This weekend, #8 Stanford baseball will take on the Oregon Ducks on the road in Eugene. Stanford comes in at 22-8 overall and 10-2 in the Pac-12 while Oregon comes in at 22-9 overall and 7-5 in the Pac-12. Game one will be on Friday at 5:05 PM PT. Game two will be on Saturday at 2:05 PM PT. Game three will be on Sunday at 12:05 PM PT. All three games will air on Oregon Live Stream and KZSU radio.
Last time out: On Tuesday, Stanford fell to Texas Tech at home by a final score of 11-2. Stanford split their two-game home series with Texas Tech.
RECAP: #8 Stanford BSB falls to #22 Texas Tech on Tuesday
Probable pitchers: On Friday, the projected matchup is Stanford senior left-handed pitcher Quinn Mathews (4-2, 2.58 ERA, 66K) vs. Oregon junior right-handed pitcher Jace Stoffal (4-2, 3.31 ERA, 36K).
On Saturday, the projected matchup is Stanford freshman right-handed pitcher Matt Scott (5-0, 2.08 ERA, 38K) vs. Oregon junior right-handed pitcher Logan Mercado (2-0, 6.75 ERA, 34K).
On Sunday, the projected matchup is Stanford junior right-handed pitcher Joey Dixon (3-0, 4.38 ERA, 38K) vs. Oregon freshman right-handed pitcher Leo Uelman (2-3, 6.55 ERA, 21K).
On Oregon: The Ducks have had a strong season overall but are just barely above .500 in league play. In their last league series, they lost two out of three at home against their rival Oregon State. Earlier this week, they picked up a two-game sweep over San Francisco.
The top contact hitter on this Ducks team is senior outfielder Tanner Smith, who is batting .350 for six home runs, 24 RBIs, a .581 slugging percentage, and a .434 on base percentage. The top power hitter is sophomore first baseman Jacob Walsh, who is batting .257 for eight home runs, 18 RBIs, a .514 slugging percentage, and a .342 on base percentage. The best all-around hitter is junior infielder/catcher Sabin Ceballos, who is batting .340 for seven home runs, 34 RBIs, a .649 slugging percentage, and a .459 on base percentage.
As a team, the Ducks are batting .290 for 45 home runs and 199 RBIs. Their opponents are batting .227 for 33 home runs and 128 RBIs. As for the pitching, the Ducks have a 4.30 ERA while their opponents have a 6.66 ERA.
Keys to the series: For Stanford, the first thing they need is their starting pitching to take them as deep as they can. The less Stanford has to rely on their bullpen, the better. The day when they’re going to need their bullpen the most is on Sunday, so if Mathews and Scott can go deep on Friday and Saturday, that will really be huge.
The second thing Stanford needs to do is contain Smith, Walsh, and Ceballos as best they can. Those three guys are a major source of the Ducks’ offense. If Stanford can slow those guys down and not allow them to go off, that will go a long ways towards getting a series victory.
Finally, the long ball needs to be a constant. Home run hitting is a big part of Stanford’s offensive attack. If they are going to win this series, guys like Carter Graham, Braden Montgomery, and Malcolm Moore are going to need to find ways to go yard. If they do, I like Stanford’s chances of winning the series.
Prediction: Oregon is a solid team and given this is a road series, Stanford should be tickled pink if they can win the series and leave Eugene with only one loss. This is a series the Ducks could very well win. That all said, I’m going to say Stanford will take two out of three. Stanford is ranked too high to not be picked to win the series even with it being on the road.
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