Stanford baseball entered this week riding the high of a four-game winning streak and a 10-1 stretch that saw the Cardinal play some of its best games of the season. But following Sunday's 10-9 loss against USC, the Cardinal dropped a pair of midweek games against non-conference opponents Santa Clara and UC-Davis on the road.

Suddenly, a weekend home-and-home series against non-conference San Jose State looks to have taken on a great deal of added significance as the No. 3 Cardinal (25-15-2, 10-5 Pacific 10) looks to end its streak of losses against another local rival.

The Spartans (25-18) enter the weekend showdown against Stanford with momentum leading in the other direction, having won two in a row and nine of their last 11.

There’s no doubt the SJSU players will be looking to make a statement in the series against a local rival and, according to the rankings, a national power. Stanford, meanwhile, will need to maintain its focus in the midst of six non-conference games before its series with Cal beginning a week from today.

Despite three straight less-than-stellar results, the Cardinal has kept things close in its series finale against USC as well as in midweek match-ups with Santa Clara and Davis, losing 10-9, 10-9 and 10-8, respectively.

After getting burned by the long ball against the Trojans and Broncos — Stanford pitchers gave up three homers in each of those games — a late rally victimized the Cardinal on Wednesday against the Aggies. Davis scored four runs on five base hits, a wild pitch and two walks, putting them two runs ahead of Stanford before they ended the game with a three-up, three-down ninth in the next half inning.

The Cardinal will likely get help on the weekend from its two most consistent starters of late — sophomore Jeff Inman and senior Erik Davis. The pair of right-handers boasts the top two win totals for the Stanford squad.

Davis has pitched brilliantly since a rocky start to the year in his first game against Nebraska, amassing a 7-1 record. Davis has chipped away at an ERA that stood at 8.10 on March 8, bringing that mark all the way down to 3.75. Perhaps most impressively, though, Davis pitched in four straight complete games from March 29 through April 19 before throwing six solid innings against USC last Saturday.

Inman, meanwhile, got roughed up in his previous two starts, allowing nine earned runs after throwing only 3.1 innings. The Stanford sophomore will doubtless be looking to get back on track this weekend, but he still brings a 3.40 ERA and 5-2 record into the two-game set with San Jose State.

Stanford’s pitchers will face a lineup featuring plenty of solid hitters but little pop when they take on the Spartans. SJSU infielders Kyle Bellows and Corey Valine share the team lead with three homers apiece. San Jose State does, however, have three regular contributors with averages above .300, led by infielder Danny Stienstra, who is hitting .384 with a .441 on-base percentage. Still, Stienstra’s production is emblematic of the Spartans limitations — despite amassing an impressive 53 hits on the year, just eight were for extra-bases.

The Cardinal is likely to face Spartan starters Scott Sobczak (4-1, 3.86 ERA) and David Berner (2-5, 4.80) on the mound. Berner has been the workhorse of the Spartan rotation thus far on the year, as he leads the pitching staff with 65.2 innings pitched and is the team leader in strikeouts with 52. Sobczak, meanwhile, has shown good control, walking just ten on the year while striking out 37.

The Cardinal will host San Jose State in a 1 p.m. game at Sunken Diamond tomorrow before hitting the road to visit the Spartans for a follow-up game on Sunday at the same time. Stanford will then take another pair of non-conference opponents on Monday and Tuesday in Pacific and San Francisco before resuming conference play next Friday against Cal at home.