STANFORD – This was supposed to be a transitional season for Stanford baseball, the first in 41 years without Mark Marquess as coach.

The Cardinal had just one returning everyday player, shortstop Nico Hoerner. Its No. 1 pitcher, Tristan Beck, had missed the 2017 with a stress fracture in his back.

And yet when the 64-team NCAA tournament field is revealed Monday, Stanford will be among the top eight seeds. The Cardinal (43-10, 22-8) is ranked No. 3 in the nation by Baseball America, behind only Florida and Oregon State, and on Saturday won its first Pac-12 title since 2004.

“Coach Marquess didn’t leave no reclamation project for me,” said the new coach, David Esquer, a man who played for Marquess at Stanford and had spent said the past 17 years as head coach at Cal. “He passed the baton to me and I was just hoping to keep it going.”

It’s enough to make you wonder if Marquess should have stuck around for a 42nd season.

“You never know if the time is right,” Marquess, 71, said this week. “At the same time, you want to err on the side of going too early.

“I have nine grandchildren that keep me busy. And this year I had a chance to go to the Astros’ spring training and spend time with A.J. Hinch,” said Marquess, referring to the Houston manager and former Stanford catcher.

The Cardinal’s success didn’t come out of the blue. Stanford went 42-16 last season and, despite its lack of experience among everyday players, the pitching was strong.

Beck, with no recurrence of his back problems, has gone 8-4 with a 2.99 ERA. Kris Bubic, a lefty from San Jose-Archbishop Mitty, has made it a dynamic duo at the top of the rotation, going 8-1 with a 2.55 ERA.

Erik Miller (4-3, 4.03) and freshman Brendan Beck (6-0, 2.44) — he is Tristan’s brother –, round out the rotation. Jack Little, the closer, has 15 saves, an 0.69 ERA, and 50 strikeouts in 39 innings..

“Pitching and defense bought us time earlier this season to grow our offense,” Esquer said. “The depth of our pitching and having two elite starters is a luxury.”

It helps, too, to have a coach who knows The Stanford Way. Esquer, 53, didn’t just play for Marquess. A walk-on from Salinas, he spent four years in the program, working his way up to being the starting shortstop on the team that won the 1987 College World Series.

The players said they have noticed a difference in the coaching styles between Esquer and Marquess. Tristan Beck said Esquer uses analytics more than Marquess did. Bubic said Esquer allows the players “more freedom in decision-making on-and-off the field.”

The latter includes letting the players wear their uniform pants low over their socks or –gasp! — grow facial hair.

“Every coach is going to be a bit different,” Marquess acknowledged, “but with Coach Esquer’s familiarity with the Stanford program, the transition couldn’t have been much easier.”

Or much better.