March 28, 2006
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AZTECS TO HOST MWC PRESEASON TOURNAMENT
***San Diego State continues it current four-week, 15-game home stand as it hosts the first Mountain West Conference preseason tournament. The event gets underway on Wednesday (March 29) and continues through Sunday (April 2).
***All seven league teams will converge on the SDSU's Tony Gwynn Stadium to play four games apiece over a five-day span. All games will count in the league standings and will be added to the 18-game conference schedule that each team will play starting next week
***The tournament kicks off with a pair of games on Wednesday followed by three contests each of the next four days. As host team, SDSU will play the final game each day except Friday, when it will be idle.
***San Diego State will open its tourney action with a contest vs. New Mexico on Wednesday (March 29) at 7:00 p.m. That will be followed by games on Thursday vs. Utah (7:00 p.m.), Saturday vs. TCU (7:00 p.m.) and Sunday vs. UNLV (4:00 p.m.).
***Tickets for each day of the tournament are priced at $7.00 for adults and $5.00 for youth, seniors and military. The ticket is good for admission to all games on the day it is purchased.
***For a complete schedule of games, see next page.
SERIES RECORDS
***The Aztecs' record against New Mexico stands at 86-38 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. The teams split six regular-season games last season with SDSU defeating UNM at the conference's postseason tournament.
***Since joining the Mountain West Conference, SDSU's record against the Lobos is 30-13. That ledger includes a 26-13 record in regular-season play and 4-0 in conference tournament action. The Aztecs are 52-15 in contests played in San Diego and 4-1 at neutral site fields. San Diego State's record on the Lobos' home field is 30-32. ***The Aztecs record against Utah stands at 84-19 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 28-12. That ledger includes a 24-12 record in regular-season play and 4-0 in conference tournament action. SDSU's record on its home field against Utah is 55-12. The Aztecs are 20-7 in contests played in Salt Lake City and 9-0 at neutral sites.
***SDSU's record against TCU stands at 2-5, with all of those contests coming during the 1998 and 1999 seasons when both were members of the Western Athletic Conference. Six of the contests were regular-season games played in Fort Worth, where the Aztecs went 1-5 over those two seasons. The lone contest in San Diego came during the 1998 WAC Tournament with the Aztecs claiming the win.
***The Aztecs record against UNLV stands at 45-35 in the series that began during the 1978 season. The teams met on a regular basis during the 1990's while both were members of the Western Athletic Conference.
***Since joining the MWC, SDSU's record against the Rebels is 19-24. That ledger includes an 18-18 record in regular-season play and 1-6 in conference tournament action. San Diego State's record on the Rebels' home field is 23-18. The Aztecs are 21-11 in contests played in San Diego and 1-6 at neutral site fields.
HEAD COACH Tony Gwynn
***Tony Gwynn is in his fourth season as San Diego State's head coach after being named to the position in Sept. 2001. He became just the fourth head coach in SDSU history since baseball was elevated to major sport status in 1936.
***In 2002, he served as a volunteer coach for the Aztecs under Jim Dietz, who retired at the end of that season.
***In 2004, 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.
MOST RECENTLY
***The Aztecs dropped three games to Pacific at home last weekend to extend their current losing streak to 13 games.
***On Friday, SDSU wasted a solid pitching performance by Justin Masterson as relievers gave up five runs on two homers over the final two innings in a 7-2 loss. Paul Smyth has two of the team's six hits and drove in a run.
***Game two saw the Aztecs take a 3-2 lead in the seventh on a Curt Mendoza home run, only to see the bullpen falter again in the final two innings, allowing four late runs in a 6-3 loss to the Tigers. Other than the home run, SDSU managed just three singles on the afternoon.
***In the series finale, UOP put four runs on the board in both the second and sixth innings in a 10-4 win over the Aztecs. Quintin Berry had a pair of hits (including a home run) while Brock Ungricht had a pair of singles in the losing cause.
BILLINGS RETURNS
***Junior right-hander Bruce Billings made his first appearance on the mound in three weeks, starting last Saturday's game vs. Pacific.
***In than contest, he went five innings, giving up two unearned runs on three hits while striking out seven.
***He left the contest with the score tied at 2-2 when he reached his pitch count for the night.
MASTERSON ON THE MOUND
***Junior hurler Justin Masterson had another fine outing in the opener vs. UOP last Friday, going seven innings and allowing two runs on four hits while striking out five.
***He left the contest with the score tied 2-2 and was not involved in the decision.
***Masterson has been solid all season with just one outing in which he allowed more than four earned runs.
***Discounting his performance at UCLA when he allowed nine runs in five innings, his ERA would stand at 3.20.
SWAYDAN STANDS TALL
***Senior catcher Jordan Swaydan has been a defensive stalwart behind the plate in 2006.
***He has thrown out 18 of 46 runners attempting to steal on him for a 39.1 percentage rate.
***His 18 runners caught stealing leads the conference by a wide margin. (Second-best number in the MWC is seven caught stealing by a catcher).
***He has committed only three errors for a .985 fielding percentage.
MENDOZA STREAK ENDS
***Curt Mendoza had his six-game hitting streak stooped last Friday against Pacific. He has now hit safely in seven of the team's last eight contests.
***Over his last eight games, he has gone 10-for-28 (.357) with six runs scored, five RBI, two doubles and two home runs.
