Stanford Daily | baseball

Ace righty Mark Appel needs just 11 strikeouts to break a school career record, and he has two starts left to do it, beginning with this Friday's tilt at Cal.

With postseason unlikely, Card primes for rivalry showdown at Cal

There is no way to sugarcoat Stanford baseball’s season, no way to describe it as anything other than a resounding disappointment for a roster overflowing with highly touted professional prospects. Neither the return of senior ace Mark Appel, who is on the cusp of setting the school’s strikeout record, nor the rehab of junior slugger Austin Wilson, another near-certain first-round pick, has made the Cardinal a contender in 2013, and with two weeks to play Stanford (26-20, 11-13 Pac-12) has been all but eliminated from consideration for a postseason berth.

May 16 | Comments (1)

Senior ace Mark Appel has lived up to expectations after deciding to return to Stanford instead of leave for the MLB. (BOTAU HU/The Stanford Daily)

Appel named finalist for Senior CLASS Award

On Wednesday, senior ace Mark Appel became one of 10 finalists for the Senior CLASS Award, an honor recognizing student-athletes who have accomplished “notable achievements in…community, classroom, character and competition.”

Apr 24 | Comments (0)

Lonnie Kauppila's solid baserunning contributed to one of the few runs that Stanford scored this weekend in its series loss to Utah, a team expected to be much worse than the Cardinal. (DAVID ELKINSON/StanfordPhoto.com)

Baseball blunders in series loss to Utah

After a close win on Friday night, the No. 19 Cardinal dropped the final two games of its home series against the Utes, a team that went just 6-23 in conference play last season and was picked to finish last in the conference in 2013. Instead, Stanford (11-7, 1-2 Pac-12) stumbled into spring quarter for the second consecutive season, bringing back nightmarish memories of a slump last March and April that crushed the team’s hopes of hosting a Super Regional.

Mar 25 | Comments (1)

Senior righty Mark Appel had his fourth consecutive outing with 10 or more strikeouts in Stanford's Friday win against Utah. (KYLE TERADA/StanfordPhoto.com)

Baseball holds on in Pac-12 opener against Utah

One year after the winter quarter finals break derailed a streaking Stanford baseball team, this season’s 12-day layoff proved to be just what the doctor ordered for the No. 19 Cardinal, as it held off Utah 6-4 at Sunken Diamond on Friday night.

Mar 22 | Comments (0)

Junior first baseman Brian Ragira, whose nine-game hitting streak ended on Friday, said that the Cardinal's lack of timely hitting and solid defense proved costly in its sweep at the hands of UNLV this weekend. (BOB DREBIN/The Stanford Daily)

Streaking Card stopped dead in its tracks by UNLV

There are three parts to a baseball game: pitching, hitting and defense. A team that does two out of the three well will usually succeed. This Friday and Sunday, Stanford could only pitch effectively; on Saturday, the Cardinal could not find any of the three aspects of its game.

Mar 10 | Comments (0)