Feb. 21, 2013

Radio • KZSU 90.1 FM • KZSUlive.stanford.edu
Stats • Provided through GameTracker via GoStanford.com
Video • Live via GoStanford.com
Tickets • 1.800.STANFORD • GoStanford.com
Polls • Stanford (14th - NCBWA, 15th - Baseball America, 11th - Collegiate Baseball)
Fresno State (NR)
On the Web • GoStanford.com • GoBulldogs.com
Social Scene • @StanfordBSB • facebook.com/StanfordBaseball • #goStanford • #farmBall

--

Facing Fresno State
• Stanford holds an 80-45-1 (.639) advantage in the all-time series against the Bulldogs. The series began in 1959 and the two teams last met in 2012.

• Stanford defeated the Bulldogs, 9-1, during the 2012 NCAA Stanford Regional. Senior RHP Mark Appel avenged his first loss of the season by striking out 11 in a four-hitter for the top-seeded Cardinal.

• Appel retired 12 straight batters before giving up a run in the seventh. It was his fifth complete game.

• Junior OF Austin Wilson drove in three with a two-run single in the fifth and drew a bases-loaded walk as part of a three-run sixth.

Home, Sweet Home Opener
• Stanford senior RHP Dean McArdle threw 2.0 innings of shutout ball in a starting effort and paved the way for the Cardinal bullpen to secure a 5-0 win over visiting California. Sophomore RHP David Schmidt stepped in for McArdle in the third and got the win after fanning a pair and permitting three hits in 3.2 innings of work.

• No. 11 Stanford evened its record to 2-2 with the win as Cal was handed its first loss on the season after sweeping Michigan last weekend.

• Freshmen Drew Jackson and Austin Slater had two hits apiece for Stanford with junior Danny Diekroeger adding a team-high two RBI.

Bullpen On Parade
• Stanford's bullpen combined to toss 11.0 innings of seven-hit ball without allowing a run during the three-game series at Rice. By comparison, the Cardinal starting pitchers went 14.0 innings and allowed seven earned runs on 14 hits.

• The Cardinal bullpen extended its streak of delivering shutout ball to 18.0 innings during the team's home opener against Cal.

Houston, We Have a Cardinal
• The Cardinal had won each of its last five season-opening games - and series - before dropping both at Rice.

• In a battle of preseason All-America pitchers, Rice's Austin Kubitza got the better end of the season-opener as the hurler led Rice to a 5-1 win over Stanford. Kubitza fanned a career-high 12 as his counterpart, senior RHP Mark Appel, shouldered the loss after giving up five runs - two earned - with three strikeouts in 5.0 frames. Both teams managed seven hits but Rice scratched across a trio of unearned runs in a three-score third frame to put the game out of the Cardinal's reach. Stanford left 12 on base, stranding runners on first and second in the opening three stanzas.

• Senior DH Justin Ringo resumed his roll as the thorn in Rice's side. Ringo has saved some of the best performances of his Stanford baseball career for matchups against Rice. During his sophomore campaign, Ringo's first career home run - a two-run shot - was the deciding swing in a Cardinal win. In 2012, Ringo delivered another two-run homer in the bottom of the 10th to secure a Stanford victory. Ringo came through yet again in game two of the 2013 series by poking a one-out double in the top of the eighth to plate the go-ahead run in Stanford's 3-2 win. The knock was one of his two hits on the day.

• Rice's John Simms took a no-hitter into the eighth inning of game three, helping propel the Owls to a 3-0 win to take the series.

Preseason Favorite
• According to the league's preseason coaches' poll released Feb. 8, Stanford was picked to win the Pac-12 title. A preseason favorite for the second straight year, the Cardinal has not won a Pac-12 title since copping back-to-back crowns in 2003 (College World Series runner-up) and 2004 (NCAA Regional).

