Tonight at 6:05 PM PT on Stanford Live Stream and KZSU radio, Stanford baseball will welcome the San Francisco Dons to Sunken Diamond. Stanford comes in at 17-10 overall and 9-6 in the Pac-12 while San Francisco comes in at 17-18 overall and 6-6 in the WCC. The probable starting pitcher for Stanford is freshman right-handed pitcher Braden Montgomery (0-2, 9.00 ERA). The probable starting pitcher for San Francisco is redshirt freshman right-handed pitcher Kaleb Woltz (0-0, 8.78 ERA).
Last time out: On Sunday, Stanford completed a three-game home sweep of Arizona State, winning by a final score of 16-10. Quinn Mathews (5-1) was the winning pitcher while Vincent Martinez hit a grand slam. As a result, Stanford got back in the Top 25 of the USA TODAY Baseball Coaches Poll at #23.
RECAP: Stanford completes home sweep of Arizona State
On San Francisco: The Dons have been kind of an up and down team this season. They were able to take a game off #17 Gonzaga last week at home and were able to play #21 Oregon tough a few weeks back, losing 3-4 in the second game of their two-game series in Eugene. They’re a team that is capable of doing some damage when given the opportunity.
The top contact hitter for the Dons is sophomore infielder Luke Keaschall, who is hitting .331 with five home runs and 18 RBIs to go along with a .535 slugging percentage and a .473 on base percentage. Keaschall actually co-leads the team in home runs so he’s also one of the top power hitters on the team as well. The other two hitters with five home runs are graduate student 1st baseman/outfielder Gabe Giosso (.257 batting average & 24 RBIs) and redshirt senior outfielder Nick Yovetich (.222 batting average & 14 RBIs).
On the pitching side, it’s hard to tell how long the Dons are hoping Woltz will go. This could be a pitch by committee approach as is typical of mid-week games. The Dons as a team have a 5.83 ERA, so they’re used to giving up a decent amount of runs. Their real problem though is hitting as their opponents have a 4.96 ERA.
Keys to the game: For Stanford, the first thing they need is for their pitching to hold. Montgomery started last week against St. Mary’s and that did not go very well. Stanford needs Montgomery to get off to a much better start and then the bullpen also needs to do their job as well. A big part of that happening will be to keep Keaschall, Giosso, and Yovetich in check. Those guys are going to look to get going early and hopefully hit a couple dingers across the fence.
The second thing Stanford needs to do is simply come out with the right energy. They were lethargic last Tuesday and just didn’t have the energy. Maybe they were tired, maybe they just assumed they would win and mailed it in, but regardless of what the issue was, they need to come out with a lot more energy and focus. They can’t expect to win this game without coming in with the right mindset. A big part of this is just playing smart, not committing errors, and playing a clean game.
Finally, Stanford needs to take advantage of having runners in scoring position. They had a couple of grand slams against Arizona State over the weekend and that’s what pushed them over the top. When they get guys in scoring position, they need to deliver the goods and bring those guys home. If they leave guys stranded tonight, this game could get interesting.
Prediction: Stanford is at home and also has last week’s loss to Saint Mary’s fresh on their minds. They know they are capable of losing on a Tuesday despite coming off a strong weekend. I think tonight they’ll use that as motivation to find a way to get the job done. I think their bats will heat up and that will overcome any pitching issues that they might have. Stanford 8 San Francisco 4 is how I see this one shaking out.
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