March 1, 2005
Complete Release and Season Statistics in PDF Format
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* San Diego State makes a brief return home to host Cal State Fullerton on Tuesday, Mar. 1, at 6:00 p.m. at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
* SDSU will then hit the road for its third consecutive weekend away series. The Aztecs will head east this weekend to Mobile, Alabama, where it will meet the South Alabama Jaguars three times. The weekend series at South Alabama begins on Friday (Mar. 4) with a single game at 6:30 p.m. (CST) at Hank Aaron Stadium. That facility is the home of the Mobile Bay Bears, the AA affiliate of the San Diego Padres.
* Action continues the next two afternoons with games on Saturday (Mar. 5) and Sunday (Mar. 6) at 1:00 p.m. (CST). Those games will be played at Stanky Field on the campus of South Alabama.
* This is the 67th 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
* SDSU trails Cal State Fullerton 18-33-1 since the teams first met back in 1964. The Aztecs and Titans played annually during the 1960's, and in the 1970's were both members of the Pacific Coast Athletic Association. SDSU's last win over CSF came at the NCAA Regional in Fresno in 1984. The teams have met only eight times since that contest, with the Titans winning each. The most recent meetings came in single games during both the 1999 and 2000 seasons.
* This will be just the second meeting ever between SDSU and South Alabama. Their only other encounter came during the 2003 season when the Aztecs defeated the Jaguars, 5-0, in San Diego. That contest was SDSU's first home game under head coach Tony Gwynn.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
* Cal State Fullerton, the defending NCAA national champion, enters this week with a record of 7-2 after winning two of three games at UNLV last weekend. The Titans are ranked fourth in the country this week in both the Baseball America and ESPN/Sports Weekly polls. They are sixth in the Collegiate Baseball poll.
* CSF is led by third baseman Ronnie Prettyman (.424, 5 2B, 9 RBI), first baseman Brett Pill (.368, 2 HR, 8 RBI) and shortstop Blake Davis (.357, 2 2B, 13 RBI). Top pitchers include Ricky Romero (3-0, 12.57) and Ryan Schreppel (1-0, 1.80). As a team, the Titans are hitting .334 and have posted a team earned run average of 3.46.
* South Alabama enters the week with a record of 4-5 and will travel to Auburn, Ala., to face Auburn University Tuesday evening prior to hosting San Diego State. Most recently, the Jaguars split a pair of games with Oral Roberts at home last weekend. South Alabama has won the last four Sun Belt Conference regular season championships.
* The Jaguars return a majority of their pitching staff from a year ago including preseason All-America candidates P.J. Walters and Jeramy Simmons. They lost six starting position players from last season's 30-28 team, one that missed advancing to the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 10 years. Outfielder Quendon Montgomery returns as the top hitter after batting .304 with 40 RBI a year ago.
HEAD COACH Tony Gwynn
* Tony Gwynn enters his third season as San Diego State's head coach after being named to the position in Sept. 2001.
* Last year, Gwynn led his squad to the Mountain West Conference regular-season championship and was named the MWC coach of the year.
* 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.
AZTEC PITCHING ROTATION
* San Diego State's probable starting pitchers for the next four games are as follows:
Tue..Brett Douglas (RHP. 0-1, 13.50)
Fri..Bruce Billings (RHP, 1-1, 3.86)
Sat..Alex Hinshaw (LHP, 0-3, 5.30)
Sun..Andres Esquibel (RHP, 1-3, 5.03)
FULLERTON STARTER
* Cal State Fullerton is expected to start freshman right-hander Adam Jorgenson against SDSU on Tuesday.
* Jorgenson has made five appearances this season, all in relief. He has recorded one save and has a 0.00 earned run average over seven innings.
JAGUAR ROTATION
* South Alabama's starting pitchers this weekend are expected to be:
Fri..Jeramy Simmons (RPH)
Sat..P.J. Walters (RHP)
Sun..Tommie Major (RHP)
NO EARNED RUNS = TWO LOSSES
* In last weekend's first two games at Long Beach State, Aztec starting pitchers allowed no earned runs, but lost both contests by a score of 2-1.
