Breaking down Stanford baseball’s 2022 schedule
In mid-December, Stanford baseball’s 2022 schedule was released. In this article, I would like to take a closer look at the Cardinal’s schedule and what awaits them on Sunken Diamond this upcoming year. Stanford is coming off a season in which they went 39-17 overall, 17-10 in the Pac-12, and advanced to the second round of the College World Series where they fell to Vanderbilt 6-5. It was Stanford’s first trip to the College World Series since 2008. David Esquer is entering his 5th season as Stanford’s manager possessing a 135-54 (.714) overall record and a 61-25 (.709) Pac-12 record.
Stanford will open things up at home against Cal State Fullerton in a three-game series that starts Friday, February 18th and concludes Sunday, February 20th. The Titans did not have a great season last year, going 20-35 overall and 13-23 in the Big West. They did however go 3-7 against Pac-12 teams, going 2-1 against Utah and picking up a 5-0 win at USC. While their record isn’t super impressive, they’ve shown they can hang with Pac-12 teams and give them a bit of trouble.
Following the series with Cal State Fullerton, Stanford will host Santa Clara for one game on Tuesday February 22nd. Stanford went 3-1 against Santa Clara last year, going 2-0 at home and 1-1 on the road.
After facing Santa Clara, Stanford will then head to the Lone Star State for the Karbach Round Rock Classic in Round Rock, Texas from Friday, February 25th to Sunday, February 27th. On Friday, they’ll face Louisiana, on Saturday they’ll face Arkansas, and on Sunday they’ll face Indiana. Louisiana went 32-23 overall last year and 13-11 in the Sun Belt; Arkansas went 50-13 overall and 22-8 in the SEC; and Indiana went 26-18, playing an exclusively Big Ten schedule.
Following the Round Rock Classic, Stanford will travel to San Antonio to face UTSA on the road on Monday, February 28th. The Roadrunners didn’t do so hot last year, going 22-26 overall and 14-17 in Conference USA.
Following their one game at UTSA, Stanford will return to The Farm to face Cal State Northridge in a three game series that starts on Friday, March 4th and concludes Sunday, March 6th. The Matadors went 21-19 last year, playing an exclusively Big West schedule.
The following week, Stanford will begin Pac-12 play, welcoming Oregon to The Farm in a three game series that begins Friday, March 11th and concludes Sunday, March 13th. The Ducks were pretty good last year, going 39-16 overall and 20-10 in the Pac-12. Stanford did take two out of three games in their lone series in Eugene last year.
Stanford will then head to the desert to face Arizona on the road in Tucson in a three-game series that starts Saturday, March 19th and concludes Monday, March 21st. The Wildcats went 45-18 last year and 21-9 in the Pac-12. Stanford defeated Arizona two out of three times in the regular season at home, though the one loss was a hideous 20-2 loss. In the College World Series, Stanford picked up another win over Arizona winning 14-5.
Following the trip to Arizona, Stanford will return home for a three game series against Washington State that starts Friday, March 25th and concludes Sunday, March 27th. Washington State went 26-23 overall last year and 13-17 in the Pac-12. Stanford went 2-1 against the Cougars in Pullman last year, losing a close 10-9 game that went to extra innings in the final game of the series.
Following the home series against Washington State, Stanford will hit the road to Corvallis to face Oregon State in a three game series that starts Friday, April 1st and concludes Sunday, April 3rd. Oregon State went 37-24 overall last year and 16-14 in the Pac-12. Stanford went 2-1 against the Beavers at home last year, winning the first two games in a shutout (1-0 and 5-0) before getting blown out 9-1 in the final game of the series.
Stanford will then get a brief break from Pac-12 to play to welcome Saint Mary’s to Sunken Diamond on Tuesday, April 5th. Saint Mary’s went 25-26 overall last year and 11-16 in the WCC. Stanford should win that game, but Saint Mary’s was able to go 2-4 against Cal last year, so they’ve shown they have the ability to hang with Pac-12 teams. One of their wins against Cal was on the road in Berkeley (6-3).
