March 12, 2003
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THIS WEEK
San Diego State begins the week with a rematch of last Tuesday's contest at Long Beach State. The 49ers will visit Tony Gwynn Stadium on Wednesday, March 12, at 6:00 p.m.
The Aztecs open their 2003 Mountain West Conference schedule this coming weekend when they host Utah in a three-game series at Tony Gwynn Stadium beginning Friday, March 14.
The Aztecs and Utes will meet at 6:00 p.m. Friday evening with Saturday and Sunday's contests slated for 1:00 p.m. starts.
THROUGH THE YEARS
This year marks the 65th season of Aztec baseball since the sport was elevated to major status in 1936. The school did not field varsity teams from 1943 to 1945.
SDSU's all-time record entering the week (since 1936) stands at 1974-1187-37 (.623).
Since 1936, the program has had only four head coaches: Charlie Smith (1936-64), Lyle Olson (1965-71), Jim Dietz (1972-2002) and Tony Gwynn (present).
SERIES RECORDS
San Diego State holds a 74-35-1 advantage in the series with Long Beach State that began in 1956. The teams met annually while both were members of the same three conferences (California Collegiate Athletic Association, Pacific Coast Athletic Association and Southern California Baseball Association). Prior to this season, the Aztecs and 49ers last met in 1999 when they played a home-and-home series with each side winning on its home field.
In last week's game at Long Beach State, the 49ers got a leadoff homer in the bottom of the 10th inning to defeat the Aztecs, 5-4. SDSU came back from a 3-0 deficit with a two-run single by Peter Stonard to tie the game at 3-3. After the 49ers regained the lead, James Guerrero had an RBI double to knot the score at 4-4 in the sixth. Will Miller, who gave up the homer in the 10th, took the loss to fall to 0-3.
SDSU's all-time record against Utah stands at 68-14 in a series that began during the 1964 season. The teams were both members of the Western Athletic Conference together from 1979 to 1999. Since the 2000 campaign, when both school joined the Mountain West Conference, the Aztecs have a 12-7 mark vs. the Utes including a victory in the 2001 conference tournament. Last season, San Diego State was 2-4 vs. Utah, losing two of three games in both the home and away series.
SCOUTING THE 49ERS
Long Beach State comes into the week with a record of 13-6 after taking two of three games at Baylor last weekend. The 49ers are ranked among the top 10 in all three polls this week: 8th by Collegiate Baseball, 7th by Baseball America and 8th by Sports Weekly/ESPN.
The 49ers' top hitters include third baseman Adam Heether (.463, 3 HR, 12 RBI), shortstop Tim Hutting (.395, 3 2B, 19 RBI), and designated hitter Sean Boatright (.345, 2 2B, 6 RBI). As a team, LBSU is batting .288.
The starting pitcher against the Aztecs on Wednesday is expected to be either Scott Shoemaker (0-0, 2.63) or Matt Paz (1-1, 5.68). Shoemaker started last Tuesday's contest vs. SDSU in Long Beach.
SCOUTING THE UTES
Utah enters the week with a record of 8-7 to begin MWC play. The Utes competed at Arizona State's tournament last weekend, falling to ASU and CSU Northridge before defeating Southern Utah 14-5 on Sunday.
Utah's offense is led by third baseman Brett Sundberg (.346, 3 HR, 8 RBI), catcher Wick Udy (.341, 3 RBI) and first baseman Jake Jordison (.340, 5 HR, 12 RBI). Left fielder Mike Basham has stolen eight bases. The Ute's are hitting .274 as a team.
The starting rotation for the Ute's this weekend is expected to be Sean Overholt (0-2, 6.00), Clay Westmoreland (1-1, 5.40) and Doug MacKay 2-0, 4.29). Relievers Brady Martinez (1-1, 1.29) and Ben Buck (0-0, 1.93) have recorded three and two saves respectively. Utah has an earned run average of 3.79, a mark that leads the Mountain West Conference.
MOST RECENTLY
The Aztecs dropped two of three games to UC Irvine last weekend, losing the first two contests and finishing the series with a victory.
On Friday at Tony Gwynn Stadium, the Anteaters used an 16-hit attack to defeat SDSU, 10-5. UCI's pitchers held the Aztecs to just three hits on the night, one each by Anthony Gwynn, Garrett Cook and Landon Burt. Junior Mike Moat suffered his second defeat of the season to fall to 1-2.
