Mar 1, 2025; Stanford, CA, USA; Stanford Cardinal left fielder Tatum Marsh (4) hits a double against the Xavier Musketeers during the third inning at Sunken Diamond. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images
This weekend, Stanford baseball will welcome Fresno State to Sunken Diamond for a three-game series. Game one will be on Friday at 2:05 PM PT. Game two will be on Saturday at 2:05 PM PT. Game three will be on Sunday at 1:05 PM PT. All three games will air on ACCNX. Stanford comes in at 4-4 overall while Fresno State comes in at 4-3.
Last time out: Stanford defeated Waseda University (Tokyo, Japan) 11-3 in an exhibition on Wednesday. Teddy Tokheim had two triples and five RBIs to lead the Cardinal.
GoStanford.com: Cardinal wins exhibition with Waseda
BOX SCORE: Waseda at Stanford-Wednesday, February 25th
Probable pitchers: On Friday, the probable pitching matchup is Stanford senior righty Nick Dugan (0-1, 6.23 ERA) vs. Fresno State redshirt senior righty Drew Townson (0-1, 2.16 ERA). On Saturday, the probable pitching matchup is Stanford junior righty Aidan Keenan (0-1, 3.48 ERA) vs. Fresno State sophomore righty Tyler Patrick (0-1, 5.23 ERA). On Sunday, the probable pitching matchup is Stanford sophomore righty Parker Warner (0-0, 0.93 ERA) vs. Fresno State redshirt senior righty Victor Arreola (0-0, 4.70 ERA)
On Fresno State: The Bulldogs went 1-2 against Utah at home to open the season before taking three out of four games handily against Pepperdine at home. This will be their first road series of the season.
The top contact hitter for the Bulldogs is redshirt freshman outfielder Barclay Ovalle, who is batting .385 for zero home runs, 1 RBI, a .385 slugging percentage, and a .467 on base percentage. He’s done a good job of getting contact and getting on base but simply hasn’t driven in the amount of runners he’d like. As for power, freshman infielder Brady Hewiit is leading the way in that department, batting .345 for one home run, two RBIs, a .586 slugging percentage, and a .387 on base percentage.
As a pitching staff, the Bulldogs have a 4.14 ERA to their opponents’ 6.56 ERA. They’re off to a good start on the mound this season. They also are out-hitting their opponents .280-.242 while having 49 RBIs to their opponents’ 36 RBIs. They have four home runs on the season while having given up four home runs, so they could be doing better in the power department. However, they’re averaging 7.7 runs per game with four games of 10+ runs, so on the whole their offense is doing fine.
Keys to the series: For Stanford, the first thing they need to do is play clean defense. They’ve had nine errors so far this season while their opponents have had seven. Stanford has a .969 fielding percentage while their opponents have a .977 fielding percentage. Stanford has to play the cleaner game with respect to their fielding. If they do, they should be in a good spot to win this series.
Secondly, Stanford needs to get the long ball going. They’ve hit only three home runs so far while their opponents have hit four. If Rintaro Sasaki could go yard at least once this weekend, that would be huge. It’s harder to go yard in the month of February given the colder conditions, but it’s not impossible. If Stanford is able to see some balls fly over the fence, that would go a long ways towards winning the series.
Finally, Nick Dugan needs to wake up. He’s the Friday guy (for now anyways). If he can have a good outing on the mound and set the tone, that would be big. Your Friday starters play a huge role in setting the tone for the entire series. If Dugan can do that, Stanford should be in a good spot to win the series.
Prediction: I got Stanford taking two out of three games against the Bulldogs. I’m not feeling a sweep, but I do think they’ll take care of business and win the series.
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