March 17, 2005
Complete Release and Season Statistics in PDF Format
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THIS WEEK
* San Diego State opens its sixth season of Mountain West Conference baseball this weekend as the University of Utah visits Tony Gwynn Stadium for a three-game league series.
* The first meeting of the Utes and Aztecs is scheduled for Friday, Mar. 18, at 6:00 p.m. with game two slated for Saturday (Mar. 19) at 1:00 p.m.
* The time for the final game of the series on Sunday (Mar. 20) has been moved up to noon. The contest was originally slated for a 1:00 p.m. start.
* 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
* The Aztecs record against Utah stands at 78-18 in the series that began during the 1964 season. The teams met every year in San Diego during the 1970s and then were members of the Western Athletic Conference from 1980 through 1999 before joining the Mountain West Conference.
* Since joining the MWC, SDSU's record against the Utes is 22-11. That ledger includes a 19-11 record in regular-season play and 3-0 in conference tournament action.
* San Diego State's record on its home field against Utah is 53-11. The Aztecs are 17-7 in contests played in Salt Lake City and 8-0 at neutral site fields.
SCOUTING THE OPPONENTS
* Utah enters the weekend with a record of 6-11 and is coming off a three-game sweep at the hands of UNC-Wilmington last weekend. Prior to that series, the Utes had won three in a row and six of their previous eight. Fifteen of their first 17 contests have been away from home.
* The Utah offense is led by outfielder Joe Mozelski (.373, 5 2B, 9 RBI), infielder Doug Beck (.348, 9 runs, 14 RBI) and outfielder John Welsh (.328, 2 HR, 17 RBI). As a team, the Utes are hitting .295. They have stolen 17-of-23 bases although no individual has more than three.
* Among the teams top hurlers are relievers Brian Lane (2-2, 1.50, 1 save) and Josh Cooper (1-0, 1.69, 1 save). The team's number-one starter is lefty Jason Price (1-3, 4.81). Utah's team earned run average stands at 6.01.
HEAD COACH Tony Gwynn
* Tony Gwynn is in his third season as San Diego State's head coach after being named to the position in Sept. 2001. He spent the 2002 campaign as a volunteer assistant coach at SDSU under Jim Dietz, who retired at the end of that season.
* 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.
* He was also an all-conference basketball player for the Aztecs and still holds the SDSU single-game, season and career assist records.
WEEKEND PITCHING ROTATIONS
* San Diego State's probable starting pitchers for the next three games are as follows:
San Diego State UtahFri Bruce Billings (RHP, 1-2, 3.72) Jason Price (LHP, 1-3, 4.81)Sat Alex Hinshaw (LHP, 1-4, 5.93) Chad Culler (RHP, 0-0, 6.28)Sun Ben Coon (LHP, 0-1, 4.79) Matt Crockett (LHP, 1-4, 7.41)
GUERRERO GET OFFENSIVE
* Second baseman James Guerrero is on an 11-game hitting streak during which he is 19-for-36 (.413) with four doubles and eight runs batted in.
* The 11-game streak is second-longest on the club this season, one behind Lance Zawadzki's 12-game streak that ended last week.
* His nine walks is second the squad and he is tied for first in RBI with 11.
* Guerrero had a season-high three RBI in last Saturday's contest at USD.
THE PERRYS
* Twin brothers Kasey and Kevin made their first starts of the season in the final two games of last weekend's series against the University of San Diego. Kasey started both contests in left field while Kevin was at second base.
* In Saturday's game, Kasey had a pair of hits (including a double) with two runs scored and an RBI while Kevin also had two hits and a pair of runs batted in.
* Kevin Perry added a pair of hits in Sunday's game and is now 4-for-9 (.444) on the season.
AZTEC BROTHERS
* The last set of brothers to start the same game at SDSU was right fielder Bob Parry and third baseman John Parry, who played for the Aztecs during the 1987 season.
* The last set of brothers on the SDSU baseball team was Jacob and Jon Minter (2000 and 2001). Jacob was a catcher-DH while Jon was a relief pitcher. Although they never started the same game, they did make one appearance as a battery on Feb. 10, 2001, when Jon came on in relief and Jacob was the catcher.
VERSATILE DESME
* With the injury to infielder Clayton Carson, freshman Grant Desme has started the last nine games at third base.
* In addition to playing third base, Desme has started games in center field and at first base, and has also appeared at shortstop this season for the Aztecs.
* Desme had his most productive game as an Aztec in last Saturday's win at USD when he had three hits including a pair of doubles, scored three times, and accounted for four RBI.
COON MAKES STARTING DEBUT
* Junior Ben Coon made his first start of the season at South Alabama on Mar. 6 and now appears to be the team's regular number-three starting pitcher.
* In his two starts this season (the other vs. USD last Sunday), he has thrown a total of 12.1 innings and posted a 3.65 earned run average with two walks and seven strikeouts.
* Prior to moving into the starting rotation, Coon had recorded only four strikeouts in 8.1 innings (seven relief appearances) with a 6.48 ERA.
BERRY STREAKING
* Sophomore center fielder Quintin Berry is on a 10-game hitting streak during which he is batting .333 (14-for-42) with six runs scored and six runs batted in.
* His season average also stands at .333, second on the squad this week.
* He leads the team in stolen bases with six (in seven attempts).
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 four weeks.
