March 24, 2004
Complete Release and Season Statistics in PDF Format
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THIS WEEK
* San Diego State makes its first Mountain West Conference road trip of the season as it travels to Albuquerque to face New Mexico in a three-game series.
* The first contest is scheduled for Friday, March 26, at 6:00 p.m. (MST) at Isotopes Park, home of the AAA affiliate of the Florida Marlins. The series continues with games on Saturday (March 27) and Sunday (March 28) at 6:00 p.m. and noon respectively (MST).
* 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.
AZTECS ADD GAME
* SDSU has added a game to its schedule to replace its contest that was rained out at USC on Feb. 22.
* The Aztecs will host UCLA on Tuesday, March 30, at 6:00 p.m. at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
SERIES RECORDS
* San Diego State leads the series with New Mexico 77-33. The teams first met during the 1960 season and then faced off annually while both were members of the Western Athletic Conference from 1979 to 1999.
* The Aztecs have a record of 48-13 vs. the Lobos in San Diego and 27-19 at New Mexico's home field. SDSU is 2-1 in games at neutral sites.
* San Diego State dropped two of three games in Albuquerque last season before sweeping UNM in the MWC season-ending series at Tony Gwynn Stadium. The Aztecs have won 15 of the last 18 meetings dating back to the 2001 campaign.
SCOUTING THE LOBOS
* New Mexico (5-13-1, 2-1 MWC) enters the weekend after winning two of three games from Utah in Albuquerque last weekend. The Lobos have won three of their last four including a win over Texas Tech at home. They are scheduled to travel to New Mexico State for a single game on Wednesday (March 24) before hosting the Aztecs this weekend.
* The UNM offense is led by center fielder Matt Young (.333, 4 3B, 11 RBI), first baseman Daniel Stovall (.321, 4 2B, 2 HR) and shortstop Josh Mader (.314, 10 RBI). The Lobos are hitting .269 overall and .320 in conference play.
* New Mexico's top hurler is Cooper Eddy (2-2, 4.26), a starter who was named the league pitcher of the week last week. The team's relief ace is lefty Joe Salas (0-1, 3.29, 2 saves). UNM's overall earned run average stands at 5.60.
HEAD COACH Tony Gwynn
* Tony Gwynn is in 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
* San Diego State opened its 2004 conference campaign by taking three games from Air Force at Tony Gwynn Stadium last weekend.
* On Friday (March 19), pitcher Scott Shoemaker struck out 12 over seven innings and first baseman Rielly Embrey had four hits and four runs batted in to lead SDSU to a 14-0 win over the Falcons. Outfielder Landon Burt capped off the scoring with a grand slam in the seventh inning.
* The Aztecs continued their offensive onslaught on Saturday, winning by a score of 13-3. Embrey again collected four hits including a double and homer along with four RBI. James Guerrero, Brock Ungricht and Clay Coulter had two hits apiece while pitcher Ben Coon picked up his second win of the season in relief.
* Sunday's contest was a tight affair that saw SDSU take a 4-1 lead and hang on for a 5-4 victory. Landon Burt had three hits, three stolen bases and scored twice while Guerrero and Jake McLintock had a pair of hits each. The Aztecs got some clutch pitching down the stretch as both Coon and Drew Jenson faced a runner at third with less than two outs and did not allow the Falcons to score.
PITCHING ROTATION
* San Diego State's pitching rotation for this weekend is expected to be as follows:
Fri. - Scott Shoemaker (RHP, 3-5, 4.18)
Sat. - Daryl Harang (LHP, 1-3, 2.53)
Sun. - Chris Hartshorn (RHP, 4-3, 4.24)
* Air Force starters this weekend starters are projected to be:
Fri. - Jason Fernandez (RHP, 2-2, 4.56)
Sat. - Herrera (LHP, 0-4, 5.02)
Sun. - Cooper Eddy (RHP, 2-2, 4.26)
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
* Rielly Embrey was named the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) National Co-Hitter of the Week as well as the Mountain West Conference Player of the week for his performance in last weekend's series vs. Air Force.
* Over the three games, he hit .727 (8-for-11) with a double, home run and nine runs batted in. He reached base in 11 straight plate appearances either via a hit or base on balls.
* It marks the third straight season that the junior first baseman has been awarded MWC Player of the Week honors.
EMBREY STREAK STOPPED
* Senior first baseman Rielly Embrey had an eight-game hitting streak ended in last Sunday's contest against Air Force. He went 0-for-2 in that game with a walk and sacrifice fly.
* During his eight-game streak, he batted .563 (18-for-32) with nine runs scored and 13 RBI.
* In the process, he has raised his batting average from .197 to .310.
* Embrey leads the Aztecs in RBI with 23 and is tied for the home run lead with three.
MCLINTOCK HEATING UP
* Over his last four outings, right fielder Jake McLintock has gone 8-for-15 (.533) with three runs scored, two doubles and four runs batted in.
* He has reached safely in nine of SDSU's last 11 contests, going 15-for-38 (.395) in those games.
* His sacrifice fly in Saturday's win over Air Force was his third of the year and 14th as an Aztec as he established a new SDSU career mark in that category.
* McLintock has started and played in 28 games this season, and has not committed an error in right field in 54 chances. His four assists lead all SDSU outfielders.
BURT MAKES IT HAPPEN
* Center fielder Landon Burt has gone 8-for-15 (.533) in his last four games with seven runs scored, two home runs and five runs batted in.
* He has hit safely in eight of his last nine contests, going 13-for-35 (.371).
* He has scored at least one run in six of SDSU's last seven games, crossing the plate a total of 12 times.
* Burt has been the Aztecs' leadoff hitter in 27 games and has an on-base percentage of .414 in those contests. He has drawn 20 bases on balls in those games.
