After snapping its four-game losing streak earlier in the week against Santa Clara and San Jose State, the Stanford baseball team will head down to Long Beach, Calif. this weekend for a three-game series against Long Beach State.
Despite their mediocre record, the 49ers (20-21) should still present a significant challenge to the Cardinal (23-17, 10-8 Pac-10). They have played three series against other Pac-10 opponents—they took two games from both Oregon State and Arizona, but lost two out of three games to Washington.
Long Beach State has also played single games against a multitude of other Pac-10 opponents. It has lost games to Oregon and USC, and has gone 1-1 against UCLA.
The 49ers are entering the weekend on a three-game losing streak. After beating Cal Poly in the first game of a series last weekend, they dropped two straight games to the Mustangs before losing a midweek game at Pepperdine on Wednesday.
Stanford will try to use this series as a way to regain some momentum heading into its last three Pac-10 series against Washington State, No. 22 Arizona and No. 2 Arizona State. A sweep at the hands of Washington last weekend saw the Card drop out of the national rankings.
This series will not help Stanford in its quest to climb back into contention for the Pac-10 title, as Long Beach State is a nonconference opponent. The Cardinal currently sits in fourth place in the conference standings, tied with No. 18 Oregon and four games behind the Sun Devils.
For Stanford to win this series, it will need to get much better production from its offense. Against Washington, the Cardinal lineup fell flat, scoring a total of six runs in the series. In its previous two series, sweeps over Oregon State and California, the offense was the driving force behind Stanford’s success—it scored 58 runs combined in those six games.
Two Cardinal hitters in particular will need to come out of slumps this weekend—freshman right fielder Tyler Gaffney and junior first baseman Jonathan Kaskow. Entering this series, Gaffney, the leadoff hitter, has a .338 average with 17 RBIs. However, he was fairly ineffective against the Huskies, going 4-14 with no RBIs. His ability to get on base early will be critical to improving Stanford’s offensive performance.
Kaskow has been the bedrock for the Cardinal all season. His .402 average, recently from the cleanup spot, leads the team; but like Gaffney, he struggled against Washington, going 1-11 for the series.
Fortunately for Stanford, Long Beach State’s pitching staff has not played strongly for much of the year. In its last four games, 49er pitchers gave up 40 runs, including 16 runs to Cal Poly last Sunday.
Long Beach State’s starting rotation consists of Andrew Gagnon, Branden Pinder and Jake Thompson. Gagnon has pitched well for much of the season, with a 2.82 ERA and a record of 5-4. However, the other two starters have not met with as much success—Pinder and Thompson have ERAs of 4.05 and 5.22, respectively.
Stanford’s pitching has also been less than stellar this season, though it improved somewhat against Washington, Santa Clara and San Jose State. Stanford’s starting rotation of sophomores Jordan Pries, Brian Busick and Brett Mooneyham will be counted upon to contain the Long Beach offense. Pries, the ace of the staff, has met with struggles recently, with two rough outings in a row. However, Mooneyham, who struggled earlier in the season, appears to have returned to form. Though he has a 1-5 record and a 5.30 ERA, he has shown flashes of brilliance, including an excellent outing last weekend in Seattle.
The three starters will have to contend with a 49er offense that is led by two strong hitters in shortstop Devin Lohman and designated hitter Joey Terdoslavich. From the third spot in the lineup, Lohman is hitting .415 with 24 RBIs, while Terdoslavich has 40 RBIs and six home runs from the cleanup spot.
After this weekend, Stanford will return home to play Santa Clara on Monday. Its next conference series will start on May 14 at home against Washington State.