In preparation for returning to Pacific-10 Conference play this weekend, the No. 25 Stanford baseball team beat San Jose State (8-3) in San Jose on Wednesday. The Cardinal (26-18, 10-8 Pac-10) now returns home from its four-game road trip to host Washington State in what promises to be an extremely important Pac-10 series.
Junior outfielder Dave Giuliani led the Cardinal offense against the Spartans (18-30), going 4-4 with two runs scored. Giuliani has recently forced his way into the Stanford lineup—he hit a pair of home runs last week in addition to his four hits on Wednesday.
“It’s really nice to be in the lineup,” Giuliani said. “The biggest thing is the feeling of contributing to a win. I’ve been together with some of these guys for three years and they are my good friends. It’s been rough sitting down watching them contribute and not being able to; so it’s nice to be a part of it now.”
With Giuliani’s emergence, the Cardinal has shuffled its defense, with Giuliani taking over in left, freshman Stephen Piscotty shifting to first base and junior Jonathan Kaskow moving into the designated hitter role.
On Wednesday, Giuliani actually played left and right field, as the starting right fielder, freshman Tyler Gaffney, left the game in the fourth inning with a sore groin—an injury that isn’t expected to cause him to miss any time.
The biggest hit of the game was a third inning, bases-clearing double off the bat of junior catcher Zach Jones to give the Cardinal a 5-1 lead that it would not relinquish.
Freshman Dean McArdle (4-0) went 2.2 shutout innings, surrendering just two hits for the win. Also pitching well in relief was junior Danny Sandbrink, who went three shutout innings.
Now the Cardinal turns its attention to Washington State (26-17, 9-9). The Cougars are by no means a traditional baseball powerhouse, but they are currently fighting for a regional bid.
“Washington State took two out of three from [No. 3 Arizona State] and they are playing well,” Giuliani said. “Traditionally they are not a great team, but they can’t be overlooked. We have to come out and try and stay in second place in the Pac-10 or gain ground on first place.”
In addition to taking two of three from the Sun Devils back in April, Washington State comes in riding a four-game winning streak that includes a sweep of California last weekend.
This weekend’s series is incredibly crucial for Stanford. It is currently in a tie with UCLA for second in the Pac-10, four games behind Arizona State. However, Washington State is just a game behind the Cardinal and Bruins, so a slip-up this weekend could mean a big fall in the conference standings.
Giuliani believes that the Cardinal team understands the series’ importance.
“We are at a point this year that if we play well, we could very well host a regional; and if we don’t play well, we could very well not make a regional. And I think the guys know that,” Giuliani said.
For the Cardinal to succeed this weekend, it will need good starts from sophomores Brett Mooneyham and Jordan Pries, who will pitch on Friday and Saturday, respectively. Sophomore Brian Busick will likely return to the rotation on Sunday after working out of the bullpen last weekend. Mooneyham, who has been brilliant in his last three outings, will have the task of pitching against the Cougars’ ace, redshirt junior Chad Arnold. Arnold is 4-2 with a 3.28 ERA on the year.
Action between the Cardinal and the Cougars begins at 6 p.m. today at Klein Field at Sunken Diamond.