Mar 1, 2025; Stanford, CA, USA; Stanford Cardinal second baseman Jimmy Nati (6) reacts after hitting a home run against the Xavier Musketeers during the eighth inning at Sunken Diamond. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images

This weekend, Stanford baseball will welcome Utah Valley to Sunken Diamond for a four game series. Stanford comes in at 7-12 overall and 1-5 in the ACC while Utah Valley comes in at 10-9 overall, yet to play a game in the WAC.

Game one will be on Saturday at 2:05 PM PT. There will be a doubleheader on Sunday at 1:05 PM PT & 4:05 PM PT (or 30 minutes after the conclusion of the first game). The final game will be on Monday at 12:05 PM PT. All four games will air on ACCNX, which is powered by ESPN.

Last time out: Stanford fell to Pittsburgh in a three-game series last week. Stanford won the first game before losing the next two.

RECAP: Stanford Baseball falls to Pittsburgh on Sunday

On Utah Valley: The Wolverines are in their final year in the WAC as they will move to the Big West as a full member starting July 1st, 2026. They will be the first Utah based school to be in the Big West since Utah State in the mid-2000s before leaving for the Mountain West. Utah State of course now moving to joining the Pac-12. Times are changing!

On the diamond, the Wolverines have had an up and down season so far. They got swept by Nevada on the road, a team who Stanford split with this season. The Wolverines have played a power conference program earlier this season in Cincinnati, who is receiving votes in the Top 25. The Bearcats won both games 11-1 and 6-3. So, the Wolverines come in at 0-2 against power four conference teams.

The top contact hitter for the Wolverines is senior infielder Chipper Beck, who is batting .370 for one home run and 13 RBIs while also having a .543 slugging percentage and a .516 on base percentage. The top power hitter for the Wolverines is senior utility Hunter Katschke who is batting .296 for seven home runs and 14 RBIs while having a .759 slugging percentage and a .409 on base percentage. Both Beck and Katcschke are doing a great job of anchoring the Wolverines’ lineup.

The top starting pitcher for the Wolverines is redshirt junior righty Garrett Miller, who is 3-0 in three starts with a 3.43 ERA and 15 strikeouts. As a team, the Wolverines have a 4.79 ERA while their opponents have a 6.58 ERA. As for their hitting, the Wolverines are batting .264 for 21 home runs and 116 RBIs with a .439 slugging percentage and a .393 on base percentage.

Keys to the series: For Stanford, the first thing they need to do is contain Katschke. He’s got a very powerful bat and will look to go yard at Sunken Diamond. If Stanford can prevent him from hitting any home runs, that would be massive. Given it’s a four game series, that might be too tall of an order, but if they can limit him to one or two, that might be enough. Especially if they’re solo shots. Just can’t have him go wild with 3+ homers with runners on base.

Secondly, Stanford’s pitching simply has to be better. The Cardinal have an ERA of 6.62 while their opponents have an ERA of 6.31. That sums it up. Stanford’s pitching staff simply has to do better. Now, if there’s one area where they can look to improve, it’s walking fewer batters. Stanford has walked 118 batters this season in 19 games. That’s 6.2 walked batters per game. If they can cut back on walks, they should be fine.

Finally, Stanford’s bats need to stay hot. They have hit 33 home runs to their opponents’ 19. The home runs have been a strong point for the Cardinal this season. If that continues, they should be in a good spot.

Prediction: I’m torn on whether to pick a Cardinal split or taking three out of four. Given their recent struggles, I think Stanford splitting is the more logical pick. For their sake, I hope they prove me wrong and are able to take three out of four or get the four-game sweep.

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