April 7, 2005
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
THIS WEEK
* San Diego State returns home this week to host New Mexico for a three-game Mountain West Conference series at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
* The first meeting between the Lobos and Aztecs is scheduled for Friday, Apr. 8, at 6:00 p.m. The series continues with contests on Saturday (Apr. 9) and Sunday (Apr. 10), both at 1:00 p.m.
* 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.
* SDSU's all-time record over that time (including this season) stands at 2038-1254-37 for a won-loss percentage of .618.
SERIES RECORD VS. NEW MEXICO
* The Aztecs' all-time record against New Mexico is 82-35 in the series that began during the 1960 season. The teams met on a regular basis during the 1980's and 90's while both were members of the Western Athletic Conference.
* Since joining the Mountain West Conference, SDSU's record against the Lobos is 24-9. That ledger includes a 21-9 record in regular-season play and 3-0 in conference tournament action.
* The Aztecs are 50-14 in contests played in San Diego and 3-1 at neutral site fields. San Diego State's record on the Lobos' home field is 29-20.
SCOUTING THE LOBOS
* New Mexico enters the week with a record of 15-15 overall and 5-4 in the Mountain West Conference. The Lobos are in third place in the league standings, a game-and-a-half ahead of San Diego State. In their most recent series, they swept three games at Utah last weekend.
* The UNM offense is led by second baseman Jordan Pacheco (.410, 7 HR, 24 RBI), designated hitter Chris Carlson (.385, 14 2B, 37 RBI) and first baseman Daniel Stovall (.384, 5 HR, 36 RBI). The Lobos are hitting .329 overall and .323 in league play.
* Among the team's top hurlers are starters Danny Ray Herrera (4-1, 4.08) and Jason Fernandez (5-3, 6.52). The bullpen is anchored by reliever Javier Lopez (0-1, 2 saves, 4.88). New Mexico's team earned run average stands at 7.22 overall and 6.18 in MWC action.
WEEKEND PITCHING ROTATIONS
* The probable starting pitchers for each team in this weekend's series are as follows:
San Diego State New MexicoFriday.....Alex Hinshaw (LHP, 1-6, 6.75).....Jason Fernandez (RHP, 5-3, 6.52)Saturday...Bruce Billings (RHP, 2-3, 3.40)...Danny Ray Herrera (LHP, 4-1, 4.08)Sunday.....Ben Coon (LHP, 1-1, 6.28).........Darren Coltrinari (RHP, 4-2, 6.84)
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.
AIR FORCE SERIES POSTPONED
* San Diego State's three-game series at Air Force, scheduled for two weeks ago (Mar. 25-27), was postponed due to snow.
* The teams played one-and-a-half innings on Thursday, Mar. 22, before the weather wiped out the rest of the weekend schedule.
* The Aztecs and Falcons will play six games when Air Force visits San Diego the weekend of April 22-24. The teams will play three doubleheaders at Tony Gwynn Stadium that weekend with times TBA.
BILLINGS LEADS MOUND STAFF
* Despite not picking up many wins thus far in 2005, sophomore right-hander Bruce Billings continues to impress on the mound.
* Over his last five starts (35 innings), he has posted a 2.31 earned run average with 39 strikeouts and only nine walks allowed.
* In his two seasons as an Aztec, Billings has allowed just two home runs in 100.1 innings pitched. Those two homers came in back-to-back starts against Santa Clara and North Carolina State earlier this season.
* Opponents are hitting just .238 against him.
UNGRICHT COMING ON
* Brock Ungricht has hit safely in five of SDSU's last six games and has improved his overall season batting average by 40 points in the process.
* Over those six contests (all conference outings), he is 9-for-25 (.360) with four runs scored, four RBI, a double and a triple.
SWAYDAN SWINGING
* In three games at UNLV last weekend, catcher Jordan Swaydan went 6-for-12 with three runs scored and a pair of runs batted in.
* In the process, he raised his season average to .309, going over the .300 mark for the first time since mid-March.
* Swaydan has also been strong behind the dish, not committing an error since Feb. 27.
GUERRERO GET OFFENSIVE
* Second baseman James Guerrero has hit safely in 15 of SDSU's last 17 contests, going 26-for-72 (.361) with six doubles and 11 RBI. He leads the team in runs batted in with 15.
* He had a 12-game hitting streak snapped in the second game of the Utah series (Mar. 19).
* That 12-game streak is second-longest on the club this season, one behind Quintin Berry's current 16-game streak. Lance Zawadzki has also had a 12-game hitting streak earlier this season.
BERRY STREAKING
* Sophomore center fielder Quentin Berry is on a 16-game hitting streak during which he is batting .347 (24-for-69) with 11 runs scored, four doubles and eight runs batted in. More impressively, he is hitting .372 over SDSU's last 10 contests.
