BSB: Cougs host Stanford in first Pac-12 home series
Washington State (12-8, 1-5 Pac-12) returns home to Pullman following a 9-game, 12-day road trip to host a three-game series against No. 24 Stanford (14-4, 2-1 Pac-12) beginning Thursday at 4 p.m. PT at Bailey-Brayton Field. All three games will be televised on the Pac-12 Networks.
Last weekend the Cougars were swept at Arizona State, falling behind early in each game. In all, WSU allowed 11 first-inning runs to the Sun Devils.
"In a Power 5 league, you have to be aggressive at the plate," Green said. "If you're not, you'll get behind in the count. All of our guys got a little stung. Our pitchers were just up in the zone and in the middle and Arizona State was aggressive. We have to get out of the middle of the zone and keep the ball down. Our guys are capable of doing that."
Despite losing five of its first six Pac-12 games, Green says the Cougars are upbeat heading into their first Pac-12 home series.
"We're waking up in our own beds for the first time it feels like all year," Green said. "Physically, we're in pretty good shape. It was a long trip. There was a lot of baseball for us, which is good. Clearly, we have some issues we need to address. We hope to go into the Stanford series better prepared and having learned from our experiences on the road trip. All in all, we like where we are. Our spirits are pretty good."
The health status of Kyle Manzardo and freshman Kyle Russell is a key issue heading into the Stanford series. Manzardo, WSU's best hitter with a.365 average with 6 HR and 24 RBI, should be good to go. Russell, though, is described as day-to-day with a hamstring ailment.
Historically, Stanford has featured great pitching. In 18 games this season, Cardinal pitchers have allowed just 143 hits with 164 strikeouts in 161.1 IP. The good news for the Cougars is they have already faced the top two staffs in the Pac-12 based on team ERA - Oregon State and Arizona State.
So, facing outstanding pitching is nothing new for WSU even though the conference schedule is still in the early stages.
"They're typical Stanford," Green said. "They're physical and strong. But they're running and executing offensively too. But they pitch and play good defense too. From a preparation standpoint, we're prepared for that based on what we've already seen. Oregon State has probably the best pitching staff in the league."
