It was 25 years ago that Stanford won its first of back-to-back College World Series titles.  The Cardinal, though, has not won another NCAA baseball championship since 1988 despite nine return trips to Omaha. 

Could this 2012 squad, ranked No.  2 by Baseball America and No.  3 in the preseason polls by USA Today/Coaches and Collegiate Baseball, rise to the top? 

Last year’s bunch came close, but it was eliminated in the Super Regional round.  No one has to remind the players as the starting lineup remains nearly intact. 

“Every year there are expectations to get to Omaha and win a national championship,” said Stanford third baseman Stephen Piscotty, who hit a team-high .364. “ That’s always the goal.  If it’s not the goal, you have some problems there.” 

Stanford coach Mark Marquess, who is entering his 36th season, knew there would be growing pains during a 35-22 season, but this time around the lineup — which only needs to replace the catcher — is not one of his concerns. 

“It all gets down to pitching,” Marquess said. “ This is a good team, but pitching is a question mark.  And you win with pitching.” 

There is no question as to who is the Cardinal’s ace.  That would be junior Mark Appel, a 6-foot-5 right-hander who can touch the high 90’s with his fastball.  Currently projected by Baseball America as the top prospect for the upcoming MLB draft, Appel will take the mound when the season opens next Friday at Sunken Diamond. 

“We kind of threw him to the wolves last year because that’s the best Friday night pitching in the conference that I have ever seen,” Marquess said. “ He matched up against the top pitchers in the country and held his own.  His record was only about .500, but we always had a chance to win with him.” 

Appel gained confidence as a member of Team USA during the summer and features a slider as well as an emerging change-up.  The sky is still the limit. 

“I can’t just expect to dominate every time I go out there,” Appel said. “ I still have to do the work in the middle of the week and prepare just like I always have.” 

The Friday starter the previous two seasons was Brett Mooneyham, a 6-5 southpaw who was lost for 2011 after he severed a tendon in his finger.  After redshirting, Mooneyham will take the mound on Saturdays for the Cardinal. 

The Sunday slot will go to either A.J. Vanegas or Dean McArdle.  The pitcher bumped to the bullpen turns into an option to replace closer Chris Reed, who was a first-round pick by the Dodgers. 

“The biggest void for us to fill will be that closer role,” Marquess said. “ And I think in college baseball it’s getting like professional baseball.  If you’re going to be a dominant team or you want to get into the postseason, you better have one of your better pitchers in the bullpen.” 

The left side of the infield features Piscotty, who led the Cape Cod in hitting over the summer, at the hot corner and Menlo School-Atherton product Kenny Diekroeger at shortstop.  Both are currently projected as first-round picks by Baseball America. 

“Stephen and Kenny, I’ve known them since high school,” said Appel, who grew up 10 minutes away from Piscotty in the East Bay. “ We’re Bay Area guys and I have the most trust and confidence in them to make all the plays.  And they’re obviously great hitters too, so we’re going to put up some runs this year.” 

Sophomores Brian Ragira and Lonnie Kauppila will start at first and second, respectively. 

Diekroeger’s younger brother, Danny, will also get his share of at-bats off the bench. 

“We’re pretty happy with the Diekroeger family,” Marquess said. 

Junior Jake Stewart will patrol center field with Austin Wilson, who belted a team-best five home runs as a freshman, in right field. 

Left field belongs to Tyler Gaffney, who spent the fall taking handoffs from Andrew Luck or direct snaps off the wildcat formation.  Gaffney follows a rich tradition of two-way players for the Cardinal that includes 2009 Heisman Trophy runner-up Toby Gerhart. 

“He can make a mistake and make up for it with speed,” Marquess said. “ He can mishit a ball and still hit it out — he’s strong.  So he’s not as polished as he would be if he played baseball all of the year, but he’s talented enough that he’ll start and hopefully he’ll have a good first half of the season.  I know he’ll have a good second half once he gets used to it.” 

The wildcard is at catcher, where Christian Griffiths, Eric Smith and freshman Wayne Taylor (the Texas player of the year) will battle to replace Zach Jones, who caught nearly every inning of every game as a senior. 

Stanford opens its first Pac-12 campaign March 24 at home against USC.  Before then the Cardinal, which doesn’t have to leave California until a three-game series at No.  5 Arizona come the end of March, will host No.  10 Vanderbilt, No.  13 Texas and No.  6 Rice, in that order. 

“If we’re overconfident, we’ll get knocked down a peg after the first four weeks,” Marquess said. “ We’re not going to sweep Vanderbilt, we’re not going to sweep Texas, so we’ll take our lumps there.  We won’t be ranked No.  2 after four weeks because we’ll have some losses.” 

Perfection is not the expectation.  The game Stanford hopes not to lose is its last one in Omaha. 

Email Vytas Mazeika at vmazeika@dailynewsgroup.com.