No. 2 Stanford baseball (31-13, 13-8 Pac-12) leaves the Farm this weekend and travels to the other side of the Bay to take on Cal Berkeley (21-24, 12-12 Pac-12) in a three-game series. The series starts at 4 p.m. on Saturday at Evan Diamond field.

Previously riding the longest streak in the nation with 11 straight wins, Stanford baseball heads into this game with 12 wins in their last 13 games.

With only three three-game series and one game left before regionals and currently tied for second in the conference with UCLA, Stanford baseball is working to kick it into high gear. Last year, Stanford took an 8-6 win against Cal Berkeley by scoring a remarkable three runs with two outs in the ninth inning.

Earlier this season the Cardinal had dominated the Bears twice at Sunken Diamond, winning 8-4 and 6-4. The matchups were midweek games, so this weekend is set to be an exciting battle.

On the Cal side, with a team batting average of .287, freshman star player Andrew Vaughn (.348, 12HR’s) has been leading the office, with junior pitcher Andrew Buckley (3-0) and sophomore pitcher Joey Matulovich (4-1) manning the dugout in tight situations.

Stanford relies on solid pitching, defense and timely hitting. Look for the bulk of the pitching done by sophomore Kris Bubic, junior Andrew Summerville, senior Chris Castellanos, freshman Eric Miller and junior Colton Hock in relief. The Cardinal offense is led by junior Quinn Brodey, junior Matt Winaker, sophomore Duke Kinamon and others who will need to get hot early in the series to top the Bears. 

As Coach Marquess’ last season is narrowing to a close, the team will be looking to deliver a win against the Bears on rival turf.

The rivalry begins at 4 p.m. on Saturday at Evan Diamond field. Live updates and stats can be found at gostanford.com.

Contact Cate Camara at ccamara2 ‘at’ stanford.edu.