***Over San Diego State's last 10 contests, Mendoza is the only player hitting above the .300 mark.
UNGRICHT SOLID AT THE PLATE
***First baseman Brock Ungricht had his 10-game hitting streak, the longest by an Aztec in 2005, stopped at USD on March 10.
***During that streak, he went 17-for-41 (.415) with four doubles, a home run, five runs scored and eight RBI.
***Ungricht has hit safely in four of the team's last five outings, going 6-for-19 with a home run.
***On the year, he is hitting .343 with runners in scoring position.
***In his first season as SDSU's regular first baseman, Ungricht has committed just one error in 226 chances (26 games) for a .996 fielding percentage.
SMYTH ON THE OFFENSIVE
***Senior Paul Smyth continues to lead the Aztecs in hitting with a .349 batting average.
***He has recorded 12 multiple-hit games in 28 contests this season.
***Heading into the weekend, he also leads the SDSU offense in hits (38), doubles (8), triples (2) and runs batted in (21).
***Smyth's 12 multiple-hit games leads the team and he is tied for the lead in multiple-RBI contests with four.
BERRY KEEPS RUNNING
***Center fielder Quintin Berry leads SDSU in stolen bases with 15 (of 18).
***He stole two in last Friday's opener against Pacific. It was the fourth time this season that he has swiped at least two bags in a game.
***He is tied for the Mountain West Conference lead in that steals.
***Berry has hit safely in six of the last seven games, going 9-for-27 (.333) with a double, homer and two RBI.
***He leads the team in sacrifice bunts (tied with Jordan Swaydan and Nick Romero), is tied for second in doubles and runs scored, and is third in walks.
ZAWADZKI RETURNING TO FORM
***After a slow start to the season, infielder Lance Zawadzki has hit safely in nine of SDSU's last 11 games.
***He hit his first homer of the season in the contest at Oklahoma State on March 14.
***Zawadzki has also tripled in two of SDSU's last three games (both against Pacific last weekend).
LONG BALL
***SDSU has hit 20 home runs through 29 games this season after totaling 12 at the same point of the 2005 campaign.
***Curt Mendoza hit his fourth of the year last Saturday against Pacific to tie Tim O'Brien for the team lead.
***At this point, Aztec pitchers have allowed 22 home runs.
***The last time SDSU finished a season with more home runs than its opponents was in 2000 when it hit 45 and gave up 43.
AMONG THE LEAGUE LEADERS
***Several Aztecs rank among the Mountain West Conference leaders in various categories.
***Senior Paul Smyth is fifth in batting average (.349).
***Smyth also ranks second in hits (38) and is tied for first in triples (2). He is sixth with eight doubles and ranks fifth in RBI (21) and sixth in slugging percentage (.541).
***Quintin Berry is tied for the league lead in stolen bases (15) and is third in sacrifice bunts (3) along with Jordan Swaydan and Nick Romero. Romero and Smyth share the league lead with four sacrifice flies apiece. ***Berry is fifth in hits (34) while Brick Ungricht is eighth (33).
***Among the pitchers, Justin Masterson is fifth in strikeouts with 48. Bruce Billings is fifth in batters struck out looking (13) despite missing three weeks due to injury.
THE RECORD BOOK
***Three Aztecs has entered an all-time SDSU top 20 list this season while one other should do so in the near future.
***With a 32 strikeouts this season, junior Bruce Billings has 192 career strikeouts to move into a tie for the 13th spot with Rory Shortell (2000-02). He needs three more to jump two spots into No. 11 where Noel Mickelsen (1953-56) sits with 195 career K's.
***With 80 career walks, Brock Ungricht has moved into the No. 19 position on the Aztec career chart, tied with Rielly Embrey (2001-04). Two more bases on balls will move him up one spot to 18th and into a tie with Nikco Riesgo (1986-88) at 82).
***Shortstop Lance Zawadzki (15 career HR) is one home run shy of the number-20 spot on the career list, one behind former Aztecs Brad Gennaro (1990-92) and Flavio Alfaro (1983-84), who hit 16 apiece during their SDSU careers.
***With four homers in 2006, senior outfielder Curt Mendoza now has 22 for his career, moving him into a tie for fifth on the Aztec career chart with former Aztecs Chad Corona (2001-04) and Heath Hayes (1993-94). His next four-bagger will move him into a fourth-place tie with Chris Gwynn (1983-85).
AZTEC NOTES
***San Diego State has a record of 4-4 against teams ranked in the top 25 this season.
***The Aztecs' current 13-game losing streak is the longest ever for an SDSU baseball team.
***At this point last season, SDSU had a record of 9-20.
***In his last five appearances (five innings), relief pitcher Jared Suwyn has allowed one run while striking out five.
***Four of Joseph Scaperotta's nine hits this season have been doubles.
***In his last outing, freshman Mark Triolo struck out three and allowed no hits in 1.2 innings.
***In his most recent two relief appearances, Justin Lynch has recorded no walks and five strikeouts over three innings.
ON DECK
***San Diego State will continue its 15-game home stand next week as it hosts second-ranked (Baseball America) Cal State Fullerton on Tuesday (April 4) at 6:00 p.m.
***The Aztecs will then get their regular Mountain West Conference schedule underway as they host New Mexico in a three-game series beginning Friday, April 7, at 6:00 p.m. at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
***Action against the Lobos continues on Saturday and Sunday (April 8 and 9) with single games at 1:00 p.m. each day.