The next day, the teams hooked up at UCI's Anteater Ballpark where UC Irvine defeated the Aztecs, 7-2. SDSU had five hits on the day, four of the extra-base variety including two doubles and two triples. However, they were unable to convert those hits into runs. Jake McLintock was the lone Aztec with more than one hit (a single and a double).
Back in San Diego on Sunday (March 9), the Aztecs ended a five-game losing streak with a 5-3 win over the Anteaters. Rielly Embrey hit a two-run homer and was one of three SDSU players with a pair of hits (Stonard and McLintock the other two). Freshman Ben Coon tossed a complete game, allowing one earned run on six hits with seven strikeouts.
HEAD COACH TONY GWYNN
Tony Gwynn was hired as San Diego State's head baseball coach on September 20, 2001. Last year he served as a volunteer coach for the Aztecs under Jim Dietz, who retired at the end of the 2002 season.
A former Aztec who played baseball at San Diego State from 1979 to 1981, Gwynn was a two-time all-American outfielder who finished his SDSU career with a .398 batting average. He also played basketball for four years at San Diego State, and still holds the school's single-game, season and career assist records.
Gwynn concluded a 20-year major league career with the San Diego Padres in 2001. With a career batting average of .338, he won eight National League batting titles, five Gold Gloves, and made 15 appearances in the annual All-Star Game.
STARTING PITCHING STRENGTH
San Diego State's current three regular starting pitchers (Mike Moat, Joe Carque and Ben Coon) have given the Aztecs consistently good performances over the first month of the season.
Entering the week, the trio has a combined earned run average of 3.33 and has recorded 70 strikeouts and just 26 walks over 105.1 innings of work.
The threesome of Moat, Carque and Coon are expected to be on the mound on Friday, Saturday and Sunday respectively vs. Utah this weekend.
MAKING THE SACRIFICE
The 2003 season has seen a dramatic decrease in the use of the sacrifice bunt by San Diego State.
Through the first 20 games, the Aztecs have executed a sac bunt only four times, once each by four different players.
The team's record for fewest sac bunts in a season (since joining Division I in 1969) is 26 on three occasions.
WON-LOSS DISPARITY
San Diego State's statistics in games they have won as compared to games lost shows some disparity in several categories.
In its seven wins, the Aztecs are hitting .289 and fielding .978. In their 14 losses, they are batting .224 with a .942 fielding percentage. The pitching staff's earned run average is 2.14 in SDSU victories, and 6.06 when the team loses.
Conversely, opponents are hitting .315 in wins over SDSU and .185 when they lose to the Aztecs. Their overall earned run average goes from 3.40 in victories to 5.49 in losses to SDSU.
EARLY STRUGGLES
The last time San Diego State began a season with a 7-14 record was in 1993, when it ended the year at 22-36. The team opened with a 7-15 mark that season before winning twice.
The 1972 squad was 6-14-1 after 21 games, losing two more times to fall to 6-16-1 before winning four in a row. The Aztecs finished with a record of 25-32-1 that year.
JENSON PROVIDING RELIEF
Junior left-hander Drew Jenson has been one of the bright spots out of the SDSU bullpen this season.
He has not allowed an earned run in his last three appearances covering six innings.
Jenson (2-0) is one of two Aztec hurlers to be credited with two wins this year, the other being starter Ben Coon (2-1).
LINDSEY REGAINING FORM
Freshman Ronnie Lindsey appears to have found the form that thrust him into the role of starter at the beginning of the 2003 season.
After struggling a bit in his third outing (vs. Santa Clara on Feb. 15), Lindsey was moved to the bullpen beginning with the series at Miami.
In his last three appearances covering five innings, he has allowed no runs on two hits, and has struck out five. In the process, he has lowered his ERA from 6.75 to 4.40.
MCLINTOCK SACRIFICES
Jake McLintock hit his first sacrifice fly of the season in the win over CSU Northridge on March 1. After recording nine last season, his career total of 10 ties him for ninth all time.
The Aztec career mark for sac flies is 13, a record that is shared by Bobby Meacham (1981-83), Kerwin Danley (1980-83) and Carlo Cota (1999-2002).
McLintock's nine sac flies a year ago was one shy of the school's season record of 10 set by Danley in 1983.
MORE ON MAC
Jake McLintock has put together two-hit games in three of San Diego State's last four contests.
Over his last four games, the sophomore from Bonita Vista has gone 6-for-14 (.429) with a double and three runs scored.
He has yet to commit an error in right field this season in 49 chances. As a freshman last season, he had only one error all year, finishing with a .990 fielding percentage.
STONARD LEADS HITTERS
Junior second baseman Peter Stonard continues to lead the Aztecs in hitting among the regulars with a .321 average.
