This weekend, Stanford baseball will take on the UCLA Bruins in a three-game road series at Jackie Robinson Stadium. Game one will be on Thursday at 7:00 PM PT on Pac-12 Networks. Game two will be on Friday at 7:00 PM PT on ESPN 2 and KZSU radio. Game three will be on Saturday at 4:00 PM PT on Pac-12 Networks. UCLA comes in at 23-9 overall and 8-4 in the Pac-12 while Stanford comes in at 18-10 overall and 9-6 in the Pac-12.
On Thursday, Alex Williams (3-1, 2.79 ERA) is the projected starting pitcher for Stanford while Jake Brooks (5-2, 2.70 ERA) is the projected starter for UCLA. On Friday, Drew Dowd (4-0, 4.00 ERA) is the projected starter for Stanford while Max Rajcic (4-3, 2.95 ERA) is the projected starter for UCLA. On Saturday, Quinn Mathews (5-1, 2.77 ERA) is the projected starter for Stanford while Gage Jump (1-0, 5.40 ERA) is the projected starter for UCLA.
Last time out: On Tuesday, Stanford defeated San Francisco 6-5 at home in walk-off fashion as Brock Jones scored the winning run in the bottom of the 9th inning.
RECAP: #23 Stanford beats San Francisco in wild walk-off fashion
Jackie Robinson weekend: It should be noted that Stanford will be playing at Jackie Robinson Stadium over what we could call “Jackie Robinson weekend.” Jackie Robinson Day will be on Friday, April 15th, celebrated league wide by Major League Baseball to honor Robinson’s Major League debut on April 15th, 1947 for the Brooklyn Dodgers. Jackie Robinson had a monstrous impact on not just baseball, but all of sports by breaking the color line that Major League Baseball had set. The way he handled himself amid intense racism and discrimination is nothing short of remarkable.
I would also encourage people to learn more about Moses Fleetwood Walker, who was the first African-American to ever play in a Major League game. He made his debut on May 1st, 1884 for the Toledo Blue Stockings. Like Robinson, Walker endured intense racism and while playing at the catcher position had to deal with pitchers ignoring his signals, resulting in lots of injuries. The racism he endured was just as intense as what Robinson endured if not more given he played in an even earlier time. Shortly after his career was over, that’s when Major League Baseball implemented the color line that held in place until Robinson’s historic debut.
On UCLA: The Bruins are off to a strong start overall, though they have a tendency to be a bit hot and cold in their respective series’. Against USC, they lost two out of three exploding for 11 runs in their victory, but failing to score more than four runs in their two losses. Against Harvard at home, they exploded for a 25-2 victory in game one before struggling in the next two games losing 0-5 in game two and winning 3-2 in game three in extra innings.
The first two starting pitchers UCLA has are really good. Their ERA’s and records speak for themselves. The one weak link in the starting cog is their day three starter, so that presents a real opportunity for Stanford to win at least one game.
The top contact hitter on this Bruins team is sophomore infielder Daylen Reyes, who is batting .315 for one home run and seven RBIs to along with a .444 slugging percentage and a .433 on base percentage. As for power, freshman infielder Cody Schrier leads the team with seven home runs to go along with 22 RBIs, a .298 batting average, a .504 slugging percentage, and a .405 on base percentage.
Keys to the series: For Stanford, the first thing they need is their starting pitching needs to hold. That’s really been the backbone of their success during this four-game winning streak in which they’ve won 9 of their last 11 games. If Williams brings his stuff tonight and the rest of the starting pitchers follow, Stanford is going to be tough to stop. Obviously, those guys are going to have to contain Reyes and Schrier as those two guys really are so crucial to UCLA’s offensive attack.
The second thing Stanford needs to do is get quality support from their bullpen. The bullpen has been strong at times and other times, it has been shaky. The bullpen is going to need to come through this weekend and build off whatever the starting pitchers hand off to them.
Finally, Stanford needs to make the most of their home runs. They’ve done a good job of hitting home runs with guys on base and not just hitting solo home runs. They had a couple grand slams against Arizona State and that really made the difference. If guys like Brock Jones, Carter Graham, and Vincent Martinez are able to heat up and go yard while having guys on base, Stanford should be in a good spot.
Prediction: I’m confident Stanford will get at least one win this weekend. They’ve been on quite a roll these past couple of weeks. Whether or not they get a second win is the real question. Given that UCLA is home, I’ll give them the nod and say they’ll find a way to defend their home field and win the series 2-1. But Stanford absolutely can take two out of three. It should be a very entertaining series for sure.
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