The No. 2 Stanford Cardinal baseball team played host to the No. 10 Vanderbilt Commodores to begin their 2012 campaign. The Cardinal made easy work of them in three straight games, earning themselves a three game sweep led by ace Mark Appel and a well-rounded offensive attack.

Mark Appel led the Cardinal to an 8-3 victory on Friday night behind home runs from Stephen Piscotty, Christian Griffiths and Eric Smith, while Appel pitched 7 full innings, giving up just one run on two hits with five strikeouts and two walks.

The Cardinal continued on Saturday as Brian Ragira had his second-straight three-hit day, while Kenny Diekroegerand Eric Smith had two hits a piece to pace the Card's 9-5 win. Stephen Piscotty drove in seven runs while Christian Griffiths added four RBIs on Sunday as No. 2-ranked Stanford finished out the series with a 18-5 victory, sending the Commodores back to Tennessee with their tail between their legs.

Stanford heads to Pacific on Tuesday for a game in Stockton at 1:30 p.m., before returning home for a three-game series with Texas starting on Friday at 5:30 p.m.

For more on the Cardinal, head over to Rule of Tree.