* In game one, SDSU took a 1-0 lead into the final inning, but a throwing error gifted the 49ers the win.
* In the second contest, LBSU scored twice on a two-out dropped fly ball in the second inning to record the victory.
STARTING PITCHING SHINES
* San Diego State got solid performances from all three of its starting hurlers last weekend at Long Beach State.
* On Friday, Bruce Billings scattered five hits over eight innings and struck out a career-high 10 batters before leaving in the ninth after walking the leadoff hitter.
* The next day, Alex Hinshaw matched Billings' effort as he tossed eight innings, allowing five hits with season high with six strikeouts. Two unearned runs caused him to be saddled with the loss.
* Sunday's game saw freshman right-hander Andres Esquibel give up just three earned runs on six hits in his six innings of work as the Aztecs dropped a 6-1 decision in the series finale.
* As a staff, the Aztecs lowered their season team earned run average by a full run last weekend (from 6.38 entering Friday's game to 5.38 after Sunday's contest).
WALKING INTO THE TOP 10
* With a pair of walks last weekend, junior James Guerrero has moved into the SDSU top 10 in career bases on balls.
* His total of 91 free passes ties for the number-10 spot in the list with Flavio Alfaro (1983-84).
* The number-nine position is occupied by Tommy Rinks (1956-58) with 92 walks.
O'BRIEN COOLED OFF
* First baseman Tim O'Brien, who has been the starter at the position since the second game of the season, had a six-game hitting streak ended last Friday at Long Beach State.
* He still leads the Aztecs in runs scored with 11 as well as home runs with a pair. He is also tied for the team lead with three doubles.
* The junior from Fresno City College is hitting .289 and leads the team in slugging percentage (.526).
CONSISTENT CARSON
* Infielder Clayton Carson has reached base safely via a base hit in 12 of the 13 games in which he has appeared.
* His current hitting streak stands at eight games (10-for-31 with six RBI).
* His total of nine runs batted in leads the team.
* Last weekend at Long Beach State, Carson had an extra-base hit in each contest with a triple and a pair of doubles.
SWAYDAN GETS OFFENSIVE
* Catcher Jordan Swaydan had a four-game hitting streak ended in the final game at Long Beach State last weekend.
* In the four games prior to the series finale, he had gone 8-for-14 with two runs scored and four runs batted in.
* In the first game of the LBSU series, Swaydan collected a season-high three hits.
ZAWADZKI SWINGS HOT BAT
* After beginning the season with just one hit through four games, sophomore shortstop Lance Zawadzki has had a hot bat the past three weeks.
* He is currently on a 10-game hitting streak (longest for an Aztec this season), going 15-for-35 (.428) with seven runs scored and five RBI.
* He has also drawn six walks in the past 10 contests for an on-base percentage of .512 in those games.
* His .326 average entering the week ties for best on the squad with James Guerrero.
BURKLE OUT
* Junior right-hander Shaun Burkle, who has been the team's most effective relief pitcher this season, is expected to miss 6-8 weeks with a fracture in his right hand.
* He has made six appearances, throwing a total of eight innings, allowing three runs (none earned) on eight hits and two walks along with three strikeouts. Seven of the eight hits he has given up have been singles.
* In his six outings, opponents are hitting .229 against him.
GETTING IT DONE DEFENSIVELY
* Second baseman James Guerrero is making the transition from two years as SDSU's starting shortstop to starter at second base this season.
* After committing three errors in the team's first two games, he has been flawless over the last 11 contests.
* He is fielding .955 with just the three errors in 66 chances.
* Guerrero went 6-for-10 in last weekend's three games at Long Beach State.
SEE THE BALL, HIT THE BALL
* Five Aztecs who are in their first year of Division I baseball at San Diego State have recorded base hits in their first collegiate at bats this season.
* That quintet includes:
Garrick Evans, OF - 2B vs. Texas 2/4
Tim O'Brien, 1B - 1B vs. Texas 2/5
Chris Anderson, C - 1B vs. Texas 2/5
James Scott, PH - 1B vs. Santa Clara 2/13
Kevin Howard, PH - 1B vs. CSUN, 2/15
HITTING IN A PINCH
* After seven games, Aztec pinch hitters have gone 6-for-12 for a .500 average.
