Arizona vs. Stanford: Previewing the Wildcats' trip to Palo Alto

The No. 25/21/NR Arizona Wildcats (24-12, 8-7 PAC-12) begin the second half of their conference schedule at Sunken Diamond this weekend against the No 24/17/NR Stanford Cardinal (20-11, 7-5 PAC-12).

Stanford is coming off a series win against Washington and non-conference win on Tuesday against Pacific. Arizona's coming off of the exact same situation against Washington State and Arizona State.

The Cardinal were picked to win the PAC-12 before the season started, mostly because of the return of Mark Appel, who the Pittsburgh Pirates failed to sign after drafting him because they didn't offer enough money. This is the first of several key series for Arizona in the next month with regards to playoff positioning.

Here's some key notes:

• Wildcats are four of the top five in batting average and total hits in the PAC-12 (Brandon Dixon, Johnny Field, Trent Gilbert, Zach Gibbons)
• Stanford's only guy in the top ten of any offensive category is Austin Slater (10th in Slugging %)
• Arizona has scored 248 runs this year (1st in PAC-12). Stanford has scored just 151 times (8th in PAC-12)
• Last year Arizona swept Stanford for the first time since 1994.
• Johnny Field has reached base in 23 consecutive games
• Brandon Dixon has the most errors by any player in the PAC-12 with 13.
• In two career starts against Stanford, Konner Wade is 1-0 with a 0.59 ERA in 15 1/3 innings (1 ER)
• Last week James Farris set a new single-game career-high with 10 Ks
• Tyler Crawford is coming off of his first career complete game, and the only one from the Arizona pitching staff this year

Probable Pitchers (Friday and Sunday games on PAC-12 Networks):

Friday at 7 PM: RHP Konner Wade (3-3, 3.86 ERA) vs. RHP Mark Appel (6-2, 1.41 ERA)

Saturday at 2 PM: RHP James Farris (4-3, 3.70 ERA) vs. RHP Dean McArdle (2-1, 4.12 ERA)

Sunday at 2 PM: LHP Tyler Crawford (4-1, 2.56 ERA) vs. LHP John Hochstatter (2-1, 3.06 ERA)

PAC-12 Schedule:

No. 5/6 Oregon State at Washington

Washington State at Cal

USC at Utah

Valparaiso at No. 9/18 Arizona State

No. 11/12/13 UCLA at No. 7/10 Oregon

PAC-12 Standings