Feb. 22, 2013
STANFORD, Calif. - Senior RHP Mark Appel made his 2013 home debut at Sunken Diamond count with a three-hit, complete-game effort in a 3-1 non-conference baseball win Friday over Fresno State. The Stanford ace struck out 11 and walked one while receiving a pair of runs from the Cardinal (3-2) offense in the bottom of the eighth to seal the victory.
Appel (1-1) and the Cardinal defense left four Fresno State (1-3) runners stranded during his time on the mound as only five Bulldog runners reached base on the evening.
The All-American retired 16 of the final 17 batters faced, allowing only a seventh-inning Chris Mariscal single during that stretch.
Fresno State starter Will Munro went head-to-head with Appel for 7.1 frames before being pulled for Tyler Linehan (0-2), who was debited with the loss after walking three and permitting a pair of earned runs.
Munro scattered seven hits, only one of which yielded a Cardinal run. That run came in the opening inning when Brian Ragira hustled home on Justin Ringo's two-out single to right. Ragira had doubled to left before Ringo's at-bat.
Ringo was one of three Cardinal players with a multi-hit outing. Danny Diekroeger and Austin Slater shared the honor as Stanford out-dinged the Bulldogs, 8-3.
Ringo started Stanford's decisive two-run rally in the eighth with a one-out single to center. Alex Blandino was walked and both runners advanced on a Slater groundout. Lonnie Kauppila drew a walk, as did pinch-hitter Brett Michael Doran. Doran's walk scored Ringo for the go-ahead run.
Blandino made it a 3-1 game when he scored from third on one of Garrett Mundell's two wild pitches.
Fresno State committed two errors but produced a pair of double plays while leaving nine Cardinal runners stranded.
The two teams square off again at 1 p.m. (PT) on Saturday. Live coverage will be available at GoStanford.com.
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