Coming off a 4-3 win over the San Jose Spartans this past Tuesday, the Stanford baseball team (19-23, 5-13 Pac-12) will head to Eugene to take on the Oregon Ducks (25-19, 7-11 Pac-12) in a three-game conference series this weekend. With these upcoming games, both the Cardinal and the Ducks are looking to pick up their third conference series win.
Despite injuries being a reoccurring theme for Stanford baseball this season, the team has had several players step up. Notably, right-hander Brett Hanewich has proven to be a solid contender on the mound for the Cardinal, helping them to secure victories over California and UCLA.
The sophomore from Bradenton, Florida holds a 3.84 ERA and has allowed only 27 runs over 58.2 innings, including a one-run complete game his last time up against the Bruins. With the injuries of Austin Barr, Mikey Diekroeger and Matt Winaker still lingering, the Cardinal will continue to utilize junior Zach Hoffpauir, who leads the team with a .370 batting average in conference play. Hoffpauir and junior Drew Jackson are the only two of the current starting nine players hitting over .300 this season.
The Oregon Ducks enter the series this weekend after taking two of three games against the Washington Huskies. Oregon junior Mitchell Tolman paced the Ducks offensively last weekend hitting .545 (6-for-11) with two walks and two RBIs. The third baseman is the sole Oregon player hitting over .300 this season. In addition, four pitchers from Oregon’s bullpen have evenly split innings on the mound during conference play, combining for an ERA of 6.43. Of the four, junior Josh Graham holds a 1.80 ERA in the Pac-12, having allowed just seven runs over 25 innings.
Both teams will have to try to limit fielding errors if they hope to take the series this weekend. The two teams combine for 63 errors in conference play, accounting for 47 unearned runs. (Stanford and Oregon are both in the bottom four for Pac-12 fielding percentage.)
First pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Friday. The game will be broadcasted live on the Pac-12 Networks.
Contact Erin Ashby at eashby ‘at’ stanford.edu.