Feb. 21, 2007
Complete Release and Season Statistics in PDF Format
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WHAT'S ON TAP THIS WEEKEND IN AZTEC BASEBALL
*** San Diego State will play a three-game series against UC Riverside this weekend beginning on Friday, Feb. 23, at 6:00 p.m. at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
*** Saturday's contest will also be played at 6:00 p.m. due to the SDSU basketball game vs. BYU scheduled for 3:00 p.m. in Cox Arena. The series will conclude on Sunday with game time set for 1:00 p.m.
*** This is the 69th 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 RECORD
*** San Diego State's record against UC Riverside stands at 24-15-2 since the teams first met during the 1968 season. The Aztecs have won five of the last nine games between the two schools since the 2000 season. The teams last met during the 2003 season when the Highlanders won both contests (home and away). *** SDSU's recorded against UCR in San Diego is 12-7 with the Highlanders holding a 12-7-2 edge in game played in Riverside. UCR won the only contest at a neutral site, a game played in Yuma, Ariz., to begin the 2001 season.
SCOUTING THE HIGHLANDERS
*** UC Riverside comes into the weekend with a record of 7-3 with nine of its first 10 contests being played at home. Their only road game was a 3-2 loss at 15th-ranked UCLA. The Highlanders are hitting .316 as a team and have a 3.26 earned average.
*** UCR's offense is led by designated hitter Nick Salotti (.469, 4 doubles, 10 RBI), center fielder Carl Uhl (.441, 4 doubles, 6 RBI) and left fielder Aaron Wible (.389, 4 doubles, 12 RBI). The Highlanders are averaging almost seven runs and three doubles a game.
*** Starting pitcher James Simmons is 3-0 with a 0.45 earned run average. He has struck out 25 and walked only two in his 20 innings. As a staff, UCR pitchers are averaging a strikeout per inning.
HEAD COACH Tony Gwynn
*** Tony Gwynn is in his fifth 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.
*** Tony Gwynn was elected to the National Baseball Hall of Fame on Jan. 7 along with Cal Ripken, Jr. He will be officially inducted into the Hall in Cooperstown during the weekend of July 27-30.
MOST RECENTLY
*** The Aztecs won one of three games from 21st-ranked USC last weekend before defeating No. 10 Cal State Fullerton this past Tuesday.
*** On Friday (Feb. 16) at USC, the SDSU offense was held in check in a 7-3 loss to the Trojans. Nick Romero collected three hits while Frank LoNigro had a two-run double. Junior lefty Donnie Hume suffered his first loss of the season.
*** Game two on Saturday saw SDSU take a 4-2 into the ninth inning only to have USC score three in the top of the ninth to take a 5-4 win. Troy Hanzawa led the Aztec offense with a pair of hits and two runs scored.
*** The final game vs. the Trojans again witnessed a last-inning comeback as USC tied the contests with four runs in the ninth. However, Joe Spiers' RBI single in the bottom of the inning brought home the winning run in a 12-11 victory. Hanzawa had three hits and three RBI while Cameron Johnson also recorded three hits and scored three times. Mike Koons picked up the win in relief.
*** On Tuesday (Feb. 20), the Aztecs defeated 10th-ranked Cal State Fullerton, 8-7, as they survived another ninth-inning rally. Starter Steven Hirschfeld picked up his first win of the year, going five innings and leaving with an 8-4 lead. The Trojans scored three times in the final inning before Shane Kaufman recorded SDSU's first save of the season in relief. Romero had three hits and two RBI.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
*** Sophomore Nick Romero has been named Mountain West Conference Pitcher of the Week for his performance in SDSU's four games last week vs. Loyola Marymount and USC.
*** He went 7-for-13 (.538) from the plate last week, with a slugging percentage of 1.077, three triples, one double, six runs scored and one RBI in four games last week.
*** In San Diego State's 10-6 win over Loyola Marymount, Romero went 2-for-2 with two triples, two runs scored and a stolen base. In the first game of the three-game series vs. No. 21 USC, Romero went 3-for-4 with two runs scored in a 3-7 loss.
*** In game two of the series, he turned in a 1-for-3 performance, one RBI and one run scored performance. In the bottom of the eighth, Romero smacked a two-out RBI triple, which put SDSU up 4-2 heading into the ninth inning, before the Aztecs lost 5-4. In the rubber game of the series, Romero went 1-for-4 with a double and one run scored as San Diego State upset the 21st-ranked Trojans, 12-11.
RETURN TO FORM
*** Since returning to the starting rotation two weeks ago, senior Bruce Billings has allowed just one earned run over 10 innings of work for a 0.90 ERA in those contests.
*** He has struck out seven and walked three in those two games.
*** Billings has yet to record a decision this season through four appearances.
ROMERO ON FIRE
*** Since beginning the season with just one hit in his first 16 at bats, Nick Romero has wielded a hot bat over the past six games. During that span he has gone 11-for-20 (.550) with two doubles, three triples and seven runs scored.
*** His two triples vs. LMU on Feb. 13 tied the MWC and SDSU school record for most triples in a single game.
*** Romero leads the team in walks (8), slugging percentage (.667) and on-base percentage (.457).
*** In addition to being named conference player of the week, he was also listed on the College Baseball Foundation National Honor Roll this week.
STEALING AWAY
*** With a total of 23 steals, San Diego State is averaging 2.1 thefts per game.
*** Last season, SDSU had recorded 14 stolen bases through 11 games and finished the year with an average of 0.93 per game.
*** The Aztecs have six players with at least a pair of steals led by Pat Colwell and Brandon Glover with four apiece. Cameron Johnson and Joe Spiers have stolen three each.
STREAKS AND SUCH
*** Nick Romero and Chris Anderson are currently on six-game hitting streaks, the longest by an Aztec in 2007. Pat Colwell has hit safely in his last five contests.