He has hit safely in eight of San Diego state's last nine games, going 12-for-34 (.353) over that span.
In those nine contests, he has scored seven runs and driven in eight while recoding two triples and a double. He has also walked seven times for an on-base percentage of .463.
MOAT LEADS MOUND STAFF
Aztec junior Mike Moat has emerged as SDSU's top hurler this season after two seasons during which he spent time in the bullpen and as a starter.
After six starts, he has allowed only 10 earned runs over 38.1 innings for an ERA of 2.35. He has recorded 34 strikeouts with just 12 walks, and foes are hitting .2077 against him. He did not give up a walk in his most recent appearance (seven innings vs. UCI).
Three of his outings in 2003 have come against ranked opposition: Arizona State, South Alabama and Miami. He did not allow an earned run in any of those contests.
COON-TROL PITCHER
Freshman lefty Ben Coon has moved into SDSU's starting rotation and is making the most his opportunity.
He has shown excellent command of his pitches in his starts against Santa Clara, Miami, Washington and UC Irvine, walking one and striking out 22 in those three contests. The walk he allowed vs. UC Irvine last Sunday broke a streak of 25 innings in which he had not allowed a base on balls.
Coon saw three innings of relief work against Arizona State in late January, allowing one earned run on one hit while striking out three.
He picked up a wins in his starts against Santa Clara and UC Irvine. His earned run average over his four appearances stands at 3.27.
GWYNN COMING ON
Outfielder Anthony Gwynn has hit safely in four of San Diego State's last five games. In those contests, he struck out only once in 24 plate appearances.
He has struck out just seven times in SDSU's first 20 games, an average of once every 14.1 plate appearances.
He leads the team in steals with 11 and is third in runs scored with 13.
Gwynn's defense has been excellent, even spectacular at times. He has made a pair of diving catches this season to rob opponents of potential big hits.
TONY GWYNN STADIUM
It ranks as the fourth-best in the western U.S. behind stadiums at Stanford, Arizona State and Hawaii.
Tony Gwynn Stadium was ranked 15th in a poll of college baseball Sports Information Directors. Again, the park was fourth in the west, this time behind Hawaii, Stanford and Fresno State.
Since the facility opened for the 1997 season, San Diego State's record there stands at 117-69 (.629).
PLAYER NOTES
Rielly Embrey, who had not had a hit since Feb. 16, broke out of his slump with a pair of hits, including a two-run homer, against UC Irvine last Sunday.
Kyle Floquet became the latest Aztec to be hit by pitch twice in a game (vs. UC Irvine on March 8) to tie the SDSU record held by many. Prior to Floquet, the last player hit by pitch twice in a game was Andy Litteral during the 2001 campaign. No Aztec has ever been hit three times in a game.
James Guerrero has recorded an RBI in four of San Diego State's last five games.
Landon Burt has reached base (either with a hit, walk or hit by pitch) in each of his last 11 contests.
Peter Stonard leads San Diego State with eight multiple-hit games this season.
Curt Mendoza and Chad Corona share the team's current longest hitting streak at four games. The longest by an Aztec this year is six games, by both James Guerrero and Peter Stonard.
Aztec pinch hitters are 5-for-16 (.313) this season. Landon Burt is 2-for-2 in a pinch-hitting role while James Guerrero, Garrett Cook and Josh Allen have all recorded hits in their lone pinch-hitting appearances.
Anthony Gwynn and Peter Stonard are the only two Aztecs to have started all 21 games this season.
With three intentional walks, second baseman Peter Stonard is the only Aztec to receive an intentional pass this season. He was walked twice on purpose by Cal State Northridge on March 1.
TEAM NOTES
The Aztecs' recent five-game losing streak, which was snapped with the 5-3 win over UC Irvine on Sunday, was the team's longest since the 2000 campaign when they lost six in a row in early April.
In its last six games, the San Diego State pitching staff has struck out 35 and walked 16.
The Aztecs have given up three triples through the first 20 games while connecting for 10 themselves. Two players have a pair of three-baggers: Peter Stonard and James Guerrero.
The Aztecs have hit 10 doubles and four triples in their last five games.
AZTEC ATTENDANCE
That number compares to last year's final average of 860 for 30 dates.
The Aztecs have had three crowds over 1,000 (in seven home games) this season after totaling six a year ago.
ON DECK
Game times are 2:00 p.m. on Friday (March 21) and 1:00 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday (March 22 and 23).
The following week, SDSU will be at UNLV for another three-game MWC series.