Appel (right) with likely No. 1 overall NFL draft pick Andrew Luck (photo courtesy Stanford Athletics).

Heading into this weekend’s Pac-12 series opener against USC, Stanford remains one of the hottest teams in the nation, and Cardinal pitcher Mark Appel has been a big part of it. Stanford is 13-2, with series sweeps against 2011 College World Series teams Vanderbilt and Texas and a 2-1 series win over Rice.

Appel was just 6-7 last year, but he sports a 2-1 record with a 3.19 ERA, a .157 opponent batting average and 40 strikeouts in 31.0 IP this season. The junior’s 2011 record is deceiving, because he matched-up on Fridays against the likes of 2011 first round MLB picks Sonny Gray, Taylor Jungmann and Gerrit Cole.

In this exclusive interview with College Baseball 360 editor Sean Stires, Appel discusses what he learned from those matchups, his head coach Mark Marquess, his thoughts on the Cardinal offense that’s hitting .312 and averaging 8.4 runs a game, Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck, and much more!

Press the “Play” button below to listen to the interview.

Appel.mp3

Mark Appel – 6’5 – 215 – Jr. – Houston, TX

Head Coach:  Mark Marquess

The Dugout is where you’ll find authentic College Word Series shirts, hats and other gear year-round. They also have authentic hard to find college baseball caps of all your favorite teams.

Right now, The Dugout also has South Carolina, Florida and Clemson jerseys at drastically reduced prices! Get them now while they last, and make sure to tell ‘em you heard about it at Collegebaseball360.com!!

Cliff Godwin is in his first season as an assistant coach under Mike Bianco at Ole Miss, but he is no stranger to the SEC. Godwin started as director of baseball operations at Vanderbilt and spent two years on the LSU staff in 2007 and 2008 after a season with Paul Mainieri at Notre Dame.

Godwin joined fellow former Irish and Tiger assistant, Terry Rooney, at Central Florida when Rooney got his first head coaching position. Godwin’s attitude can best be described in one word – Relentless. It’s a word that characterizes his day to day approach as well as how the Rebel offense has performed so far in 2012.

In this exclusive interview with College Baseball 360 co-editor Sean Stires, Godwin discusses his return to the SEC, the success of the Ole Miss offense, players like senior Ryan Yarbrough and Zach Kirksey and more!

Godwin

This compilation (see links for all 12 teams below, including some that are imbedded at bottom of page) features the following:
• Exclusive CB360 on-campus video interviews with Georgia head coach Dave Perno and Alabama’s Mitch Gaspard
• CB360 audio podcasts with LSU head coach Paul Mainieri, Florida senior leader Preston Tucker, and Ole Miss assistant Cliff Godwin
• Recent video from the seven other SEC teams (preseason previews & press conferences, or postgame after key non-conference wins from first month of season)

Need a quick fix to get geared up for SEC play? … Here you go:

SEC VIDEO AND AUDIO PREVIEW (courtesy of CB360, along w/ the respective teams; 3/15/12)

• CB360 Exclusive Video Interviews  (full-HD; filed on-campus)

GEORGIA head coach Dave Perno: Part-1 … Part-2  (2012 preseason)

ALABAMA head coach Mitch Gaspard: Part-1 … Part-2  (2012 preseason)

• CB360 Audio Podcast Interviews

LSU head coach Paul Mainieri  (2012 preseason)

FLORIDA senior Preston Tucker  (2012 preseason)

MISSISSIPPI assistant coach Clifff Godwin  (3/15/12)

• Additional SEC 2012 video (courtesy of the respective schools):

SOUTH CAROLINA – Postgame after series-clinching win vs. Clemson (3/3/12) … Coach Tanner … Adam Matthews … Dantzler & Beal

ARKANSAS – Preseason Media Day  (head coach Dave Van Horn, players & highlights; also imbedded below)

MISSISSIPPI STATE – Preseason Press Conference (head coach John Cohen; also imbedded below)

KENTUCKY – Preseason Media Day  (head coach Gary Henderson)

VANDERBILT – Head coach Tim Corbin  (after win vs. Siena on 3/14/12, imbedded below)

TENNESSEE – Head coach Dave Serrano (after win vs. Texas on 3/3/12; also imbedded below)

AUBURN – Season preview

_________

IMBEDDED CONTENT included below (for some of the videos also linked above):

In his 35 years as a head baseball coach. Stanford’s Mark Marquess has seen and done a lot. Marquess enters his 36th season as head coach as his alma mater as the seventh-winningest coach in college baseball history with 1,422 wins and a .647 winning percentage.

Marquess has led the Cardinal to 27 NCAA Tournaments and 14 College World Series, with national championships in 1987 and 1988.

In this exclusive interview with College Baseball 360 editor Sean Stires, Marquess reveals how he has changed the most as a head coach since his first game in 1977, how the game of college baseball has changed in that time, what he would change about college baseball, marquee series with Texas, Vanderbilt and Rice this year, and more!

Click the “Play” button below to listen to the interview.

