On Saturday at 11:00 AM PT on ESPN and KZSU radio, No.2 Stanford baseball will take on Arkansas in the College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska. Stanford comes in having won their home super-regional, taking out Connecticut in three games while Arkansas comes in having swept North Carolina on the road in the Chapel Hill super-regional. Stanford is 47-16 overall (21-9 Pac-12) while Arkansas is 43-19 overall (18-12 SEC).
Last time out: On Monday, Stanford defeated Connecticut 10-5 to win the Stanford super-regional. Stanford got down 0-3, but came back to win soundly.
RECAP: No.2 Stanford advances to College World Series with win over UConn
On Arkansas: The top contact hitter on this Razorbacks team is Chris Lanzilli, a grad transfer out of Wake Forest, who plays infield/outfield. Lanzilli is hitting .322 for 8 home runs and 33 RBIs while also having a .485 slugging percentage and a .427 on base percentage.
As for the top power hitter, there are three guys who can claim that title: Sophomore infielder/outfielder Cayden Wallace, graduate transfer outfielder Braydon Webb, and senior infielder/outfielder Brady Slavens. All three have hit 15 home runs on the season, doing a great job of hitting with power and putting up runs for their team. Of the three, Wallace has the best batting average (.299) and also the most RBIs (57), so if there’s someone who’d you give the tiebreaker to for best power hitter on the team, it would be him.
Senior right-handed pitcher Connor Noland (7-5, 3.86 ERA) will get the start for the Razorbacks. He’s had a really strong season and will look to pick up his 8th win of the season. As a team, the Razorbacks have a 4.07 ERA, doing a great job of not allowing opposing offenses to heat up.
While it is a bit of a surprise that the Razorbacks made the College World Series, they’ve certainly earned their stripes, losing just one game in the regional round and sweeping North Carolina on the road in their super-regional. While they did lose 5-0 to Stanford back in February at the Round Rock Classic, I’m not sure how much stock we can really put in that meeting.
Keys to the game: For Stanford, the first thing they need is a strong outing from their starting pitcher Alex Williams. The senior righty has had a great season overall with an 8-3 record and a 2.88 ERA, but his last two starts have been really disappointing. The source of both of Stanford’s post-season losses. If he has a strong outing, I like Stanford’s chances. If he has a bad outing, it could be trouble for the Cardinal. The one thing to keep in mind is Stanford is going in better prepared for him to possibly have a rough outing, which means there will be a shorter leash on him. Going in with this mindset definitely helps Stanford, but even so, they have to hope he’s on his game.
The second thing Stanford needs to do is keep hitting the long ball. Omaha is known to be more of a pitcher-friendly environment, but Stanford still needs to find a way to be the team that is hitting more home runs. If Stanford is going yard in this game, they’ll be close to impossible to beat.
Finally, the bullpen needs to come through for Stanford. Even if Williams has a big game, the bullpen still will likely be called upon at some point. I don’t see Williams pitching a complete game even if he’s on his game. If the bullpen comes through, whether it’s Quinn Mathews or someone else, Stanford should win this game.
Prediction: While a lot has changed for both teams since February, it should still be noted that Stanford did win their first meeting. I think that alone should give Stanford at least a slight edge. I don’t know if Alex Williams will have a bounce back performance or not, but I am confident that Stanford won’t let a shaky outing from him bring them down. Either he pitches great or they take him out early enough to avoid serious damage. I got Stanford winning this game 9-6.
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