Tatum Marsh Earns Freshman All-American Honors

Stanford baseball did not have the season that they were hoping, but at least they can rest easy knowing that one of their freshmen was an instant star. Even though the College World Series is set to begin in a matter of days, regular season awards are starting to be handed out--with the Stanford Cardinal getting some good representation.

After a stellar debut campaign, freshman Tatum Marsh was named a Second-Team Freshman All-American by Perfect Game USA after proving to be an effective role player for the Cardinal. In his first season on The Farm, Marsh hit .377 with three home runs and 25 RBI, collecting 66 hits and walking 11 times in 175 at-bats over 50 games played. A contact hitter, Marsh only struck out 24 times.

Marsh's big season is very encouraging for the Cardinal in a lot of ways. For one, a program that has struggled the past two seasons, failing to make the NCAA tournament after being in the College World Series three straight years between 2021 and 2023, has young guys that they know they can rely on in the future, with Marsh showing that he has what it takes to have a bigger role come next season.

It also gives the Cardinal pieces that they can build around in order to return to greatness. Aside from Japanese phenom Rintaro Sasaki, the Cardinal have a handful of key players returning who will need to step up in 2026 if the Cardinal want to be a threat in the ACC. Gone are players like Trevor Haskins and Matt Scott, meaning that once again, the Cardinal will need to really reestablish their identity and figure out who their star will be.

On the field, Marsh gave the Cardinal major stability in the outfield. Making 99 put-outs on 104 fielding opportunites, Marsh only committed four errors in that span and finished the year with a very respectable .981 fielding percentage.

For a freshman that is still learning the ropes of college baseball and adjusting to the speed of things, that is a very pretty solid fielding percentage. And now that Marsh has a season of experience under his belt, it would not be a shocker to see Marsh's glove improve next season.

Spending his high school career playing for Valley Christian in San Jose, Marsh was a core part of the Warriors' lineup during his time there, playing a pivotal role in the program winning three section titles in 2021, 2023 and 2024. Ranked as the No. 34 overall player in California during his recruitment, he was a three-time All-Section selection from 2022-24 and was a three-time All-WCAL selection in those years as well.

2026 will be a big season for the Cardinal. Finishing 27-25, an improvement over their 22-33 record from 2023, the Cardinal still struggled mightily in conference play, limping to the finish line with an 11-19 ACC record and getting eliminated in the very first round of the ACC tournament.

Historically, the Cardinal are one of the better college baseball teams, having won two national titles with three runner-up finishes all while producing a plethora of MLB players. But lately, the Cardinal have struggled to contend, and will need a big season next spring if they want any hope of making the tournament in the near future.