Marquess.mp3

Stanford Head Coach Mark Marquess -  Career record: 1422-741-7

Milestone Wins
1st Career Win (February 4, 1977 vs. USF, 6-1)
1000th Career Win (February 9, 2001 vs. Florida State, 6-2)
1100th Career Win (February 17, 2003 vs. Nevada 5-4)
1200th Career Win (March 5, 2005 vs. Cal 10-3)
1300th Career Win (April 6, 2008 vs. Arizona State 10-2)
100th Career Postseason Win (June 7, 2003 vs. Long Beach State 4-2)

• 2 NCAA Titles
• 14 CWS Appearances
• 7 Super Regional Appearances (6 Titles)
• 27 Regional Appearances (14 Titles)
• 12 Conference Titles

Jim Penders led UConn to a 2011 NCAA Regional win at Clemson before falling to South Carolina in Super Regional play.

The last two seasons have been nearly unprecedented for the Connecticut baseball team. Jim Penders led the Huskies to the program’s first Super Regional in 2011 before falling to eventual national champion South Carolina. UConn has won 93 games over the last two seasons after winning 45 games last year, while becoming the third Big East school to advance to a Super Regional.

Penders must now reload after losing home grown products George Springer and Matt Barnes in the first round of last year’s first year MLB Draft. In this exclusive interview with College Baseball 360 editor Sean Stires, Penders discusses his team’s success last season, replacing the two aforementioned Connecticut natives, how the Nutmeg State has come to produce other top talent like other college standouts Jason Esposito, A.J. Pollock and Matt Harvey, the one thing he would change about college baseball, and more.

Click the “Play” button below to listen to the interview.

Penders.mp3

The 2011 season was a big one for Troy baseball and Tyler Hannah. The Trojans won 43 games and a Sun Belt Conference regular season championship en-route to an NCAA Regional berth.

Hannah played a big role in his team’s success, with a team-high .370 batting average, 27 doubles, .591 slugging percentage, and .477 on-base percentage.

In this podcast with College Baseball 360 editor Sean Stires, the preseason All-American discusses his big season, his team’s fortunes and prospects for 2012.

Press the “Play” button below to listen to the interview.

Hannah

Tyler Hannah – 6’0 – 195 – Sr. – Gardendale, AL

Head Coach:  Bobby Pierce

Preston Tucker at the plate during the 2011 College World Series

Florida has been to the College World Series in each of the past two seasons. Preston Tucker has been there for each of those trips and is back for a chance to win a national championship in 2012.

The senior was drafted in the 16th round by the Colorado Rockies last year, but opted to return to Gainesville instead of turning pro. His return means the Gators return almost everyone from a team that was the national runner-up in Omaha in 2011.

Despite the arrival of BBCOR bats to college baseball, Tucker still had a monster bat last year, batting .308 with 15 home runs, a team-high 74 RBIs, 23 doubles, and a .926 OPS.

In this exclusive interview with College Baseball 360 editor Sean Stires, Tucker discusses his decision to return for his final year at Florida, the reason for his personal success at the plate with the new bats, his teammates, coaches, his team’s chances to win a national championship and more.

Press the “Play” button below to listen to the podcast interview.

Tucker

LSU was the talk of college baseball on NCAA selection Monday in 2011. Paul Mainieri’s Tigers, two seasons removed from a national championship, missed the SEC Tournament, but still managed 36 wins. LSU was not picked to the NCAA Tournament field of 64 in 2011, but is considered by many a favorite to make it all the way to the College World Series in 2012.

In this exclusive interview with College Baseball 360 editor Sean Stires, Mainieri discusses the disappointment of missing last year’s tournament, his youthful pitching staff from a year ago that is now full of seasoned veterans, the three pitchers who are battling to fill the closer role vacated by former All-American Matt Ott, what drew him to hire new pitching coach Alan Dunn, what he would change if he could change one thing about college baseball, and much more.

Press the “Play” button below to listen to the interview.

Mainieri

Brian O'Connor being interviewed by ESPN's Jenn Brown during the 2011 CWS

The last three seasons have been unprecedented for head coach Brian O’Connor and the Virginia baseball team. The Cavaliers are coming off their second trip to the College World Series in the last three years, with a Super Regional appearance sandwiched between the trips to Omaha.

Most of the players, including All-American two-way player Danny Hultzen, are gone from those two teams though. The roster turnover leaves O’Connor and his coaching staff faced with the new challenge of restocking not only the entire weekend pitching rotation, but also most of the everyday lineup.

In this exclusive interview with College Baseball 360 editor Sean Stires, O’Connor discusses those challenges and more – including the one thing he would change if he were king of college baseball for a day.

Press the “Play” button below to listen to the interview.

O\’Connor.mp3

Justin Jones in the Cal dugout in Omaha

The Cal baseball program ran the gamut of emotions during the 2010-2011 year. The Golden Bears experienced the lowest of lows when they thought their program would be eliminated, and then propelled themselves to the highest of highs-with a run to the 2011 College World Series.

Junior pitcher Justin Jones was there every step of the way. In this exclusive interview with College Baseball 360 editor Sean Stires, Jones discusses his team’s run to Omaha as well as the aftereffects.

He was not able to pitch at the CWS due to an injury he suffered in a Super Regional win over Dallas Baptist, so how is his arm now?

His other revelations include why he decided to remain a Golden Bear rather than transfer to another school after the announcement that Cal baseball would be cut after the 2011 season, who he would take a bullet for, who he would step in front of a car for, and which actor would play him if a movie is ever made about Cal’s unbelievable season.

Press the “play” button below to listen to the podcast.

Justin Jones – 6’2 – 188 – Jr. – LHP – Oakdale, CA

Head Coach:  David Esquer

JustinJones.mp3