* He has hit safely in 14 of the last 16 games in which he has appeared. Over that period he has gone 21-for-59 (.356) with 11 runs scored.
* He had a 12-game hitting streak (longest for an Aztec this season) ended at South Alabama on Mar. 5.
O'BRIEN CONTINUES TO HIT
* First baseman Tim O'Brien, who has been the starter at the position in 16 of the team's 21 games, has been hitting the ball consistently the past two weeks.
* In his last five games, he has gone 8-for-21 (.381) with four doubles, four RBI and three runs scored.
* He had recorded a double in four straight games until last Friday's contest against University of San Diego.
* He continues to lead the Aztecs in runs scored with 14 as well as in doubles (7).
* The junior from Fresno City College is hitting a .322 and tops the squad in slugging percentage (.542).
AMONG THE LEAGUE LEADERS
* SDSU has a number of players ranked among the top five in various categories in the MWC stats this week.
* Pitcher Bruce Billings leads the league in strikeouts (39) and batters struck out looking (16). His 3.72 earned run average is fourth-best in the MWC.
* James Guerrero is third in hits (28) while teammate Quentin Berry ranks sixth (24). Berry is also second in stolen bases this week with six.
* Brock Ungricht in tied for third in walks (11) while Tim O'Brien stands fourth with seven doubles.
ENDING THE STREAK
* SDSU ended its school-record nine-game losing streak with the 6-5 win at South Alabama on Sunday, Mar. 6.
* The previous longest losing streak in program history was eight games on three occasions (1970, 1971 and 1972).
* The Aztecs 5-16 record entering the weekend is the worst since the 1972 squad started 6-14-1 (eventually falling to 6-16-1 before finishing the season at 25-32-1). That season was Jim Dietz's first as head coach at SDSU.
WALKING INTO THE TOP 10
* With a total of nine walks this season, 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.
* Despite moving into the top 10, Guerrero has not drawn a walk in any of SDSU's last nine games, his longest stint without a base on balls as an Aztec.
CARSON OUT FOR SEASON
* Infielder Clayton Carson's season appears to be over as he will have back surgery in the near future for a herniated disk.
* Carson began the season as the starting shortstop and was moved to third base 10 games into the season. He reached base safely via a base hit in 12 of the 13 games in which he appeared.
* Despite playing on only 13 of the team's 21 games heading into this weekend, his total of nine runs batted in is third-best on the squad.
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
BURKLE OUT 4-5 MORE WEEKS
* Junior right-hander Shaun Burkle, who has been one of the team's most effective relief pitcher this season, is expected to miss four to five more weeks with a fracture in his right hand suffered on Feb 25.
* He has made six appearances this season (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.
HITTING IN A PINCH
* After seven games, Aztec pinch hitters have gone 7-for-16 for a .438 average.
* Six different players have come through at the plate when coming off the bench.
* Freshman Joseph Scaperotta has a single and a double as a pinch hitter in four at bats.
* Last season, the Aztecs totaled six pinch hits all year, finishing with a .231 average (6-for-26) in that category.
PLUNKIN' THE OPPOSITION
* SDSU pitchers are averaging over one hit batter per game.
* With 25 HBP's in 21 games, the Aztec staff is hitting 1.2 batters per contest.
* That average projects to 69 hit batters over 58 games.
* The team record is 64 hit batters in season (66 games in 2002).
* Aztecs pitchers have hit at least one batter in 10 straight games heading into this week with a high of five against Cal State Fullerton.
POWER SHORTAGE
* The Aztecs have hit only seven home runs through their first 21 games of the season.
* That figure projects to 19 home runs over 58 games.
* The last time SDSU hit 20 or fewer homers in a season was in 1991 when it had 13 in 64 games.
SCHEDULE CHANGES
* The Aztecs have re-scheduled the contest at Cal State Northridge that was rained out on Feb. 22. They have also added a game to replace one that was rained out vs. Santa Clara in early February as well.
* SDSU will host UCLA on Tuesday, April 19, at 6:00 p.m. at Tony Gwynn Stadium. The Aztecs will play at Cal State Northridge on Tuesday, April 26, at 3:00 p.m.
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
* The Aztecs have been errorless on defense in only one game this season (the 15-6 win over Cal State Northridge on Feb. 15). The team is averaging just over two errors per contest.
* Freshman Joseph Scaperotta's two hits this season have both come in a pinch-hitting role.
* Through 21 games, SDSU has scored just three runs in both the eighth and ninth innings. The most productive inning has been the fifth when the Aztecs have tallied 22 runs. The team is 0-13 when tied or trailing after six innings.
* James Guerrero leads the Aztecs in both multiple-hit games (9) and multiple RBI contests (3).
* Brett Douglas had his best outing as an Aztec at UC Irvine last week, throwing three innings of middle relief and allowing one run on two hits with a pair of strikeouts.
* Curt Mendoza went 3-for-6 in the final two games vs. USD last weekend with four runs scores, a double and a home run. He also drew a pair of walks in those contests.
AZTEC BASEBALL ON TV
* SDSU 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
* After this weekend's games vs. Utah, the Aztecs will make their first conference road trip of the season as they travel to Colorado Springs to face Air Force in a three-game series.
* The first contest is scheduled for Thursday, Mar. 24, at 2:00 p.m. (MST). That will be followed by games on Friday (Mar. 25) and Saturday (Mar. 26) at 2:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. respectively.