Consensus Preseason Top-10 Choice
• Stanford earned high praise from the pollsters and enters the 2013 season as a consensus preseason top-10 team. Here's how the Cardinal fared among the major polls:

No. 4 - Perfect Game
No. 7 - USA Today/ESPN
No. 7 - National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association
No. 9 - Collegiate Baseball
No. 9 - Baseball America

Return of the Mark
• Speaking publicly for the first time since announcing his return to The Farm for his senior season, Appel, the only unsigned player among 31 first-round picks last year, handled the barrage of questions with the same poise and composure he shows on the mound during the Bay Area Baseball Media Day on Feb. 7.

• On not signing with the Pittsburgh Pirates crossing paths with the team's fans down the road: "If they're going to boo me, then so be it. I'd love to sit down and have a meal with them after the game."

• On prepping for the 2013 draft: "Everybody said, `If you don't sign, you're pushing your major league career back a year.' I don't see it that way. I don't understand how people can say that I can't keep working and keep getting better at Stanford. It might be a different situation and scenario than a minor league team, but I still have the opportunities to improve my game, get better, to just grow as a baseball player and a teammate and prepare myself for the next level."

• On what he's learned about himself throughout the process: "It's not all about money for me. There are a lot of things I value greater than money. Money means a lot to a lot of people. It seems like a social status. I'm not defined by how much I earn or will earn."

A Look Back at 2012
• Stanford tallied a 41-18 record and finished the regular season 12th in the USA Today poll, 13th by Baseball America and 14th by Collegiate Baseball. It was the 25th time since 1981 the Cardinal finished the season ranked in top 15.

• Stanford ended its season in the NCAA Super Regional for the second straight season and ninth time since 1999.

• The Cardinal roster featured six players who were selected in the MLB Draft, headlined by first round picks RHP Mark Appel and 3B/LF Stephen Piscotty. Players who signed professional contracts included SS Kenny Diekroeger, CF Jake Stewart, C Eric Smith, LHP Brett Mooneyham and LF Tyler Gaffney.

Stanford Over Pittsburgh, Football Over Baseball
• Tyler Gaffney is still a former Stanford outfielder, but he's no longer a former Stanford running back.

• Gaffney announced Feb. 11 that he is returning to The Farm after spending last season playing baseball for the Pittsburgh Pirates organization. Gaffney will be completing work toward his degree and will play with the Cardinal football program next season.

• Selected in the 24th round of the 2012 MLB Draft, Gaffney hit .297 in 38 games for the Pirates' Class-A affiliate State College Spikes.

• Because he signed a professional baseball contract, Gaffney is no longer eligible to play collegiate baseball.

Practice Swings
• Stanford held its Cardinal & White Intersquad Scrimmage on Feb. 9. Several hundred fans watched from the warm seats of a sun-soaked Sunken Diamond as the team competed in a friendly fashion.

• The only hiccup on the day came when Stanford took the field with one squad wearing cardinal uniforms and the other wearing grey uniforms.

Major League Style
• Since the turn of the century, Stanford has had 88 players go on to the Majors. Head coach Mark Marquess has coached 56 Major Leaguers since 1977.

Two-Sport Tradition
• Cardinal have had a number of great two-sport stars. One of the first was Ernie Nevers, who starred for the Cardinal in the early part of the 20th century. This list is quite impressive: NFL Hall of Fame quarterback John Elway, current head coach Mark Marquess (a punter, wide receiver and quarterback with Jim Plunkett in the late 1960s) and NFL Executive Ray Anderson. Major League pitcher Joe Borchard (also a Cardinal quarterback), NFL and MLB player Chad Hutchinson (RHP and quarterback), 1940s Major Leaguer and Korea War pilot Lloyd Merriman, Brian Johnson (quarterback), Toi Cook (NFL veteran and member of the 1987 College World Series team) and John Lynch (quarterback and RHP).

• Orange Bowl Champion and running back Tyler Gaffney played baseball on The Farm and helped pave the way for the most recent addition to the fraternity, freshman OF Zach Hoffpauir. Hoffpauir was a backup strong safety for the 2013 Rose Bowl champions.

-- #farmBall --