Feb. 24, 2004
Complete Release and Season Statistics in PDF Format
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THIS WEEK
* San Diego begins the week with a home contest against Cal State Northridge on Tuesday, Feb. 24, at 6:00 p.m. at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
* The Aztecs then continue their travels as they visit the University of Texas to take on the Longhorns in a three-game series. The first contest is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 27, at 2:30 p.m. (CST) at UT's Disch-Falk Field. * The series continues with single games on Saturday (Feb. 28) and Sunday (Feb. 29) at 2:00 and 1:00 p.m. (CST) respectively.
* This is the 66th 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.
SERIES RECORDS
* San Diego State leads its series with Cal State Northridge by a slim 37-35 margin. The teams first met during the 1960 season and squared off annually while both were members of the California Collegiate Athletic Association. The Aztecs have won four of the last five meetings between the teams since 1997, including last year's 5-4 win at the Clash of the Conferences in Lancaster, Calif.
* This weekend's contests will mark San Diego State's first-ever meeting with the University of Texas.
SCOUTING THE OPPOSITION
* Cal State Northridge enters the week with a record of 5-8 and has lost its last four contests. The Matadors have recorded a pair of wins over University of San Diego at home and two road victories at Hawaii. The team's top offensive players include Michael Paulk (.370, 3 HR, 13 RBI), Alberto Quintana (.320, 3 HR, 10 RBI) and John Voita (.312, 3 HR, 10 RBI). Tuesday's projected starting pitcher is Nathan Hochgesang (0-1, 3.60), who will be making his first start of the season. The Matadors are hitting .271 as a team with an ERA of 5.81.
* Texas begins the week ranked third in the nation by Baseball Weekly/ESPN, fourth by Collegiate Baseball and sixth by Baseball America. The Longhorns are 11-2 after dropping two of three at Stanford last weekend, and they face Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Tuesday before playing the Aztecs. Leading hitters include catcher Curtis Thigpen (.438, 2 HR, 10 RBI), outfielder Dooley Prince (.327, 3 2B) and infielder Seth Johnston (.319, 2 HR, 11 RBI). Top hurlers include Justin Simmons (2-1, 3.93), Kyle McCulloch (1-0, 3.95) and Sam LeCure (1-0, 4.50). Reliever Houston Street has three wins in relief with a 0.75 earned run average. The Longhorns hit .300 as a team with a 2.75 ERA.
HEAD COACH Tony Gwynn
* Tony Gwynn enters his second season as San Diego State's head coach after being named to the position in Sept. 2001.
* In 2002, he served as a volunteer coach for the Aztecs under Jim Dietz, who retired at the end of that season.
* A former Aztec who played baseball at San Diego State from 1979 to 1981, 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.
MOST RECENTLY
* SDSU dropped two games last weekend at the Public Storage Classic at USC.
* On Friday, the Aztecs fell to 10th-tanked Notre Dame by a score of 7-1. The Aztecs' lone run scored on Jake McLintock's RBI single in the second that made it a 2-1 game at the time. Senior Scott Shoemaker struck out nine over six innings, but took the loss to fall to 1-3 on the season.
* On Saturday, Louisville broke open a one-run game with16 runs over the final four innings in a 19-6 win over SDSU. Starting pitcher Daryl Harang gave up three runs (two earned) and left the contest after five innings trailing just 3-2, but took the loss to fall to 1-2. Freshman Clay Coulter was the lone Aztec with more than one hit, going 2-for-3 with a run batted in.
PITCHING ROTATION
* San Diego State's pitching rotation for this weekend is expected to be as follows:
Tue. - Chris Hartshorn (RHP)
Fri. - Scott Shoemaker (RHP)
Sat. - Daryl Harang (LHP)
Sun. - Chris Hartshorn (RHP)
UNGRICHT LEADS HITTERS
* Freshman catcher Brock Ungricht saw his 13-game hitting streak end in last Friday's contest against Notre Dame. That streak included six multi-hit games.
* Although he did not get a hit in last weekend's two contests, he did draw six walks over the two games in 10 plate appearances.
* He currently leads the team in hitting this week at .386. He has also drawn a total of 13 walks for a .500 on-base percentage.
HARANG THE MAGICIAN
* Senior lefty Daryl Harang has allowed more than one earned run only once in his five appearances this season, giving up two to Louisville in five innings last Sunday.
* He has an ERA of 1.90 over 23.2 innings pitched, the lowest among the regulars.
* Harang has posted that ERA by being able to working himself of trouble. He is averaging 1.77 opposing base runners per inning this season, but has given up a total of just five earned runs.
HARTSHORN
* Fifth-year senior Chris Hartshorn has been SDSU's most effective starting pitcher this season. He is 3-1 with a 2.54 ERA in his four starts, with his only loss coming when SDSU was shut out by UC Santa Barbara.
* He has allowed just one earned run in his last two starts covering 16 innings.
* In his 28.1 innings this season, he has struck out 25 and walked only six.
* Due to Sunday's rainout at USC, Hartshorn did not pitch last weekend. He is expected to start the CSU Northridge contest, but only throw a couple of innings in order to be available for his regular turn in the starting rotation on Sunday at Texas.
