allowed with 15, so the pitching staff will certainly need to be careful throwing to Torkelson and Canning, or else their strikes will end up being lawn ornaments on the other side of Sunken Diamond’s walls.

The Arizona State pitching staff is a lot less intimidating than its offense with an ERA that ranks seventh in the conference (4.14). The Cardinal’s ERA ranks third and is more than a run better.

Juniors Tristan Beck and Kris Bubic have to be careful with their command, but the offense should have plenty of opportunities to bail out the aces on the mound.

Tristan Beck will get the Friday start, with Bubic getting the Saturday start and sophomore Erik Miller rounding it out in the Sunday spot.

The three-game series starts on Friday at 6:05 p.m., on Saturday at 3:05 p.m. and on Sunday at 1:05 p.m. in Sunken Diamond. Every game will be broadcast by Pac-12 Plus’ live stream.

Contact Jose Saldana at jsaldana ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Sports podcast #002: Jordan Watkins on spring football and the legend of Slingin’ Jack https://stanforddaily.com/2018/04/12/sports-podcast-002-jordan-watkins-on-spring-football-and-the-legend-of-slingin-jack/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/04/12/sports-podcast-002-jordan-watkins-on-spring-football-and-the-legend-of-slingin-jack/#respond Thu, 12 Apr 2018 23:46:14 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1139323 Former Stanford defensive lineman Jordan Watkins joins us to talk about the Cardinal and White Spring Game, the turnover diploma, and the top tier of Stanford football Twitter. We also discuss how Slingin' Jack Richardson could perform as the only quarterback available for the game and preview other sports in action on a busy sports weekend on The Farm.

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Former Stanford defensive lineman Jordan Watkins joins us to talk about the Cardinal and White Spring Game, the turnover diploma, and the top tier of Stanford football Twitter. We also discuss how Slingin’ Jack Richardson could perform as the only quarterback available for the game and preview other sports in action on a busy sports weekend on The Farm.

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Stanford baseball returns to winning with victory against UC Davis https://stanforddaily.com/2018/04/10/stanford-baseball-returns-to-winning-with-victory-against-uc-davis/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/04/10/stanford-baseball-returns-to-winning-with-victory-against-uc-davis/#respond Wed, 11 Apr 2018 04:56:30 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1139151 With the series loss against UCLA in the rear view, No. 2 Stanford baseball (24-5) got back to their winning ways by defeating UC Davis (9-18) 7-2 on Tuesday night on the Sunken Diamond.

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With the series loss against UCLA in the rear view, No. 2 Stanford baseball (24-5) got back to their winning ways by defeating UC Davis (9-18) 7-2 on Tuesday night on the Sunken Diamond.

“That is a strong trait for a team if you are able to bounce back and not lose two in a row,” sophomore left fielder Kyle Stowers said. “Especially on Tuesday games where we are tired from the weekend and are able to put together a good game.”

Freshman right-handed pitcher Brendan Beck started for the Cardinal and had his fifth quality start of the season. Beck’s ERA is now first among all the pitchers on the roster who have at least one start. He matched a career-high with six innings pitched and also had a career-high six strikeouts in the victory.

Beck’s very first start and victory came against UC Davis and he returned to the mound on Tuesday to continue his dominance of the Aggies. The UC Davis batters could only muster three total hits against the younger Beck.

“I didn’t feel great to start the game,” Beck said modestly. “After the 1st inning, I was in the dugout just kind of sitting there and my arm was shaking, so I felt kind of weird. But it felt good on the mound, so I was confident in making my pitches.”

The Cardinal have caught the home run fever, with Stowers blasting a two-run home run over right field for his sixth of the year. Stanford now has 25 home runs, which ranks third in the Pac-12, and they have 10 home runs in their past seven games.

The offense also had several loud outs near the warning track, which probably would have been knocked out of the park during warmer-weather day games.

Stowers’ home run capped off a four-run 5th inning for the Cardinal, which put the game out of the Aggies’ reach.

Stowers ended his day 2-4 with two runs scored and two RBIs to go along with his home run.

“A couple of guys have improved throughout the season. [Stowers] and Daschbach have gotten better as the season goes on,” Stanford head coach David Esquer. “We need that.”