* His streak is the longest for an Aztec this season, surpassing the 12-game streaks of teammates Lance Zawadzki and James Guerrero.
* He has recorded a double in each of his last two games.
* His season average now stands at .343, best on the squad this week.
* He recorded a season-high three hits in a game in the final contest against Utah on Mar. 20 and he leads the team in stolen bases with eight (in 10 attempts).
DOUGLAS EMERGES IN RELIEF
* Brett Douglas made another solid relief stint in the middle game of last weekend's UNLV series.
* In his last three relief appearances, the sophomore right-hander has thrown a total of 8.1 innings, allowing two runs with seven strikeouts for a 2.16 earned run average in those contests.
* His ERA in two league appearances (covering 5.1 innings) stands at 1.69. That figure ranks second in the MWC in league game stats.
MCLINTOCK ON THE RISE
* Right fielder Jake McLintock went 3-for-5 in the final game of last weekend's series at UNLV. In that contest, he scored twice and drove in four runs with a grand slam home run.
* In his last four games, he is 7-for-13 (.538) with six RBI, four runs scored, a triple, home run and a pair of walks.
* His two triples this season lead the Aztecs in that category.
ZAWADZKI STREAK ENDS
* Third baseman Lance Zawadzki had a short five-game hitting streak ended in the series finale at UNLV last Sunday. In the five contests prior to that, he had gone 7-for-20 (.350).
* Despite not getting a hit last Sunday, he scored three times in that game.
* Zawadzki had a 12-game hitting streak earlier this season, second longest for an Aztec.
* He ranks second on the squad in runs scored with 17.
O'BRIEN CONTINUES TO HIT
* First baseman Tim O'Brien hit his team-leading third home run of the season in the Aztecs' MWC opener against Utah on Mar. 18.
* In SDSU's games at UNLV last Saturday and Sunday, he went 4-for-8 with a double, two RBI and a pair of walks.
* He continues to lead the Aztecs in runs scored with 18 as well as in doubles with eight.
* The junior from Fresno City College is hitting a .329 and tops the squad in both slugging (.553) and on-base (.427) percentage.
AMONG THE LEAGUE LEADERS
* SDSU has a number of players ranked among the top five in various categories in the MWC stats for all games this week.
* Pitcher Bruce Billings leads the league in strikeouts (52) and batters struck out looking (20). His 3.40 earned run average is fifth-best in the MWC. In addition, his .238 batting average by opponents is the lowest in the league.
* Quentin Berry is tied for second in stolen bases this week with eight and second in sac bunts with three.
* Catcher Jordan Swaydan leads the conference in runners picked off with three.
TAKE A WALK
* With a total of 10 walks this season, junior James Guerrero has moved into the SDSU top 10 in career bases on balls.
* His total of 92 free passes ties for the number-nine spot in the list with Flavio Alfaro (1983-84).
* The number-eight position is held by Bobby Meacham (1979-81) with 95 walks.
* Despite moving into the top 10, Guerrero had not drawn a walk 14 straight games until last Sunday's series finale at UNLV. It was his longest stint without a base on balls as an Aztec.
BURKLE OUT TWO 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 two 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.
* Burkle will likely return to active duty for the Air Force series at home in two weeks.
HITTING IN A PINCH
* After 27 games, Aztec pinch hitters have gone 8-for-20 for a .400 average.
* Seven 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 32 HBP's in 27 games, the Aztec staff is hitting 1.19 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).
* Aztec hurlers have hit more than one batter in a game on five occasions this season with a high of five vs. Cal State Fullerton on Mar. 1.
POWER SHORTAGE
* The Aztecs have hit only nine home runs through their first 27 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.
AZTEC NOTES
* Outfielder Joseph Scaperotta got his first start since late February in the UNLV series finales and responded with a pair of doubles and two RBI. Of his four hits this season, three have been two-baggers.
* Reliever Dan Bruckart has not allowed an earned run in five relief appearances. He has also struck out five in his five innings of work.
* With his start at second base at UNLV last weekend, freshman Grant Desme has now appeared at all four infield positions this season. He has also started in center field on several occasions.
* Quintin Berry and James Guerrero lead the team with 11 multiple-hit games apiece. Guerrero and Tim O'Brien have recorded four multiple-RBI contests each.
* Jake McLintock leads the team in hitting in conference play at .500 followed by Berry at .370. McLintock's average in conference play is second-best ion the MWC this week.
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 the following Tuesday, (April 26) at 3:00 p.m.
AZTEC BASEBALL ON TV
* SDSU will make a three 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.
* The third televised contest will be the game at Cal State Fullerton on Tuesday, May 3, at 6:00 p.m. That game will be broadcast live on ESPNU.