* Burt hit home runs in back-to-back games vs. Air Force last weekend and is tied for the team lead with three. Prior to this season, the senior had hit just one home run in the previous three seasons (at Air Force in 2003). All three of his homers this season have come at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
ZAWADZKI STREAKING
* Freshman second baseman Lance Zawadzki has a modest four-game hitting streak going during which he has gone 6-for-16 (.375) with five runs scored.
* He has hit safely in eight of SDSU's last nine contests, batting .395 (15-for-38) over that period to raise his season average to .319.
* Earlier this season, Zawadzki's recorded three doubles at Cal State Northridge to tie the Aztecs record for two-baggers in a game.
GUERRERO LIGHTING IT UP
* When the season began, shortstop James Guerrero was given the green light to be a switch hitter this season. After struggling to make the adjustment at the plate, the experiment ended with the start of the North Carolina State series in early March.
* Over the Aztecs' last nine contests since the opener with the Wolfpack on March 5, Guerrero has gone 15-for-33 (.454) with 10 runs scored, six walks and six runs batted in.
* Last weekend in three games vs. Air Force, he went 5-for-12 (.461) with five runs scored, three walks and a pair of RBI.
* Since limiting his hitting to the right side, Guerrero has raised his average from .192 to .274.
BURT ON BASE
* Senior left fielder Landon Burt has shown a knack for getting on base no matter where he hits in the order. He has reached safely via either a hit or walk in 26 of the 29 games in which he has played. In the three games in which he did not reach base, he had only one plate appearance.
* He is 11-of-14 in stolen bases this season to lead the team in that category. His previous seasonal best as an Aztec was seven during his junior year of 2003. He had a total of 11 successful steal attempts in his three seasons prior to this one.
COON PROVIDING RELIEF
* In his last seven relief appearances covering 10.2 innings, sophomore lefty Ben Coon has allowed just one run on eight hits, walking one and striking out 12.
* He has given up only three earned runs in his last nine relief appearances (12.2 innings).
* He recorded a pair of wins in relief last weekend (Saturday and Sunday) to improve to 3-0 on the season.
* His ERA of 5.26 is somewhat misleading as he gave up 10 earned runs over 4.2 innings in his season debut at Hawaii-Hilo. Without that game, his earned run average would be 2.14 over 12 outings covering 21 innings.
SHOEMAKER'S SHUTOUTS
* After shutting out Houston in a complete-game win on March 11 at PETCO Park, Scott Shoemaker increased his scoreless inning streak to 16 by giving up no runs to Air Force over seven innings last Friday.
* Shoemaker, who set a career high with 14 strikeouts against Houston, added 12 in the game vs. Air Force to give him 26 K's in his last 16 innings.
* He has a strikeout-to-walk ratio of better than 4-to-1 with 65 K's and just 14 walks over his 56 innings pitched.
* Shoemaker has been San Diego State's number-one starter this season since opening day.
BETTER LATE THAN NEVER
* The Aztec's hitting and pitching appears to be coming around just in time for the conference season.
* Over its last nine contests, SDSU is batting .307 with 13 doubles, 2 triples and eight home runs. The team's batting average for the season stands at .259.
* In the last six games, the team ERA has been 3.00. Over that period, the Aztec have struck out 61 and walked 21 in 54 innings pitched.
POWER SURGE
* SDSU had gone 13 games without hitting a home run prior to freshman Lance Zawadzki's solo shot in the first inning vs. North Carolina State on Mar. 6.
* Over their last eight games, Aztec hitters have connected for eight home runs. They hit a season high three in one game vs. Air Force last Saturday, including back-to-back shots by Burt and Zawadzki.
* San Diego State has hit a total of 15 home runs in its 30 games with outfielder Landon Burt and first baseman Rielly Embrey leading the way with three each.
TEAM NOTES
* SDSU had its most stolen bases in a game this season with six vs. Air Force last Sunday. Included in that figure were three by Landon Burt.
* SDSU's 14-0 win over Air Force last Friday was the first time the team reached double figures in runs since Feb. 1 in an 11-7 win over Sacramento State.
* After 30 games, the Aztecs have not produced a run in the ninth inning this season.
* SDSU's three wins last weekend represent its longest winning streak of the season. The team's longest losing streak is four games.
* The team's 2.33 earned run average after the first weekend of league play leads the conference while its .370 batting average is second to UNLV.
PLAYER NOTES
* Closer Ryan Schroyer is averaging over a strikeout per inning (25 K's in 20.1 innings) after striking out the side in his lone appearance last weekend (one inning on Sunday).
* Since returning from injury as the starter at third base, Chad Corona has hit safely in SDSU's last three games, scoring three times and driving in a pair of runs.
* Freshman catcher Clay Coulter has struck out just once in 25 plate appearances.
* Landon Burt was hit by pitch for the third time this season vs. Air Force last Friday. It increased his SDSU career record total to 20.
* Pitchers Daryl Harang (2.53), Scott Shoemaker (4.18) and Chris Hartshorn (4.24) rank first, fourth and seventh respectively in earned run average in this week's overall Mountain West Conference statistics.
* Three Aztecs have walked over 20 times apiece this season: Rielly Embrey (23), Landon Burt (21) and James Guerrero (21).
ON DECK
* The Aztecs will face UCLA on Tuesday, March 30,at 6:00 p.m. at Tony Gwynn Stadium in a game added to replace one rained out earlier in the year.
* SDSU hosts defending MWC champion UNLV for a three-game series next weekend.
* The opening contest of that set is scheduled for Friday (April 2) at 6:00 p.m. at Tony Gwynn Stadium. That will be followed by single games on Saturday (April 3) and Sunday (April 4) at 1:00 p.m. and noon respectively.