This weekend Stanford baseball will take on the Rice Owls on the road in Houston, Texas. Stanford comes in at 3-5 overall while Rice comes in at 3-5. Game one on Friday will be at 4:30 PM PT. Game two on Saturday will be at 2:30 PM PT. Game three on Sunday will be at 11:00 AM PT. All three games will air on ESPN+ and KZSU radio.
Last time out: Stanford defeated San Jose State 9-4 on Tuesday, picking up their second win in a row. Owen Cobb hit two home runs for the Cardinal.
RECAP: Stanford BSB powers past San Jose State at Sunken Diamond
Probable pitchers: For Friday, the probable pitching matchup is Stanford sophomore righty Matt Scott (0-2, 6.75 ERA, 16 K) vs. Rice junior righty Parker Smith (1-1, 1.64 ERA, 12 K).
For Saturday, the probable pitching matchup is Stanford freshman lefty Christian Lim (0-2, 10.50 ERA, 8 K) vs. Rice junior lefty J.D. McCracken (1-0, 1.26 ERA, 15 K).
For Sunday, the probable pitching matchup is Stanford sophomore righty Nick Dugan (2-0, 4.35 ERA) vs. Rice sophomore righty Ryland Urbanczyk (0-1, 2.25 ERA, 6K).
On Rice: The Owls got swept at home by Notre Dame in a three-game series to open up their season. They followed that up by picking up their first win of the season in a Tuesday home game against Sam Houston. After that, they took two out of three against Louisiana on the road before returning home to get destroyed by #2 LSU by a final score of 16-4.
Last season, Stanford and Rice faced off in a series at Sunken Diamond. Stanford swept the Owls 3-0 though two of those wins were by three runs. One was an 11-1 blowout. Stanford also had a 4-0 sweep over Rice in 2018, so the Cardinal have won seven straight games against Rice. However, in their last series at Rice in 2017, it was a 2-2 split.
The top contact hitter for the Owls is senior infielder Nathan Becker, who is batting .407 for six RBIs to go along with a .556 slugging percentage and a .500 on base percentage. The top power hitter for the Owls is senior infielder Jack Riedel, who is batting .276 for three home runs and 10 RBIs for a .586 slugging percentage and a .371 on base percentage.
As a team, the Owls are batting .220 for .88 home runs, 4 RBIs, and 4.38 runs per game for a .330 slugging percentage and a .320 on base percentage. Their opponents are batting .237 for 1.38 home runs, 5.25 RBIs, and 6.13 runs per game for a .403 slugging percentage and a .373 on base percentage. Pitching-wise, the Owls have a 5.07 ERA while their opponents have a 3.55 ERA.
Keys to the series: For Stanford, the first thing they need to do is they need either Scott or Lim to have a strong outing on the mound. While the ultimate goal is to get the sweep, for the purposes of my preview, the goal is to win the series and take at least two out of three. Given that Nick Dugan has been the most reliable starter so far, I think Stanford can feel really confident in at least picking up Sunday’s game. The question is can they take one out of two on Friday/Saturday. The key to that will be Scott and Lim pitching well. If at least one of those guys has a strong outing, I like Stanford’s chances to take the series.
The second thing Stanford needs to do is bring in the hot bats from their games against San Jose State and Penn State. Stanford put up nine runs against both teams in their last two games. If Stanford can find a way to keep that hitting up and come out hot in game one, that would be a great way to set the tone for the rest of the series. Owen Cobb in particular is on fire with three homers, which leads the team. If he can keep this up, they should be in a good spot to win this series.
Finally, Stanford needs their bullpen to hold. Rice is going to look to test Stanford’s young arms out of the bullpen and see if they can score some runs late. If Stanford’s bullpen does their job and holds, they’ll be fine. Sophomore righty Toran O’Harran (2.08 ERA) and freshman righty Joey Volchko (2.70 ERA) have been the top arms out of the pen so far for the Cardinal so far this season. Those guys are going to need to step up in this series once again.
Prediction: I’m gonna pick Stanford to win two out of three games. I think they’ll split Friday/Saturday and then pick up a win on Sunday with Dugan on the mound. Their bats have risen like a phoenix from the ashes, which gives me a good deal of confidence they’ll find a way to win this series. Rice is always tough at home, so they’re definitely gonna have to earn this one.
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