Maybe Mike Mussina’s recent election to the Baseball Hall of Fame is a good omen for his alma mater.

Stanford certainly looks poised for a big year after being knocked out of the NCAA regionals by Cal State Fullerton each of the past two years.

In 2018, David Esquer’s first season as the successor to longtime head coach Mark Marquess, the Cardinal won the Pac-12 title despite injuries to three key players.

Second baseman Duke Kinamon tore a groin muscle in warm-ups before the season opener, costing him the entire season. Right fielder Brandon Wulff missed 26 games because of a foot injury. And catcher Maverick Handley suffered an elbow injury in a skateboard accident and missed the last 14 games.

“You’d expect that with the loss of that type of talent we’d be really deflated,” Esquer said Wednesday at Bay Area Media Day at Stanford. “We didn’t seem to skip a beat. In the long run, those players are hard to replace. But we consistently had a player who would step in, and our level of play didn’t seem to drop off significantly. That was one of the keys to our team.”

The Cardinal (46-12, 22-8 Pac-12 last year) are ranked fifth in the nation by Collegiate Baseball and seventh by Baseball America.

First baseman Andrew Daschbach, who led the team with 63 RBIs last year, is back. So is left fielder Kyle Stowers, who was second with 42 RBIs.

Kinamon, Wulff and Handley are returning, too, but the player to watch very well might be sophomore Tim Tawa. After batting .296 last season, he’ll hit third third this year and play either third or short, although he’s probably the team’s best outfielder.

Brendan Beck (8-0, 2.43 ERA) will replace his brother, Tristan, as the Friday night starter, with either Will Matthiessen or Jacob Palisch going Saturday and Erik Miller on Sunday. Preseason All-America Jack Little is the closer.

Three freshmen stand out in a stellar incoming class: infielder Brandon Dieter and pitchers Alex Williams (Redwood Christian-San Lorenzo) and Cody Jensen.

Here’s how the other Bay Area teams look:

Cal (32-22, 16-14 Pac-12) — It helps to have the entire starting infield back, led by Andrew Vaughn, the Golden Spikes Award winner as the nation’s top player. As a sophomore, the first baseman hit .402 with 23 homers and 63 RBIs.

He is joined by second baseman Darren Baker, shortstop Cameron Eden and third baseman Sam Wezniak. Second-year head coach Mike Neu is concerned that Vaughn will get fewer pitches to hit because the Bears lost three of their top four hitters. Junior Jared Horn figures to be the Friday starter.

Santa Clara (26-26, 12-15 WCC) — Last season was practically a total loss for 6-foot-6 outfielder Andre Nnebe (St. Mary’s-Berkeley). Injuries restricted him to five games (in which he had seven RBIs).

He returns, along with infielder Jason Dicochea (.323), on an overhauled roster. Among the 23 new players, seven are JC transfers — all of whom are pitchers. The best of the bunch, according to second-year head coach Rusty Filter, is Keegan McCarville, who figures to be the Friday starter.

San Jose State (27-30, 16-14 MWC) — Left-hander Andrew Mitchel (6-2, 3.72) was the 2018 Co-Pitcher of the Year in the Mountain West Conference. The senior hopes to play pro ball but also hopes to become a Navy SEAL.

“I’m from a military family,” he said, “and I fell in love with the SEALs and what they do and how hard it is to be one.”

The Spartans, 3-10 against conference foes early, went 13-4 against Mountain West teams down the stretch to complete their best season since 2011. “Our season was built on pitching and defense,” second-year head coach Brad Sanfilippo said.

Finding a consistent offense could be a problem, but shortstop Aaron Pleschner (Carlmont-Belmont) provides superb defense. Junior Blake Berry, who can play infield or outfield, is “a really mature hitter,” Sanfilippo said. “He uses the whole field well.”

USF (28-30, 15-12 WCC) — Riley Ornido (St. Francis-Mountain View) posted fine numbers last year (8-5, 2.58) and will be the Friday starter for Nino Giarratano, who is in his 21st year as the Dons’ head coach.

Riley Helland (.329), a catcher/first baseman, is one of the top hitters in the WCC. Giarratano said his biggest challenge is getting five quality outfielders into the lineup.

St. Mary’s (31-23, 14-13 WCC) — Sixth-year head coach Eric Valenzuela will rely on preseason All-Americans Ken Waldichuck and Kevin Milam.

In 2018, Waldichuck led the WCC in ERA (2.05) and strikeouts (118) while tying for the conference lead in wins (eight). Milam hit a team-leading .302 and was 6-4 with a 3.68 ERA in his first year as a starting pitcher.

Tom FitzGerald is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: tfitzgerald@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @tomgfitzgerald