Stanford Baseball Hosts Cal State Fullerton in Home Opener

After a 2-2 start to the season that saw a ranked win, a victory over a conference champion, and two heartbreaking losses, the Stanford Cardinal are set for their home-opening series, where they'll host Cal State Fullerton. The four-game series begins on Friday, with a game each day, ending on Monday.

Stanford and Cal State Fullerton have been rivals for a long time, being two of the premier programs in college baseball at times. The Cardinal have been to the College World Series 19 times, while the Titans have made 18 appearances. Stanford has come away as champions twice, with CSU Fullerton winning four times.

Each year since 2015 (excluding 2020 due to Covid), the two teams have faced off early in the year, each year, switching the home venue. Stanford has won 7 of the 10 series, with a cumulative record of 21-11.

However, the two met in the Stanford regional back-to-back years in 2017 and 2018, where the Titans ended the Cardinal’s hopes both times. Last season in Fullerton, Stanford won all four games to begin their season at a strong 4-0.

In CSU Fullerton’s opening weekend this year, they went 1-3, losing to Cal Baptist in a home-road series where the Titans hosted Friday and Sunday while the Lancers hosted a double-header on Saturday. The two schools being roughly 40 minutes apart made that a little easier to pull off a split series.

The Titans' offense struggled in the first game, but they were able to pull out their first (and so far only) win of the year with a 3-1 final.

Game two was a 17-inning thriller in the opener of the double-header that saw the Lancers win 5-4. Game three was another close one, but the Titans ultimately lost 7-6 in seven innings. Finally in game four, they were dominated 7-0 at home. After an opening day win, the Titans are now on a three-game losing streak.

The Titans’ hitting is led by Ty Thomas and Cameron Kim, who still contributed throughout the disappointing weekend. Thomas is off to a nice start with a .333 AVG and recorded six hits, including three doubles and an RBI. Kim holds a .278 AVG, with five hits, two doubles, and two RBI.

While the hitting hasn't been too impressive to start things off, CSU Fullerton has some solid pitching that could cause Stanford trouble this weekend. Joseph Jasso, Mikiah Negrete, Dylan Smith, and Brady Dockan have all pitched at least four innings and none of the four gave up an earned run last weekend.

Negrete has pitched five innings without giving up a single run, while Smith and Jasso were each tagged for a single unearned run in their five frames.

This weekend should be one of Stanford’s most favorable series of the season. The Cardinal are positioned as the better team, both talent and coaching wise, and the lack of offense from the Titans should set up the Cardinal for a series win.

After heavily struggling against Cal Baptist, there isn't much to make people believe they will go on the road and beat Stanford. It seems unlikely, but baseball is an unpredictable sport sometimes.

This series could easily be led by each program's pitching staff, but when it comes to scoring runs, Stanford has the edge over the Titans, making them the favorites in this series.