Stanford Baseball's Win Streak is Facing a Critical Test Ahead

Is Stanford baseball back? Enduring a tough go-around last year, the Cardinal returned to the field this season hungry to prove that they have what it takes to make it back to the College World Series after a multi-year absence. And while the Cardinal got off to a slow start this season, it looks like they may have things back on track after a couple of solid weeks.

The Cardinal started March on the wrong foot, losing their first five games to open the month followed by a series loss to Pittsburgh. But something clicked for the Cardinal at that point, because starting with their series against Utah Valley, they have been playing very good baseball.

Beating Utah Valley 4-3 to start the series on March 21, the Cardinal came out firing on Sunday, March 22, winning both games in a doubleheader. They took game one 17-10 and followed that up with another offensive explosion in game two at 15-9.

In the series finale on Monday, March 23, the Cardinal and the Wolverines only played eight innings, with the Cardinal prevailing 15-6.

Hitting the road the following week, taking on Virginia Tech in Blacksburg for a three-game series, the Cardinal built off their performance against Utah Valley nicely, beating the Hokies two games to one. In that series, the Cardinal won game one 9-7 and fell 10-2 in game two, before getting the best of the Hokies in the rubber match by a score of 6-3 in extra innings.

Upcoming series loom large for Stanford

The rest of the season will be very important for the Cardinal, who have a series against both Clemson and Louisville up next.

Both teams have gotten the better of the Cardinal recently, and if the Cardinal want any hope of making a postseason run, they will need to win the majority of those games. Clemson sits right behind the Cardinal in the ACC standings by one game, so for the Cardinal to avoid falling in the standings and instead gaining ground, a series win over the Tigers is crucial.

Louisville is 4-5 in conference play and have struggled of late, but after a red-hot start to the season, it has shown that it can get hot at any time. If the Cardinal play well in those series, it will be provide a massive momentum boost for the final stretch of the regular season, and could even be enough to propel them into postseason conversations.

Standouts this season

So far this season, the Cardinal have struggled in a couple of areas, but have also gotten very good seasons out some of their most important rising stars—most notably sophomore infielders Charlie Bates and JJ Moran.

Bates, a former standout at nearby Palo Alto High School, is hitting over .330 this season while excelling with his glove, and evolving into a cornerstone piece for the Cardinal. Moran, a graduate of San Marcos High School, is enjoying a breakout season himself, hitting well over .300 and becoming an everyday starter at third base.

Meanwhile, Rintaro Sasaki is also mashing the ball, and has already set a new career-high in home runs with nine so far this season. He totaled seven last year in twice as many games. Four of those home runs have come in the past two series against Utah Valley and Virginia Tech.

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