2011 Season on the Diamond Around the Corner

Baseball Ranked No. 13 and 16 in Preseason Polls

	Stephen Piscotty is one of a number of young and talented players on the Cardinal.

Jan. 27, 2011

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Hear an Interview with Coach Marquess here:

STANFORD, Calif.-- With practice set to start on January 28 and coaches slated to gather at the Bay Area Media Day on Thursday, February 3, Stanford Baseball was ranked No. 13 in Baseball America and No. 16 in the USA Today/Coaches national preseason polls.

Under 35th-year head coach Mark Marquess, who has led his alma mater to two national titles and 16 College World Series appearances, Stanford enters the 2011 season with a tremendous amount of young talent.

This year's freshman class was ranked No. 1 by Baseball America after a No. 2 ranking in 2010. The now sophomore class features preseason All-American Kenny Diekroeger, who will move over to shortstop, outfielder/first baseman Stephen Piscotty, two-way standout and all-conference outfielder Tyler Gaffney, centerfielder Jake Stewart and pitcher Mark Appel.

This year's freshman class is anchored by outfielder Austin Wilson, pitcher A.J. Vanegas and utility man Brian Ragira.

The Cardinal are also homegrown, as Piscotty (Pleasanton) Appel (San Ramon), Kenny and his brother Danny Diekreoger and Jack Mosbacher (Woodside), pitchers Vanegas and weekend starter Jordan Pries (Alameda) and infielder Ryan Sakowski (Menlo Park) all call the Bay Area home.

Stanford, which finished 31-25 last year and in the NCAA Regional at Fullerton, return five starters, including Diekoreger, Piscotty, Gaffney, Stewart and Zach Jones. Twelve 12 pitchers were underclassmen last year and all return.

The season starts February 18-20 as the Cardinal play its first three weekend series at home-- at Rice, at Vanderbilt and at Texas. Stanford hosts its home opener against Cal on February 22. Cal is ranked No. 17 in Baseball America.

In an earlier poll Stanford was ranked No. 10 in Collegiate Baseball.

The Bay Area College Baseball Media Day will take place on February 3 at Kissick Auditorium on the Stanford campus beginning at 11 a.m., as a live webcast as well as team interviews will be posted on gostanford.com as well as other Bay Area school's websites.

Baseball America

    Team    2010 Record    Final 2010 Ranking
    1.    Florida    47-17    7
    2.    UCLA    51-17    2
    3.    Texas Christian    54-14    3
    4.    Vanderbilt    46-20    14
    5.    Oklahoma    50-18    5
    6.    Texas    50-13    9
    7.    South Carolina    54-16    1
    8.    Cal State Fullerton    46-18    11
    9.    Connecticut    48-16    NR
    10.    Clemson    45-25    10
    11.    Arizona State    52-10    4
    12.    Florida State    48-20    6
    13.    Stanford    31-25    NR
    14.    Oregon    40-24    25
    15.    Virginia    51-14    8
    16.    Baylor    36-24    NR
    17.    California    29-25    NR
    18.    Rice    40-23    21
    19.    Arizona    34-24    NR
    20.    College of Charleston    44-19    NR
    21.    Texas A&M    43-21    23
    22.    Louisiana State    41-22    NR
    23.    St. John's    43-20    NR
    24.    Miami    43-20    15
    25.    Tulane    32-24    NR

USA Today / Coaches Poll

   Rank   School (2010 record)   Points   rank   votes
   1.   UCLA (51-17)   741   2   9
   2.   TCU (54-14)   728   3   9
   3.   Florida (47-17)   709   8   7
   4.   Vanderbilt (46-20)   593   13   1
   5.   Clemson (45-25)   592   4   0
   6.   Oklahoma (50-18)   587   5   0
   7.   Texas (50-13)   577   9   0
   8.   South Carolina (54-16)   564   1   5
   9.   Cal State Fullerton (46-18)   449   12   0
   10.   Oregon (40-24)   402   not ranked   0
   11.   Florida State (48-20)   401   6   0
   12.   Arizona State (52-10)   372   7   0
   13.   Texas A&M (43-21-1)   371   21   0
   14.   Virginia (51-14)   369   10   0
   15.   LSU (41-22)   278   25   0
   16.   Stanford (31-25)   277   not ranked   0
   17.   Rice (40-23)   261   20   0
   18.   Miami (Fla.) (43-20)   249   15   0
   19.   Georgia Tech (47-15)   214   17   0
   20.   Coastal Carolina (55-10)   210   11   0
   21.   Louisville (50-14)   178   16   0
   22.   Connecticut (48-16)   156   23   0
   23.   Auburn (43-21)   128   19   0
   24.   Arkansas (43-21)   113   14   0
   25.   Arizona (34-24)   110   not ranked   0

Others receiving votes (with 2010 records): UC-Irvine (39-21) 92; Alabama (42-25) 75; Wichita State (41-19) 54; North Carolina (38-22) 31; Mississippi (39-24) 28; San Diego (37-22) 27; College of Charleston (44-19) 24; St. John`s (43-20) 17; Baylor (36-24) 14; Fresno State (38-25) 14; Washington State (37-22) 14; Oregon State (32-24) 11; Virginia Tech (40-22) 9; Tulane (32-24) 8; California (29-25) 5; Kansas State (37-22) 5; Pittsburgh (38-18) 5; Kent State (39-25) 3; Central Florida (33-22) 2; Florida Atlantic (37-24) 2; Southern Mississippi (36-24) 2; Hawaii (35-28) 1; Liberty (42-19) 1; Minnesota (32-30) 1; North Carolina State (38-24) 1.