This weekend, #5 Stanford will open up Pac-12 play at home against the Oregon Ducks. Stanford comes in at 8-3 overall while Oregon comes in at 8-5 overall. This will be Oregon’s Pac-12 opener as well. Game 1 will be on Friday at 6:05 PM PT. Game 2 will be on Saturday at 2:05 PM PT. Game 3 will be on Sunday at 12:05 PM PT. All three games will air on Stanford Live Stream and KZSU radio.
Last time out: Stanford defeated CSUN 3-2 on Sunday to win the series 2-1. Joey Dixon picked up the win for Stanford while Braden Montgomery picked up his second save of the season while also hitting a home run.
RECAP: #3 Stanford pulls out gritty win over CSUN to take weekend series
On Oregon: The Ducks have been a bit hot and cold this season. They split with UC Santa Barbara, swept St. John’s, and their most recent win is an offensive explosion over Portland winning 18-2. They’ve also had some other major offensive explosions, scoring 13+ runs against St. John’s and having two 20+ run games against St. John’s and San Diego.
Junior infielder Drew Cowley is the top hitter on this Ducks team with a .512 batting average, a .615 on base percentage, and a .902 slugging percentage. He has three home runs and 15 RBIs on the season, so he’s hitting at a really high clip. Sophomore infielder Brennan Milone and sophomore catcher Josiah Cromwick have three home runs as well, so they’ve got some bats.
Sophomore right-handed pitcher Isaac Ayon is the top pitcher on this Ducks team with a 2-0 record and a 3.00 ERA. As a team, the Ducks have a 4.46 ERA and have one save (sophomore right-handed pitcher RJ Gordon).
The Ducks haven’t faced a lineup as good as Stanford’s nor a pitching staff as good as theirs, so this will be a good test for Oregon as will be for Stanford.
Keys to the series: After Sunday’s win over CSUN, Stanford head coach David Esquer addressed the series: “Well, Oregon is well coached, they’ve got talent, they’re gritty. They’re much like Northridge. They’re gonna battle us, they’ve got really good pitching, and we’ve got some things to figure out during this week of practice just to kinda get a little sharper and get ready for that weekend.”
Going off what Esquer said, the first thing Stanford is going to have to do is handle Oregon’s pitching. While they haven’t faced the best of teams, Oregon’s 4.46 ERA is still impressive and deserves respect. Stanford is going to need to get their bats going if they’re going to win this series. More specifically, it’s really going to be huge for Stanford to have a good night when Ayon is on the mound. Oregon will look to pick up a win the night he starts.
The second thing Stanford needs to do take advantage of their relief pitching. Oregon has one save on the season while Stanford has three: Joey Dixon (1); Braden Montgomery (2). Their relief pitching has been a strength all season long and will need to continue to be one as they open up Pac-12 play.
Finally, Stanford needs to get Brock Jones the support he needs. Jones is hitting .250 and has zero home runs. A major reason for that is he hasn’t been put in a ton of situations where teams are forced to pitch to him. If he can get more support and put in more situations where teams have to throw him something hittable, that could finally get him rolling.
Prediction: Sweeping Oregon is going to be tough. While the Ducks have been a bit up and down, they have some talent and have the pieces to at least get one game in this series. I’m going to say Stanford does the same as last week. They’ll take two out of three games, but Oregon will find a way to pick up a game.
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