Stanford Baseball to Play in College Baseball Series vs Former Pac 12 Rivals

Stanford baseball has officially announced that they will be entering the College Baseball Series next season, with the event taking place on college baseball’s opening weekend, February 13-15, in Surprise, AZ. They will be playing against three other opponents: Arizona, Michigan, and Oregon State.

In early season tournaments, teams usually play others that they have no history of competing against. However, the Cardinal have played every single one of these programs multiple times.

Since 2000, Stanford has played Oregon State 78 times, going 35-43. The Beavers have been the more dominant team, but it has been a competitive rivalry. Their most recent battle came in 2024, when the Cardinal took down the Beavers 2-1 in Scottsdale, AZ in the Pac 12 tournament.

Another Pac 12 rival that they will face are the Arizona Wildcats. Since 2000, they have played 69 times, with Stanford edging it out 35-34. Most recently though, Arizona has been the dominant team, winning the last seven in various locations like Palo Alto, CA, Tucson, AZ, and Scottsdale, AZ.

Michigan has less of a history with the Cardinal, but did compete in a series back in 2018 and a midweek game in 2020. The Cardinal won four of five, with all of those games happening in Palo Alto, CA. Not only do these teams have history with Stanford, but they'll also provide tough competition.

Last season, Arizona was an Omaha participant, getting out of the Eugene Regional as well as the Chapel Hill Super Regional. Unfortunately, a fall in Omaha was inevitable, but a 44-21 record and a Big 12 championship is nothing to hang your head over-- in fact the opposite.

Oregon State had similar success. The Beavers went to Omaha as well, after an incredible season going 48-16-1. They did not go all the way, but were able to get a win in Omaha, a feat that almost no team in the country could say that they did. They also helped bring back the love for college sports, after an extremely tough season due to conference realignment.

Michigan had a solid year, going 33-23. They started the year incredibly, with a win over No. 2 Virginia, but settled down a bit after that big victory.

Last season Stanford baseball went 27-25 in 2025, including an 11-19 record against the ACC. The season started off well, with the Cardinal holding a 10-1 record at one point, but once the conference schedule kicked off things started to go downhill. Starting the season off in the College Baseball Series against some tough opponents won't allow Stanford to ease into the season, either, so they'll have to hit the ground running in Arizona.

Stanford should be able to compete in this tournament. Despite some tough losses in the transfer portal, the Cardinal return stars as well, and will surely compete with some of the top teams in college baseball. It will definitely be one of the  premier matchups on the schedule, but could get the Cardinal moving in the right direction early.