Beck got the action started in the top of the 1st by striking out the first two batters and then getting the third out with one on via a groundout.

The Cardinal offense in the bottom of the 1st got a leadoff single by senior second baseman Beau Branton, but the threat was squashed and he was left on base.

The Aggies would hit two more singles off Beck, but a serious rally never materialized. The Cardinal offense, in the meantime, was busy putting up runs.

In the bottom of the 2nd, sophomore third baseman Maverick Handley hit an RBI single to score Stowers from second base. An inning later, junior designated hitter Christian Molfetta grounded out to the Aggies shortstop, but freshman right fielder Christian Robinson would score from third on the sacrifice to double the Cardinal lead to 2-0.

During that same inning, junior shortstop Nico Hoerner hit a sac fly to left field which sent Branton home for a third run.

The Cardinal offense would drop four more runs on the Aggies in the bottom of the 5th. Hoerner had his second RBI of the game with a double down the left field line. Sophomore first baseman Andrew Daschbach hit a sac fly to score another run before Stowers hit his two-run shot to give the Cardinal a 7-0 lead.

Freshman pitcher Austin Weiermiller replaced Beck at the start of the 7th inning and had a walk, but struck out one batter for a scoreless inning.

Sophomore submariner Zach Grech helped the bullpen stay perfect in the game with a clean inning.

However, things didn’t go as cleanly in the 9th inning when Stowers took over on the mound. He struck out the first batter but allowed runners on third and second with one out, before allowing the Aggies first run to score on a groundout. One wild pitch later and UC Davis added another run. This was cut short when sophomore Dan Bakst relieved Stowers and struck out the only batter he faced.

The Cardinal return to action this weekend, hosting a home series against Arizona State.

Contact Jose Saldana at jsaldana ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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Sports podcast #001: Talking Stanford baseball with R.J. Abeytia, and #StanfordNBA??? https://stanforddaily.com/2018/04/10/sports-podcast-001-talking-stanford-baseball-with-r-j-abeytia-and-stanfordnba/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/04/10/sports-podcast-001-talking-stanford-baseball-with-r-j-abeytia-and-stanfordnba/#respond Tue, 10 Apr 2018 08:18:19 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1139048 The Stanford Daily Sports Podcast debuts, with Do-Hyoung Park, Vihan Lakshman, and Jose Saldaña joined by Stanford insider R.J. Abeytia of The Bootleg in a conversation about Stanford baseball's historic start, the new coaching staff, and a scuffle in the No. 2 Cardinal's toughest test of the season yet at No. 20 UCLA. Also, a recap of the weekend in Stanford Athletics and why Dwight Powell is better than Kevin Durant.

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The Stanford Daily Sports Podcast debuts, with Do-Hyoung Park, Vihan Lakshman, and Jose Saldaña joined by Stanford insider R.J. Abeytia of The Bootleg in a conversation about Stanford baseball’s historic start, the new coaching staff, and a scuffle in the No. 2 Cardinal’s toughest test of the season yet at No. 20 UCLA. Also, a recap of the weekend in Stanford Athletics and why Dwight Powell is better than Kevin Durant.

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No. 2 baseball loses first series of season against UCLA https://stanforddaily.com/2018/04/09/no-2-baseball-loses-first-series-of-season-against-ucla/ https://stanforddaily.com/2018/04/09/no-2-baseball-loses-first-series-of-season-against-ucla/#respond Tue, 10 Apr 2018 06:08:33 +0000 https://stanforddaily.com/?p=1138975 The trip to the City of Angels wasn’t a godsend for No. 2 Stanford baseball (23-5, 6-3 Pac-12) as it dropped its first series of the year to No. 17 UCLA (19-8, 8-4) in a three-game series in Jackie Robinson Stadium.

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The trip to the City of Angels wasn’t a godsend for No. 2 Stanford baseball (23-5, 6-3 Pac-12) as it dropped its first series of the year to No. 17 UCLA (19-8, 8-4) in a three-game series in Jackie Robinson Stadium.

Despite starting 22-3 heading into the weekend, which is the best start since 2004, the Cardinal failed to replicate against UCLA what has made them so successful: dominant pitching.

