Feb. 16, 2012

DURHAM, NC-- Stanford trio Mark Appel, Stephen Piscotty and Kenny Diekroeger are all on the initial watch list for the Golden Spikes Award, given to college baseball's best player.

The initial list of 50 players has nine players from the Pac-12 Conference, a third from the preseason No. 2-ranked Cardinal which opens up its season with No. 10-ranked Vanderbilt in a three-game series on Friday at 5:30 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday at 1 p.m.

Appel is slated to start the season opener after going 6-7 with a 3.05 ERA last season. Appel is a first team preseason All-American by various publications, as is Piscotty, who led the Cardinal and the summer Cape Cod League in hitting, and carries a .345 average into the season. Diekroeger, who along with Piscotty is a two-year starter on the infield, has a .324 career average. All three are projected first round picks, according to Baseball America.

Since the award was created in 1978, Stanford has had 10 finalists, but never a winner. David McCarty (1991) and Jeff Austin (1998) were both named national players of the year by Baseball America and were finalists along with: John Verducci (1985), Jack McDowell (1987), Ed Sprague (1988), Jeffrey Hammonds (1992), AJ Hinch (1996), Justin Wayne (2000), Jeremy Guthrie (2002) and Carlos Quentin (2003).

On May 1, a 60-man midseason watch list will be released, with 30 semifinalists named on May 29. Three finalists will be announced on June 5 with the winner being announced during the Major League Baseball All-Star Week from July 9-13.

The complete list is below:
NAME, POSITION, CLASS, SCHOOL, CONFERENCE
Daniel Aldrich, OF, RS Sophomore, College of Charleston, SoCon
Mark Appel, RHP, Junior, Stanford, Pac-12
Jeremy Baltz, OF, Junior, St. John's, Big East
D.J. Baxendale, RHP, Junior, Arkansas, SEC
Chris Beck, RHP, Junior, Georgia Southern, SoCon
Adam Brett Walker, OF/C, Junior, Jacksonville, Atlantic Sun
Tony Bryant, RHP, Junior, Oregon State, Pac-12
Jason Coats, OF, Senior, Texas Christian, Mountain West
Bo Cuthbertson, IF, Senior, Southern Utah, Summit
Joey DeMichele, IF, Junior, Arizona State, Pac-12
Josh Dezse, RHP/IF, Sophomore, Ohio State, Big Ten
Kenny Diekroeger, IF, Junior, Stanford, Pac-12
Taylor Dugas, OF, Senior, Alabama, SEC
Josh Elander, C/OF, Junior, Texas Christian, Mountain West
Kent Emanuel, LHP, Sophomore, North Carolina, ACC
Dylan Floro, RHP, Junior, Cal State Fullerton, Big West
Nolan Fontana, IF, Junior, Florida, SEC
Kevin Gausman, RHP, Sophomore, Lousiana State, SEC
Kurt Heyer, RHP, Junior, Arizona, Pac-12
Travis Jankowski, OF, Junior, Stony Brook, America East
Brian Johnson, LHP/IF, Junior, Florida, SEC
Branden Kline, RHP, Junior, Virginia, ACC
Corey Knebel, RHP, Sophomore, Texas, Big 12
Austin Kubitza, RHP, Sophomore, Rice, C-USA
Michael Lorenzen, OF, Sophomore, Cal State Fullerton, Big West
Austin Maddox, RHP/IF, Junior, Florida, SEC
Deven Marrero, IF, Junior, Arizona State, Pac-12
Hoby Milner, LHP, Junior, Texas, Big 12
Colin Moran, IF, Sophomore, North Carolina, ACC
Tom Murphy, C, Junior, Buffalo, Mid-American
Tyler Naquin, OF, Junior, Texas A&M, Big 12
Peter O'Brien, C, Senior, Miami (Fla.), ACC
Stephen Piscotty, IF, Junior, Stanford, Pac-12
Matt Price, RHP, RS Junior, South Carolina, SEC
James Ramsey, OF, Senior, Florida State, ACC
Hudson Randall, RHP, Junior, Florida, SEC
Tyler Ray, RHP, Senior, Troy, Sun Belt
Tony Renda, IF, Junior, California, Pac-12
Victor Roache, OF, Junior, Georgia Southern, SoCon
Brady Rodgers, RHP, Junior, Arizona State, Pac-12
Michael Roth, LHP/IF, Senior, South Carolina, SEC
Richie Shaffer, IF, Junior, Clemson, ACC
Ross Stripling, RHP, Senior, Texas A&M, Big 12
Marcus Stroman, RHP, Junior, Duke, ACC
Preston Tucker, IF, Senior, Florida, SEC
Michael Wacha, RHP, Junior, Texas A&M, Big 12
Christian Walker, IF, Junior, South Carolina, SEC
Karsten Whitson, RHP, Sophomore, Florida, SEC
Brad Zebedis, C/IF, Sophomore, Presbyterian, Big South
Mike Zunino, C, Junior, Florida, SEC