WHAT: Washington State (7-12) at Stanford (10-5)

WHERE: Klein Field at Sunken Diamond (4,000), Stanford, CA

WHEN: Thu. 6 p.m., Fri. 6 p.m., Sat. 1 p.m.

RADIO/INTERNET: 1150 AM in Pullman (Matt Chazanow); Online at wsucougars.com.

ALL-TIME SERIES: Stanford leads 47-25

LAST TIME: Stanford won series, 2-1, in 2015 at Pullman.

PROBABLE STARTING PITCHERS:

Thursday: WSU RHP Ryan Ward (1-0, 4.32 ERA, 16.2 IP, 21 K, 14 BB) vs. Stanford RHP Brett Hanewich (2-1, 3.86 ERA, 18.2 IP, 14 K, 8 BB)

Friday: WSU RHP Ian Hamilton (0-5, 3.64 ERA, 29.2 IP, 25 K, 7 BB) vs. Stanford RHP Tristan Beck (3-1, 1.74 ERA, 20.2 IP, 16 K, 4 BB)

Saturday: WSU TBA vs. Stanford TBA.

Washington State coach Marty Lees has altered the Cougars pitching rotation heading into the second weekend of Pac-12 play.

With Ian Hamilton still winless and coming off an outing at UCLA in which he allowed eight hits and five runs in 6.0 innings, the junior RHP from Vancouver, WA has been moved to the second game of this weekend’s series at Stanford, which gets underway Thursday night at Sunken Diamond in the Bay Area.

Hamilton’s 0-5 record doesn’t reflect his effectiveness this season as the junior owns a 3.64 ERA with 25 strikeouts seven walks in 29.2 innings, all team-bests. Hamilton has been on the wrong end of close ball games and the Cougars offense scored just eight runs in his first five starts. Over his last four starts, Hamilton has a 2.52 ERA with 22 strikeouts and has held hitters to a .253 batting average in 25 IP

Freshman RHP Ryan Ward from Hood River, Ore. has been promoted to the prestigious ‘Friday night starter’ role even though he struggled with his control last weekend at UCLA, walking five Bruins in 1.2 IP. For the season, he has walked 14 batters in 16.2 innings.

The Game 3 starter is TBA, meaning freshman Parker McFadden has been temporarily pulled from the weekend rotation. The freshman from Yelm, WA suffered through his worst outing of the season Sunday at UCLA, allowing seven runs and five walks in 2.0 innings pitched. McFadden, a 20th-round draft selection by the Seattle Mariners last June, is 2-1 with a 6.10 ERA in 20.2 IP with 16 strikeouts and 13 walks.

ABOUT WASHINGTON STATE: Offensively. the Cougars are led by Trek Stemp, who is tied for the conference lead in hits (30), second in stolen bases (7) and seventh in batting average (.385). He carries a seven-game hitting streak into the Stanford series. Stemp has recorded a hit in all 18 of his starts this season. He redshirted last season but hasn’t missed a beat, recording seven multiple-hit games including a pair of 4-hit performances. He has started six games in centerfield and 12 at second base.

Patrick McGrath, who missed five games earlier this month (March 6-13) with a shoulder injury, owns a .393 batting average, sixth highest in the Pac-12 with two homers. He is tied for the team lead in RBI (14) with Cameron Frost.

ABOUT STANFORD: The Cardinal open their Pac-12 schedule after sweeping Kansas at home last week. As always, Stanford played a challenging non-conference schedule with weekend series against national powers Cal State Fullerton (won 2 of 3), Texas (split 4-game series) and Vanderbilt (lost 2 of 3).

Stanford leads the nation in team fielding percentage (.988) and have made the fewest errors in the country with just seven in the first 15 games. Stanford’s pitching has been strong as the Cardinal are fifth nationally in team ERA (2.18) and have allowed the second-fewest runs in the country (38). Stanford leads the Pac-12 in opposing batting average (.200) and fewest hits (96), walks (42) and home runs allowed (2).

Brandon Wulff leads the Cardinal with .318 batting average and Stanford paces the conference in ERA (2.18) and opposing batting average (.200). Head coach Mark Marquess is in his 40th season at Stanford. Stanford has won five straight series over WSU. The Cougars’ last series win over the Cardinal came in 2010 in Stanford.

TEAM: The Cougars lead the Pac-12 Conference in stolen bases (33-41) and are tied for third in the Pac-12 in home runs (12) and sixth in batting average (.275). WSU pitching is sixth in the conference with 144 strikeouts (7.9 per game).

LAST WEEKEND: Washington State opened Pac-12 play on the road in Los Angeles last weekend, dropping all three games to No. 14 UCLA, 5-2, 6-5 (12 innings) and 11-2. Offensively, the Cougars were led by senior Patrick McGrath (.385 with two doubles, two RBI and one stolen base) and sophomore Weston Hatten (two homers in the series. WSU’s scheduled home game Tuesday against Gonzaga was rained out.

COMING UP: The Cougars return to Bailey-Brayton Field to host Arizona State University next week on Thursday March 31 (7 p.m.), Friday April 1, (7 p.m.) and Saturday April 2 (1 p.m.). All three games will be televised by the Pac-12 Network.

STATISTICAL LEADERS

Batting Average: Patrick McGrath (.393)

At-Bats: Trek Stemp (78)

Runs: Trek Stemp (15)

Hits: Trek Stemp (30)

Doubles: Three tied with 4

Triples: Cameron Frost (2)

Homers: Three tied with 3.

RBI: Patrick McGrath and Cameron Frost (14)

Total Bases: Cameron Frost (39)

Slugging Pct.: Patrick McGrath (.571)

Walks: Stefan Van Horn (10)

Hit By Pitch: Patrick McGrath (4)

Strikeouts: Cameron Frost (21)

On-Base Pct: Dugan Shirer (.512)

Sacrifice Hits: Shane Matheny (5)

Stolen Bases: Derek Chapman (8)

NEXT FIVE GAMES

March 24 at Stanford, 6 p.m.

March 25 at Stanford, 6 p.m.

March 26 at Stanford, 1 p.m.

March 31 vs. Arizona State, 7 p.m. (Pac-12 Network)

April 1 vs. Arizona State, 7 p.m. (Pac-12 Network)

LAST FIVE RESULTS:

March 13 vs. Northeastern, W 7-2 (Game 1)

March 13 vs. Northeastern, W 8-1 (6 Inn.)(Game 2)

March 18 at UCLA, L 5-2

March 19 at UCLA, L 6-5 (12 inn.)

March 20 at UCLA, L 11-2