*** Garett Green has four multiple-RBI games this season while Brandon Glover is the only team member to have five RBI in a game.
*** Glover and Troy Hanzawa are tied for the team lead with five multiple-hit games apiece.
COLWELL A HIT
*** Freshman walk-on infielder Pat Colwell made his first collegiate start as the designated hitter against Loyola Marymount on Tuesday, Feb. 13, and singled to lead off the contest.
*** He finished with three hits, two runs scored, two steals and a sacrifice bunt.
*** Colwell has hit safely in each of his five starts, going 7-for-17 (.412).
*** Prior to the LMU contest, he had only made a pair of pinch-running appearances.
ANDERSON STREAKING
*** Catcher/DH Chris Anderson has a six-game hitting streak in progress during which he is 7-for-22 with five runs scored, a home run and three walks.
*** His home run against USC last Sunday was just the second of his Aztec career.
*** His .457 on-base percentage ties him for the team lead (among the regular starters) with Nick Romero.
*** Anderson has also been stellar behind the plate, throwing out five of the eight runners attempting to steal on him.
HANZAWA HITTING
*** Over SDSU's most recent three games, shortstop Troy Hanzawa has gone 7-for-12 (.583) with five runs scored and four runs batted in.
*** His .349 batting average is tops among players who have started at least half of SDSU's games.
*** Hanzawa has five multiple-hit contests to tie for the team lead.
STRASBURG IMPRESSES
*** After a rough outing against USC Sunday, right-hander Stephen Strasburg was outstanding against 10th-ranked Cal State Fullerton on Tuesday.
*** The freshman from nearby West Hills High School threw three innings in relief, retiring all nine batters he faced.
*** He struck out three of those Titan hitters to match his season high for a game.
*** Not counting the USC game, he has allowed just one earned run on three hits with seven strikeouts over five innings in his other three appearances in 2007.
HIRSCHFELD GETS FIRST WIN
*** Starting pitcher Steven Hirschfeld picked up his first win of the season in Tuesday's victory of Cal State Fullerton to improve to 1-0 on the year.
*** Hirschfeld has pitched well in his first three collegiate starts, allowing just two earned runs and recording three strikeouts in each of his three outings.
*** His first two appearances resulted in no-decisions.
HUME IN CONTROL
*** Junior right-hander Donnie Hume has been SDSU's No. 1 starter through the first three series and has not disappointed.
*** A transfer from Long Beach State, he had recorded wins in each of his first two outings before suffering his first defeat last Friday at USC.
*** Over his 17.1 innings of work thus far, he has walked only one batter while striking out 14. Opponents are hitting just .258 against him.
OFFENSE COMING ON
*** After a slow start with the bats, the Aztec offense has shown signs of life over the last five contests.
*** In those games, the team is hitting .311 (52-for-167) with seven doubles, six triples, two home runs and an average of 7.4 runs per game.
*** In the six games prior to that, SDSU hit .219 and averaged 5.0 runs per contest.
POWER SHORTAGE
*** The Aztecs have hit just three home runs through their first 11 games, one apiece by Nick Romero, Chris Anderson and Garett Green.
*** Romero's was an inside-the-park shot against Santa Clara while the other two came last Sunday in the win over USC.
*** Last year SDSU average almost one per game (57 in 59 contests). The total tied for the second most homers in a season by an Aztec squad.
THE RECORD BOOK
*** Junior pitcher Bruce Billings has 253 strikeouts over his three collegiate seasons and is approaching the SDSU career mark.
*** He needs 47 K's to break the Aztec record of 299 held by Mike Erb (1985-87).
*** Billings currently ranks fifth in career starts with 41 (school record is 56), eighth in innings pitched at 260.2 (school record is 342.2) and 18th in wins with 18 (school record is 32 victories).
AZTECS AT PETCO
*** As part of its tournament, the Tony Gwynn 2007 Classic, San Diego State will host a collegiate doubleheader at PETCO Park, the home of the San Diego Padres, on Saturday, March 10.
*** On that day, Oklahoma will face University of San Diego at 3:00 p.m. and Michigan will take on the Aztecs at 7:00 p.m. Between games, SDSU will hold a ceremony to honor coach Tony Gwynn for his election to the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
*** Tickets for the event are available on the Internet at Padres.com or Goaztecs.com as well as at the Padre ticket office at PETCO Park. They may also be purchased by calling 1-877-FRIAR TIX (374-2784).
AZTEC NOTES
*** SDSU's 7-4 start is it best since the 2002 season when it began with the same record. Last season the Aztecs had a mark of 4-7 after their first 11 contests.
*** The crowd of 1,513 fans that witnessed the Aztecs play USC on Saturday, Feb. 10, was the fifth-largest crowd for an SDSU baseball game at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
*** SDSU catchers Chris Anderson and Frank LoNigro have not committed an error through the team's first 11 games (90 chances).
*** Freshman Josh Chasse, who suffered a hyper-extended knee in the game at USC on Feb. 9, has missed the last four contests and is expected to be out at least through this weekend. He had moved into the starting role in right field for the seven games prior to his injury.
*** Opponents have been successful on only eight of 17 stolen base attempts.
ON DECK
*** Following this weekend's series vs. UC Riverside, the Aztecs will travel to Cal State Fullerton on Tuesday, Feb. 27, to face the 10th-ranked Titans at 6:00 p.m.
*** SDSU will then head to Stockton to play Pacific on Thursday (Mar. 1) at 2:00 p.m. before competing in the Pacific State Bank Tiger Classic next weekend.
*** During that tourney, the Aztecs will face Pacific (Mar. 2), San Francisco (Mar. 3) and Baylor (Mar. 4).