Preview: #11 Stanford welcomes Cal to The Farm for Battle of the Bay
This weekend, #11 Stanford baseball will welcome Cal to Sunken Diamond for college baseball’s version of the Battle of the Bay. Stanford comes in at 26-14 overall and 12-9 in the Pac-12 while Cal comes in at 22-22 overall and 11-13 in the Pac-12.
The games will be on Friday at 7:00 PM PT on Pac-12 Bay Area and KZSU radio (KALX 90.7 FM in the East Bay); Saturday at 6:00 PM PT on Pac-12 Bay Area and KZSU radio (KALX 90.7 FM); and Sunday at 2:00 PM PT on Pac-12 Bay Area and KZSU radio (KALX 90.7 FM).
The starting pitching matchups are as follows: Friday-Stanford righty Alex Williams (5-1, 2.21 ERA) vs. Cal righty Steven Zobac (2-2, 4.97 ERA); Saturday-Stanford lefty Drew Dowd (5-0, 3.83 ERA) vs. Cal righty Joseph King (3-3, 3.88 ERA); Sunday-TBD.
Last time out: On Tuesday, Stanford defeated UC Davis 16-6. Carter Graham and Brock Jones each hit two home runs for a combined 10 RBIs.
RECAP: #11 Stanford dominates UC Davis on Tuesday night
On Cal: Cal has been a very up and down team this season. They took two out of three on the road at then-No. 25 USC, at Washington State, and at home against Washington. They’ve done a pretty good job of taking care of business against the weaker teams in the conference, but they’ve struggled to pick up a second win against the better teams. Like Stanford, they are coming off a dominating Tuesday night victory of their own as they blew the doors off San Jose State 10-0 in Berkeley.
“I think they’re really good,” Stanford head coach David Esquer said of Cal on Tuesday. “I do. I think they’ve got good starting pitching; I think they can beat anybody in the country, I think we’re gonna have to play maybe our best baseball to beat them. Because I have a lot of respect for them. I know those coaches and I know their players and they can beat anybody.”
The top contact hitter on this Cal team is junior first baseman Nathan Martorella, who is batting .335 for nine home runs and 36 RBIs to go along with a .575 slugging percentage and a .422 on base percentage. The top power hitter is junior outfielder Dylan Beavers, who is batting .290 for 15 home runs and 42 RBIs for a .657 slugging percentage and a .429 on base percentage.
Pitching-wise, Cal has a 5.74 team ERA. Their pitching is not elite, but it’s solid and capable of doing some damage. This is a Cal team that certainly can beat you both with their bats and their pitching.
On the rivalry: Even though the Cal-Stanford rivalry is most famous for what happens on the gridiron, any time these two schools meet in any sport, it’s always a fierce battle. Below are some quotes from Stanford about the rivalry and what it means.
“Hey, it’s Cal-Stanford, right? I mean, I don’t care if we are playing any sport, right? You are representing your school and there’s always been that big rivalry and having lived it and coached on both sides of it, I know it’s always there.”-David Esquer
“Yeah, I always feel like whether, it doesn’t matter how good one of us are. If one is really bad, it’s always gonna be a competitive series just because of that rivalry. So, I think always kinda going into it there always is a little bit extra juice going into it just because it’s the Battle of the Bay.”-Brock Jones
“Yeah, Battle of the Bay. We got a deep negative feelings towards them and I’m sure they got the same things towards us. So, I mean, we’re playing for it all this weekend. It’s gonna be big. Yeah.”-Carter Graham
Keys to the series: For Stanford, first thing they need to do is contain Martorella and Beavers. Both of those guys are capable of going off and if they heat up behind the plate, odds are good others will feed off that. Stanford has to make sure they are pitching well to those guys and not putting themselves in position where they have to pitch to those guys. Beavers in particular might a good guy to walk intentionally if given the chance.
Secondly, Stanford needs their bats to stay hot. Stanford lit UC Davis up like a Christmas tree on Tuesday and also did the same to Washington on Sunday only for their pitching to let them down. If Stanford can keep it up offensively and take advantage of all their weapons offensively, they’re going to be tough to beat. Especially at home.
Finally, Stanford’s bullpen has to come through. While the starting pitching has been really good this year, the bullpen has had moments where it’s been terrible and cost them games. If Stanford’s bullpen can hold together, that more than anything will make the difference.
Prediction: A home sweep by Stanford is certainly possible as they swept Washington State and Arizona State at home earlier in the season. And Cal is only slightly ahead of those two schools in the standings. Stanford is a borderline top ten level team and they know a home sweep over Cal would be really nice for their NCAA tournament resume. At the same time, Cal has not been swept in a Pac-12 series this season as they usually find a way to win at least one game in a series. I think that’s what will happen this weekend. Stanford will take the series, but Cal will take a game off of them. It’s tough to sweep. Especially in a rivalry.
To connect with CardinalSportsReport.com on Facebook and Twitter, click here.
To connect with Ben Parker on Facebook and Twitter, click here.