Stanford heads to Washington on seven-game conference win streak

The No. 18 Stanford baseball team (21-14, 10-5 Pac-10) travels to Seattle, Wash. this weekend to take on the Washington Huskies (20-18, 5-7) in a three-game Pac-10 Conference series.

This weekend begins a stretch in which the Cardinal will play five games on consecutive days.

The Card has lately been playing its best baseball of the season. Stanford enters the weekend having swept two consecutive Pac-10 series. Two weeks ago the Cardinal traveled to Oregon State and took all three from the Beavers before sweeping rival California at Sunken Diamond last weekend. The Cardinal did, however, have its eight-game winning streak snapped on Monday with a 9-3 loss at the hands of Santa Clara.

The Cardinal’s offense has catalyzed its recent surge, scoring double-digit runs in four of those eight victories. The offense has also had a flair for the dramatic, as Stanford has won eight games this season in its last at-bat, including two of the wins last weekend against Cal. Both walk-off RBIs came from freshman third baseman Kenny Diekroeger, who was named Pac-10 Player of the Week after his performance against the Golden Bears.

Leading Stanford’s offensive barrage has been junior first baseman Jonathan Kaskow. Kaskow enters the weekend hitting .469, good for fourth in the nation.

This weekend is crucial for the Cardinal’s chances at winning the Pac-10 title. Currently Stanford sits alone in second place, one game behind No. 1 Arizona State, whom the Cardinal will host in its final series of the season. Washington, on the other hand, is currently in a tie for seventh in the conference.

Junior shortstop Jake Schlander thinks that even though Washington is below the Cardinal in the standings, Stanford still needs to prepare diligently.

“Every Pac-10 team is going to be tough,” Schlander said. “We have to prepare for every game the same. We beat Cal and weren’t prepared for Santa Clara. It doesn’t matter who the team is; we have to prepare the same, play the game. Respect the game, as [head coach Mark Marquess] always says.”

Not only must Stanford prepare for its road trip to Washington, but it also must get ready for games on Monday and Tuesday against Santa Clara and San Jose State, respectively, before next week’s road trip to Long Beach State.

This is undoubtedly the most grueling stretch of Stanford’s schedule, but Schlander believes the team is well-prepared for the upcoming grind.

“Our practice schedule in the fall and spring prepares us for stretches like this. Intra-squad four or five days a week, practice the other days,” Schlander said. “Road trips are pretty fun, playing those games are fun; so as long as we keep focused every game and keep the same energy level, we should be fine.”

Another reason for Stanford’s recent improvement has been the performance of its pitchers. The Cardinal will send sophomore Brett Mooneyham to the mound Friday. Mooneyham, who has been erratic for most of the season, is coming off one of his best starts of the season last weekend against Cal, in which he went 7.1 innings and gave up just one earned run while striking out 10. Mooneyham will square off with Huskies’ junior Geoff Brown.

On Saturday, sophomore Jordan Pries takes the mound for Stanford against Washington sophomore Andrew Kittredge.

Pries’ start is quite an honor, as the Cardinal and the Huskies will play Saturday’s game at Safeco Field, home of Major League Baseball’s Seattle Mariners—a privilege the entire team is excited about.

“I am excited about playing at Safeco—it’s going to be awesome,” Schlander said. “I’ve never played in a big-league ballpark. Plus, we are playing right after the Texas-Seattle game. It’s going to be fun to see that, then play right after them.”

Although starters haven’t been officially announced for Sunday’s series finale, all signs point to Stanford sending sophomore Brian Busick to the mound.

This upcoming stretch should be good practice for the postseason for Stanford, as the playoffs often require a team to play games multiple days in a row. This weekend should go a long way in showing how deep this Cardinal team is.