Stanford will then get back to Pac-12 play with a three game series at home against Arizona State that starts Friday, April 8th and concludes Sunday, April 10th. The Sun Devils went 33-22 overall last year and 16-14 in the Pac-12. Stanford went 2-1 against the Sun Devils in Tempe last year, dropping the first game before winning the next two.
Following the home series against the Sun Devils, Stanford will then welcome San Francisco to Sunken Diamond on Tuesday, April 12th. The Dons went 25-28 overall last year but had a solid 16-11 WCC record. Stanford went 4-0 against the Dons last year winning two games at home and two games at San Francisco.
Stanford will then hit the road for a three game series at UCLA that starts on Thursday, April 14th and concludes Saturday, April 16th. The Bruins went 37-20 overall and 18-12 in the Pac-12. Stanford went 2-1 against the Bruins last year at home, winning the first two games of the series.
Stanford will stay in Southern California for a little longer. They’ll first head to San Luis Obispo to face Cal Poly on Tuesday, April 19th before heading to San Diego State to face Grand Canyon and San Diego State. The games against Grand Canyon will be on Friday, April 23rd and Saturday, April 24th. The games against San Diego State will be Saturday, April 24th and Sunday, April, 25th. Stanford will face Grand Canyon in the afternoon on the 24th before facing San Diego State in the evening.
Cal Poly went 31-25 overall and 21-19 in the Big West; Grand Canyon went 39-21-1 overall and 29-7 in the WAC; San Diego State went 30-16 overall and 22-14 in the Mountain West. All three of those opponents should be a solid test for the Cardinal and certainly help to make what will be a challenging So Cal trip.
Rather than returning home, Stanford will then head on the road to face Washington up in Seattle in a three game series that starts Friday, April 29th and concludes Sunday, May 1st. The Huskies were pretty terrible last year, going 20-30 overall and 6-21 in the Pac-12. All three games against Stanford last year were canceled, but if the law of averages is any guide for us, Stanford would have likely gotten a three game sweep or at worst gone 2-1 against them.
After being away from home since the middle of April, Stanford will finally return home, starting with a home game against UC Davis on Tuesday, May 3rd. The Aggies were pretty bad last year, going 14-43 overall and 8-32 in the Big West. Stanford on paper should win this game with little trouble.
Following the home game against UC Davis, Stanford will then welcome Cal to The Farm for a three game series that starts on Friday, May 6th and concludes Sunday, May 8th. The Golden Bears went 29-26 last year and 15-15 in the Pac-12. Despite being the much better team on paper, Stanford struggled against Cal last year, going 3-2 in their five meetings.
Stanford will then hit the road for a game at San Francisco on Tuesday, May 10th before heading to Salt Lake City for a three game series against Utah that starts on Friday, May 13th and concludes Sunday, May 15th. The Utes went 17-33 overall last year and 7-23 in the Pac-12. Stanford went 2-1 against Utah on The Farm winning the first and third game of the series.
Stanford will then head back to the Bay Area for a road contest against Santa Clara on Tuesday, May 17th before wrapping up their regular season at home against USC in a three game series that begins on Thursday, May 19th and concludes Saturday, May 21st. USC went 25-26 overall last year and 13-17 in the Pac-12. Stanford went 2-1 against USC on the road last year, though all three games were close. Stanford won the first game 5-2 in extra innings; Stanford won the second game 3-2; and Stanford lost the third game 2-1.
Following the home series with USC, postseason play will begin. The Pac-12 will have their first ever Pac-12 tournament in 2022 which will be held in Scottsdale, Arizona. The dates run from Wednesday, May 25th to Sunday, May 29th.
As a whole, Stanford seems to have a pretty strong schedule. The Pac-12 for the most part is filled with good teams and Stanford has filled up their non-conference schedule with some quality opponents as well. It’ll be interesting to see how the Cardinal do and if they’ll be able to build on last year’s run to the College World Series.
Note: Stanford junior outfielder Brock Jones was named a Preseason All-American earlier this month.
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