Feb 28, 2025; Stanford, CA, USA; Stanford Cardinal left fielder Tatum Marsh (4) runs to first base after hitting an RBI-triple against the Xavier Musketeers during the eighth inning at Sunken Diamond. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images
This weekend, Stanford baseball will have a three-game road series at Virginia Tech. Stanford comes in at 11-12 overall and 1-5 in the ACC while Virginia Tech comes in at 12-11 overall and 4-5 in the ACC. Game one will be on Friday at 10:00 AM PT. Game two will be on Saturday at 12:00 PM PT. Game three will be on Sunday at 10:00 AM PT. All three games will air on ACCNX.
Last time out: Stanford got a four-game home sweep over Utah Valley, defeating the Wolverines 15-6 in eight innings on Monday.
RECAP: Stanford Baseball completes four game sweep of Utah Valley
On Virginia Tech: The Hokies are 2-7 in games against ranked opponents. They avoided sweeps against No. 9 Virginia and No. 3 Georgia Tech on the road, getting wins on the third game of each series. Sundays have been their day so far in the ACC. They just need to figure out how to get going on Fridays and Saturdays.
The Hokies for the most part have done a nice job of winning the games they’re supposed to win. They won their home series against Duke taking two out of three games and also their home series against Rutgers, taking two out of three as well. It’s just a matter of punching above their weight.
The top contact hitter for the Hokies is freshman infielder Ethan Ball, who is batting .354 for four home runs and 13 RBIs to go along with a .573 slugging percentage and a .436 on base percentage. As for power, sophomore infielder Hudson Lutterman is leading the way with five home runs while also having a .288 batting average to along with 21 RBIs, a .575 slugging percentage, and a .382 on base percentage.
As for pitching, that’s where the Hokies struggle. They have a 7.49 ERA while their opponents have a 5.14 ERA. All three of their starting pitchers have ERAs north of 6.00. That’s not going to get it done.
Keys to the series: For Stanford, the first thing they need to do is win the pitching battle. While Stanford’s pitching has been weak, their ERA is actually better than Virginia Tech’s (6.67). If Stanford is able to piece together a better pitching outing, that could make the difference. One area that Stanford really needs to home in on is walks. They have walked 138 batters while their opponents have walked 109. If Stanford can lower the amount of batters they walk, that should help the pitching perform at a higher level.
Secondly, Stanford needs Jimmy Nati, Rintaro Sasaki, and Tatum Marsh to anchor the lineup. Those guys are the top three batters on paper for the Cardinal and on the road, they’re especially going to have to step up. If those guys are able to swing the bat well, others should feed off of that.
Finally, Stanford needs to simply play clean baseball. I write this every week, but it’s really true. Stanford has 27 errors to their opponents 20. That’s had a huge impact on the season so far. If Stanford can improve their fielding percentage and be the team that has fewer errors on the weekend, that could be what decides this series.
Prediction: Stanford is coming in hot having won four straight games over Utah Valley while Virginia Tech just lost on the road at East Tennessee State on Tuesday. I’ll pick Stanford to take two out of three games this series, but I think both wins will be close. A great opportunity lies in front of Stanford. They need to make the most of it.
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