In its opening weekend at home, Stanford baseball (2-2) will take on Kansas (2-2) in a three-game series set to begin on Friday.
The Cardinal had mixed results last week against No. 8 Cal State Fullerton. Stanford dropped the first two games of the series before staging a dramatic 11-inning comeback win on Sunday. Junior Quinn Brodey delivered a clutch ninth-inning double to score two and send the game into extra innings. Sophomore Duke Kinamon also came up big on Sunday, finishing 3-for-4 and scoring the eventual game-winning run.
Stanford has had the upper hand against Kansas over the past couple of seasons. The Cardinal have been victorious in their past five head-to-head matchups with the Jayhawks. Senior pitcher Chris Castellanos, Sunday’s probable starter, holds a 1-0 record with a 2.70 ERA in two appearances against Kansas. Offensively, senior Alex Dunlap has had success playing the Jayhawks over his career. The catcher has hit a .368 average against Kansas with two doubles and three RBI.
Cardinal freshmen have made an impact so far and will certainly gain more experience as the season progresses. Will Matthiessen made his debut on Saturday as a defensive replacement before retiring all six batters he faced in his collegiate starting pitching debut on Sunday. Andrew Daschbach has also found early success, going 2-for-2 with a double and RBI in his first two pinch-hitting appearances. Reliever Jack Little impressed in his role last week, striking out the side to finish off Saturday’s game.
Stanford will see a lot of competition in the early part of its season, the final one for head coach Mark Marquess. The Cardinal play their first 16 games in just 24 days, including nine in 11 at the Sunken Diamond. This will give the team a chance to gain experience and calibrate the lineup early on.
Stanford will play Kansas on Friday at 6 p.m., Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at 11 a.m. All of Friday’s games will be at the Sunken Diamond and the matchup will be streamed on Pac-12 Networks.
Contact Laura Anderson at lauraand ‘at’ stanford.edu.