For the past two seasons, every time senior Mark Appel stepped out onto the mound on a Friday night and looked towards home plate, he saw dozens of scouts with radar guns pointed right at him. Appel was such a can’t-miss prospect that not a soul expected to see him back at Stanford for his senior year. But when Appel fell to the eighth overall pick of the Pittsburgh Pirates in Major League Baseball’s Draft this past June, everything changed.
Ace righthander Mark Appel was the only member of Stanford baseball’s 2012 draft class to return to school, as six former Cardinal players inked deals and began minor-league play in recent weeks.
Stanford didn’t exactly get the start to its Super Regional that it was hoping for.
The No. 13 Stanford baseball team may have swept its regional last weekend, but it still has a cross-country trip up next.
In the midst of a run to the Super Regionals of the College World Series, seven Stanford baseball players were selected in the MLB’s first-year player draft this Monday through Wednesday.
One of the closest Pac-12 baseball races in recent memory has come down to its final weekend, and No. 11 Stanford is currently on the outside looking in when it comes to winning the conference or hosting a Super Regional. That could change in a hurry for the Cardinal if everything goes its way this weekend, as Stanford hosts unranked Cal with just two games separating the top five teams in the Pac-12 and only their respective rivalry series remaining. The last time that even three squads at the top of the conference finished within two games was in 2004, when Stanford won its last Pac-10 title in a close finish over Washington and UCLA.
Stewart went blow-for-blow with Santa Clara on Tuesday night, as No. 14 Stanford equaled its longest winning streak of the year with its eighth straight victory to stay hot heading into its final regular-season series.
The No. 12 Stanford baseball team did its job this weekend in Salt Lake City. Now, it’s going to need a little help in the final week of Pac-12 play.