Some final pregame thoughts:

Stanford has two of its injured starters back in the starting lineup today. Ryan Seawell (hamstring) and Brent Milleville each missed last week's series against Fullerton, but return today. Milleville, a power hitting first baseman, will hit in the cleanup spot and is expected to add some power to the lineup. Seawell, who hit at the top of the order last season, is hitting seventh. Each should add a new dimension to the lineup, that stuggled offensively at times last week. The Card are still without infielder Adam Sorgi and first baseman/catcher Jason Castro.

It will be interesting to see how RHP Nolan Gallagher bounces back after getting hammered by the Titans last week. Last year's Saturday starter gave up seven runs, six of those earned, in just three innings in his first Friday night start. Fresno doens't have the offensive efficiency that Fullerton showed last week and Gallagher needs a good start to get his confidence up.

Fresno State has had a rough opening few games. They dropped two of three to San Francisco at home to open the campaign and then dropped a mid-week game to Cal Poly. Things don't get any easier here at Sunken Diamond. The Bulldogs haven't taken a series from Stanford since 1999 and were swept the last time they visited Palo Alto.

And of course, there is the weather. In the time it took me to write this post, the sun dissapeared. The rain is back, but Stanford is still out on the field getting loose. The foul ground down the lines looks like a swamp and the outfield doesn't look much better. The odds of the field holding up for 18 innings are not good. There is no doubt in my mind that the weather will play a factor in today's games.

I'll be back with more either between the games or during any rain delays. I'll be on the broadcast today here at Sunken Diamond. If you want to follow the play-by-lay, tune in at kzsu.org. The games will both be carried on KZSU-2.