June 5, 2012

DURHAM, NC-- Stanford righthander Mark Appel is one of three finalists for the Golden Spikes Award given to college baseball's top player. He is the 11th Stanford player to be a finalist for the award and first since current San Diego Padre Carlos Quentin in 2003.

On Monday, Appel was the No. 8 overall selection in the major league baseball amateur draft, going to the Pittsburgh Pirates. The Cardinal's top arm is 10-1 with a 2.27 ERA over 15 starts this year. He leads the Pac-12 with 127 strikeouts over 119.0 innings this season. He has struck out 10 or more in eight starts, including four times against top-10 opponents.

Appel is slated to start the opener of the Super Regional at Florida State at 4 p.m. ET on Friday.

The other two finalists are North Carolina State LHP Carlos Rodon and Florida catcher Mike Zunino.

Some other Stanford finalists have included Quentin (2003), Jeremy Guthrie (2002), A.J Hinch (1996), Jeffrey Hammonds (1992), Ed Sprague (1988) and Jack McDowell (1987). Stanford has never won the award.