* Six different players have come through at the plate when coming off the bench.
* Last season, the Aztecs totaled six pinch hits all year, finishing with a .231 average (6-for-26) in that category.
INFIELD SHIFT
* Two of SDSU's veteran infielders have switched positions for the 2005 season.
* All-MWC shortstop James Guerrero was moved to second base while returning second baseman Lance Zawadzki became the starter at third base to open the year.
* With those two moves, junior college transfer Clayton Carson assumed the role of starting shortstop to start the season. Carson began his collegiate career at Brigham Young, spending two seasons there before moving to Saddleback Junior College.
* In the final two contests at North Carolina State, Zawadzki and Carson changed positions, with Carson starting at third and Zawadzki at shortstop.
IT'S ALL RELATIVE
* Four Aztecs claim major league baseball players as relatives.
* Shortstop Clayton Carson is a cousin of former Dodger, Cub and Red Sox first baseman Bill Buckner. In addition, Carson's brother, Matt, was a three-year letterman at BYU and is currently in the New York Yankees organization.
* Outfielder Garrick Evans is a second cousin of Detroit Tiger (and former San Diego Padre) outfielder Rondell White.
* Pitcher Anthony Ybarra is the nephew of former Cleveland Indians second baseman Tommy Hinzo.
* Senior infielder Noel Strane is the cousin of Florida Marlins pitcher Dontrelle Willis.
ATTENDANCE RECORD
* The Aztecs drew their largest crowds ever to Tony Gwynn Stadium during the season-opening weekend series vs. Texas.
* On Friday (Feb. 4), the teams drew 2,857 fans, the biggest crowd ever to see a collegiate game at the stadium.
* The only larger crowd to visit the facility was a gathering of 3,158 fans who witnessed the Aztecs played the New York Yankees during the 1998 campaign.
* Saturday's crowd of 2,353 was the second-largest in stadium history.
AZTEC TO PLAY PADRES AT PETCO PARK
* San Diego State will face the San Diego Padres in an exhibition contest at PETCO Park on Wednesday, March 30, at 7:00 p.m.
* It will be the first meeting between the teams since the 1998 season and will also be the Padres' first preseason appearance in San Diego prior to the start of their 2005 campaign.
* Tickets for the Aztec-Padre game will go on sale to the general public on Feb. 19. Further information is available by calling (619) 283-SDSU or visiting the SDSU Aztec web site (www.goaztecs.com).
AZTEC NOTES
* Freshman Grant Desme made his debut at first base in last Sunday's game at Long Beach State. He was perfect in the field on 10 chances and also collected a hit in three at bats.
* Bruce Billings' 23 strikeouts lead the Mountain West Conference this week. He is also tied in the category of batters truck out looking with eight.
* SDSU has a pair of twin brothers on its roster in infielder Kevin Perry and outfielder Kasey Perry. Both came to SDSU from Fresno City CC and are the first set of twins to play baseball for the Aztecs.
* First baseman Tim O'Brien was a member of the Fresno City College team with the Perry brothers in 2004.
* Kasey Perry picked up his first collegiate hit when he singled as a pinch hitter in the second game against Santa Clara. It was his second plate appearance of the season.
AZTEC BASEBALL ON TV
* San Diego State will make a pair of television appearances this season.
* The first will be the game at Brigham Young on Friday, April 14, at 7:00 p.m. (MDT), a game broadcast on BYU-TV (available on cable or on the Internet).
* The second televised contest will be carried by College Sports Television (CSTV) when the Aztecs meet UNLV on Sunday, May 1, at 1:30 p.m. (PDT) at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
ON DECK
* Following the weekend series at South Alabama, San Diego State will make the short trip north to face UC Irvine on Tuesday, Mar. 8, at 6:00 p.m. at Anteater Field.
* The Aztecs will then return home for a three-game series against University of San Diego next weekend. The first and third games of that series will be played at Tony Gwynn Stadium (Friday, Mar.11 at 6:00 p.m. and Sunday, Mar. 13 at 1:00 p.m.). The middle game will be contested at USD's Cunningham Stadium on Saturday (Mar. 12) at 1:00 p.m.