The Stanford pitching staff had the second-ranked ERA in the entire nation, but after this weekend, the ranking dropped all the way to ninth. The problem largely stems from the poor performance of the pitching staff.

Juniors Tristan Beck and Kris Bubic and sophomore Erik Miller got the starts and combined for 13.0 innings pitched and allowed 13 earned runs. That wasn’t able to get it done against a comparable pitching staff in the Bruins.

The offense outside of Game 2 could not figure out the UCLA pitchers. The Cardinal scored 19 runs but 13 of them came in the Saturday game, where they combined for four home runs.

The outfielders flexed their power as sophomores Andrew Daschbach and Kyle Stowers and freshman Tim Tawa each had a home run in the series.

Daschbach in particular had three home runs in the three-game set to give him eight on the year, which is tied for third in the Pac-12.

Outside of those home runs, the Cardinal offense did very little against a potent UCLA pitching staff.

Beck started on the mound for the Cardinal in Friday’s 8-4 loss. Although he yielded only three runs, his command was shaky as he also allowed eight hits and two walks.

UCLA was able to get to Beck in the third to strike first. The Bruins scored a couple runs on a two-RBI double from Chase Strumpf — the three-hole hitter.

The Cardinal retaliated an inning later when Daschbach singled to right field to score sophomore catcher Maverick Handley.

UCLA and Stanford would trade runs in the fifth before the Bruins used a five-run eighth inning to blow the game wide open.

Freshman pitcher Jacob Palisch took the mound in the seventh with one out and was thrown out there again in the eighth. The normally stout southpaw struggled with his command as he gave up all five runs in the inning and was shown the door after allowing a grand slam home run.

The offense tried to rally in the ninth and cut the lead to 8-4 on Tawa’s RBI double and junior shortstop Nico Hoerner’s sac fly, but it was to no avail as the Bruins closed the door on the Cardinal.

Game two featured Bubic, who had been the Cardinal’s best starter all year, but he didn’t have it on Saturday afternoon.

Luckily for the lefty, the offense bailed him out in a huge way by scoring 13 runs.

The first inning showed some promise for the junior as he gave up a leadoff single but struck out the next two batters to end the inning. However, Bubic began his struggles in the second. He yielded a home run in that inning and then two more in the fourth.

Then, in the fifth, Bubic allowed the first two batters to reach base on a hit-by-pitch and a single. He was relieved by freshman Austin Weiermiller, but by the time Bubic was done, the Cardinal were leading 13-3.

Stanford began its offensive exploits with a metallic bang in the first inning. Stowers sent a three-run home run to right field, which briefly tied him with Daschbach for the home run lead with five.

Not to be left behind by his power hitting teammates, Tawa hit a solo shot over left field to tie him with Daschbach and Stowers for the home run lead.

Feeling the pressure to perform, Daschbach hit a two-run home after Hoerner’s triple to give him sole possession of the home run lead with six.

An RBI single by freshman first baseman Nick Brueser and Tawa each pushed the runs scored to eight.

Two more runs scored later, Daschbach comes up to the plate and smashed a three-run RBI home run to increase the lead to 13-3 and give him seven home runs on the season.

The Cardinal bullpen would give up five runs in the ninth, but managed to “escape” with a victory.

Stanford might have used up all of its offensive fortitude in game two, because in game three, the Cardinal swings were coming up empty.

The offense scored two runs and struck out 13 times, which isn’t very good when your starter isn’t having his best game.

Outside of Daschbach’s eighth home run of the season which put Stanford up 2-0 in the 1st, the Cardinal offense did more sitting than standing at the bases the rest of the game.

MIller got the nod in this one and gave up four earned runs in the third (and one earned in the first), which meant his day was done early as he only managed 2.2 innings pitched.

The Bruins squeezed one more insurance run against sophomore pitcher Will Matthiessen in the fifth.

The Cardinal next host a midweek game against UC Davis on April 10 at 6:05 p.m. and then, they will partake in the Cardinalpalooza festivities by hosting Arizona State for a three-game set beginning on April 13 at 6:05 p.m. All games can be seen on Stanford Live Stream.

 

Contact Jose Saldana at jsaldana ‘at’ stanford.edu.

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