This weekend, No. 18 Stanford softball will welcome Cal to The Farm for a three-game series. Stanford comes in at 30-8 overall and 9-6 in the ACC while Cal comes in at 29-14 overall and 6-9 in the ACC. Game one is on Thursday, April 17th at 6:00 PM PT on ACCNX. Game two will be on Friday, April 18th at 6:00 PM PT on ACCNX. Game three will be on Saturday at 1:00 PM PT on ACCNX.
Saturday’s game is being dubbed “The Big Swing” with the goal of setting an NCAA single-game attendance record. In case you are just tuning into Stanford softball, with their stadium being renovated, they have been playing the entire season at the football stadium. Hence the opportunity to break the record.
Last time out: Stanford swept Boise State 3-0 last weekend on the road and then defeated Pacific on the road on Tuesday by a final score of 11-2 in five innings. Stanford dropped two out of three against No. 15 Clemson at home in their previous ACC series so it was important for them to get back in the winning circle.
On Cal: The Golden Bears got swept by No. 3 Florida State at home last weekend and have since tried to get back on track by defeating St. Mary’s in a doubleheader on Tuesday on the road. The Bears got off to a hot start in ACC play by sweeping Boston College in Berkeley and taking two out of three against Georgia Tech to start 5-0 in league play before dropping their first game. Since starting 5-0 in the ACC, Cal has gone 1-9 in league play, really falling off a cliff. A very similar type of situation to Stanford baseball, who started hot in the ACC before cooling off drastically.
The top contact hitter for the Bears is senior outfielder/utility Mika Lee, who is batting .413 for three home runs and 19 RBIs to go along with a .577 slugging percentage and a .440 on base percentage. The top power hitter is junior infielder Tianna Bell, who is batting .383 for 12 home runs and 42 RBIs to go along with a .727 slugging percentage and a .441 on base percentage. Right behind her is catcher/utility Lagi Quiroga, who is batting .355 for 10 home runs and 36 RBIs to go along with a .659 slugging percentage and a .438 on base percentage.
As a team, the Bears are batting .330 for 290 runs, 51 home runs, and 255 RBIs to go along with a .545 slugging percentage and a .416 on base percentage. Their opponents have a .279 batting average for 178 runs, 39 RBIs, and 168 RBIs to go along with a .437 slugging percentage and a .356 on base percentage.
As for their pitching, freshman Miranda De Nava has a 10-3 record and 3.07 ERA in nine starts and 21 appearances while pitching six complete games. She’s been the top pitcher for the Bears. The Bears have a 4.02 ERA as a team while their opponents have a 6.31 ERA.
Keys to the series: The first thing Stanford needs to do is win the home run battle. Stanford has hit 74 home runs this season with Taryn Kern leading the way with 18. If Stanford wins the home run battle, they should be in a good spot to win the series.
The second thing Stanford needs to do is be smart with their base running. It feels like at times, Stanford has perhaps been a little too aggressive with their base running. If Stanford is smart with how they run the bases and trust their lineup, they should be in a good spot to win.
Finally, Stanford needs to contain Bell and Quiroga. Those two players have combined for 22 home runs for the Bears. If Stanford can prevent them from going yard, that will take away a big part of the Bears’ offense.
Prediction: Given Stanford is the ranked team and is at home, I’ll pick them to win the series. A sweep is possible, but given it’s a rivalry, I’ll say Cal picks up a win.
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