Stanford baseball played the Saint Mary’s Gaels to a temporary tie on the road Wednesday, in a final tune-up before the team’s first major road trip of the season. Looking to avenge a previous 4-2 home loss against the Gaels, Stanford rallied with three runs in the top of the ninth to take a 7-6 lead before a lone St. Mary’s run in the bottom half of the inning forced the game to be postponed on account of darkness. The action will resume before the teams’ next meeting on April 23 at Klein Field at Sunken Diamond.

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Jeff Keacher

Junior Jeremy Bleich has been the Cardinal’s best pitcher so far this season, as he has posted a team high 2.19 ERA in addition to his 2-0 record, drawing MLB scouts to games in the process.

The Cardinal (6-3), meanwhile, will leave its friendly Bay Area surroundings for the first time this season for a weekend series against Texas in Austin. While the weather promises to be cool, the competition will certainly be blistering against the always competitive Longhorns.

When the Cardinal take the field Friday afternoon, junior lefty Jeremy Bleich will once again look to set the tone for the series as he has all year. Bleich has gotten off to perhaps the best start of any Stanford pitcher this season, posting a 2.19 ERA — the best of any Stanford pitcher with three or more innings pitched — to go with his 2-0 record and a 0.97 WHIP (Walks and hits per innings pitched).

Bleich, it seems, along with much of the rest of the Cardinal pitching staff, has made great strides over the offseason. While the Metairie, La. native improved towards the end of his sophomore season, he has already equaled his win total from 2007 (2-8) and has thus far cut down his ERA by over three runs. It’s a transformation that has made Bleich the bedrock of the Cardinal’s rotation this season and one he attributes to hard work, a focus on the details of pitching and strong coaching along the way.

“I was in the Cape [Cod Baseball League] with Wareham again this summer, had a good time there and got back on track,” Bleich said. “I had a little bit of an up-and-down season [in 2007], but towards the end of last year things started to come together and then I continued to try to get better over the summer, and in the fall and spring leading up to the games. You know, just trying to work on the little things.”

It’s that dedication that led to solid summer performances in the Cape Cod League, where Bleich led the Gatemen in wins with a 4-2 record — a feat that was all the more impressive given Wareham’s overall record of 15-29. His work towards the end of 2007 and in the offseason led to him being named the Cardinal’s opening day starter against Nebraska.

“I found out at the beginning of the week [before the Nebraska series], maybe Monday or Tuesday of that week,” the Stanford junior said. “It’s been very exciting. It’s an honor to try and lead the team. We have a lot of strong guys on the pitching staff, a lot of starting guys, so, yeah, it’s been an honor.”

Stanford’s pitching staff has made a lot of improvements on the whole so far this year, cutting its team ERA from 6.01 to 4.84. It’s a change Bleich attributes to an urgency to improve on last season’s 28-28 record as well as a fresh approach from a new pitching coach.

“Obviously there’s always an expectation here to get better, because of the program’s prestige and all of that,” he said. “There’s a new pitching coach [former Major Leaguer and Stanford standout Jeff Austin] and a lot of new energy this season just because we had a little bit of a rough year last year. And yeah, we believe we can win, and we can win because we’re good and it’s just a matter of bringing it to the ballpark everyday.”

As a junior who will be eligible for the MLB draft this summer, it would certainly seem as though there could be an added layer of pressure for Bleich as he attempts to help lead the Cardinal back to the College World Series in Omaha this season. Indeed, a handful of Major League scouts were rumored to be on hand, in part at least, to watch Bleich make his first start of the year against Nebraska. But according to the southpaw, thoughts beyond this season of play aren’t likely to be much of a distraction.

“It actually really doesn’t [weigh on me], because you really [know] how good we are and you realize that we really can go to Omaha and just winning and having fun with winning is what’s most important,” Bleich said of the extra eyes in the stands for his first start. “The other stuff, if you take care of the little things the other stuff will take care of itself, so you don’t need to worry about it.”

If things keep going for Bleich the way they have so far, there can be little doubt of that.