SHOEMAKER'S STRIKEOUTS
* Senior starting pitcher Scott Shoemaker struck out nine batters over six innings in the loss to Notre Dame last Friday. That matched his opening-day performance at Hawaii-Hilo when he recorded nine K's over six innings.
* He has a strikeout-to-walk ratio of almost 4-to-1 with 31 K's and just eight walks over his 27.2 innings pitched.
* With a 1-3 record, he has been the victim of SDSU's inconsistent offense as the Aztecs have scored a total of five runs over his last three starts (all losses).
WILSON FILLS IN
* Ryan Wilson has proven himself to be one of SDSU's most versatile players during his time as an Aztec. He has played every infield position (including pitcher) except first base as well as left and right field.
* This season he has appeared at both second and third, and has not committed an error in 25 chances.
* He is hitting .308 (8-for-26) with eight RBI. He has drawn five walks in his last four games and has an on-base percentage of .500.
COULTER COME THROUGH
* Freshman Clay Coulter got the starting call in last Saturday's game vs. Louisville when Jordan Swaydan was injured in a collision at home plate in the previous game against Notre Dame.
* Coulter responded with a pair of hits and a run batted in.
* In four games, he has gone 5-for-12 with a double and two RBI.
TAKE A WALK
* San Diego State has drawn 109 walks through the first 16 games of the season. Last year the team had 231 bases on balls over 61 contests.
* Four Aztecs have already reached double figures in walks this season led by first baseman Rielly Embrey with 15. He has drawn two or more bases on balls in four games and has walked at least once in nine contests after totaling 18 walks all of last season. Other Aztecs in double figures in walks include Brock Ungricht (13), James Guerrero (12) and Landon Burt (10).
STEALING AWAY
* After attempting just two stolen bases as a freshman last season, shortstop James Guerrero already has swiped five in five attempts in 2004.
* Outfielder Landon Burt is second on the squad with 4 thefts in five attempts.
* San Diego State catchers are a perfect 6-for-6 in stolen base attempts this season, accounting for over a third of the team's successful steal attempts. Both sophomore Jordan Swaydan and freshman Brock Ungricht have each stolen three bases in three attempts. The rest of the team is 11-for-17.
TEAM NOTES
* The Aztec pitching staff has recorded double figures in strikeouts five times this season. The team's record in those games is 2-3.
* San Diego State has used a different starting lineup in each of its 16 contests.
* SDSU has not hit a home run in its last eight games and has scored just 18 runs in its last six contests.
* The Aztecs have scored just 29 runs over the final five innings of their first 16 games, and have not produced a run in the ninth inning this season.
* SDSU has not won two games in a row through its first 16 contests. The team's longest losing steak is three games.
PLAYER NOTES
* Jake McLintock (vs. Hawaii-Hilo, Jan. 24) and Brock Ungricht (vs. Sacramento State, Feb. 1) have recorded SDSU's only four-hit games this season.
* Aztec pinch hitters are 2-for-11 with a walk. Senior Rielly Embrey and first baseman Brian Kinsman are the only Aztecs with a pinch hit.
* SDSU pitchers have struck out 21 batters over 17 innings in two games last weekend.
* The shortstop position is the only one that has been occupied by just one player this season. James Guerrero has played every inning at short.
* Guerrero is also the only player to have started every game (16 contests). Landon Burt and Rielly Embrey have appeared in all 16 games while McLintock has started and played in 15 contests.
* Guerrero has a four-game hitting streak in progress, currently the longest on the team along with Clay Coulter.
* Curt Mendoza has a hit safely in five of his last six games and has also scored a run in five of the team's last six contests.
* After going 0-for-3 in his collegiate debut at Hawaii-Hilo last month, freshman Brandon Rauch has hit safely in his last three games, going 4-for-9 with a double, triple and three RBI in those contests.
* Infielder Sam Pepper has hit safely in each game in which he has come to the plate (three contests).
* Chad Corona has drawn eight walks this season after totaling seven in 45 games in 2003.
PETCO UPDATE
* As of Monday (Feb. 23), a total of 28,193 tickets had been issued for the Aztecs' game vs. Houston on March 11 during the Aztec Invitational at PETCO Park. With just over two weeks left before the game, that number eclipses the collegiate single-game attendance mark of 27,673 set by LSU and Tulane in the New Orleans Superdome.
* Four-day passes are still available at a cost of $50 for adults and $30 for students with single-day passes costing $15 and $10 respectively. Those may be purchased at the Padre Ticket Office at PETCO Park and at the Aztec Ticket Office (Window G at Qualcomm Stadium). They can also be obtained by calling 1-888-FRIAR-TIX or (619) 283-SDSU.
* Tickets for the SDSU Houston contest are reserved seating while the remaining three days of the Invitational will be general admission.
ON DECK
* San Diego State returns home for its first three-game series in four weeks when it hosts North Carolina State next weekend. The Spartans begin this week ranked 24th in the nation in both the Baseball America and Baseball Weekly/ESPN polls.
* The teams will meet for the first time ever on Friday, March 5, at 6:00 p.m. at Tony Gwynn Stadium. The series will continue with single games on Saturday (Mar. 6) at 6:00 p.m. and Sunday (March 7) at 1:00 p.m.