Dec. 13, 2012

STANFORD, Calif. - Stanford senior pitcher Mark Appel has been named to the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Preseason All-America first team, as announced Wednesday by the NCBWA. Appel is one of six Pac-12 Conference players to earn the recognition, as the league's four first-team representatives are the most from any conference.

Appel, a first team All-Pac-12 performer in 2012, went 10-2 with a 2.56 ERA to go along with 130 strikeouts and 30 walks last season. Appel pitched at least 7.0 innings in 14 of 16 starts and tossed five complete games, earning a first team All-America nod from the NCBWA as a junior.

Selected by the Pittsburgh Pirates with the eighth overall pick in last summer's MLB First Year Player Draft, Appel later announced he would return to The Farm for his senior season.

The Cardinal finished 41-18 last season and returns to the field Feb. 15-17 with a three-game series at Rice. The home opener against Cal (Feb. 19) will take place at Sunken Diamond.