March 28, 2007
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AZTECS VISIT NEW MEXICO FOR MOUNTAIN WEST CONFERENCE SERIES
*** San Diego State will visit Albuquerque, N.M., this weekend as it continues MWC road action with a three-game series against New Mexico. The first game is scheduled for Friday, Mar. 30, at 6:00 p.m. (MDT) at Isotopes Park, the home of the AAA affiliate of the Florida Marlins.
*** Action continues with games on Saturday (Mar. 30) and Sunday (Apr. 1) at 6:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. respectively.
SERIES RECORD
*** San Diego State's record against New Mexico over the years stands at 87-41 since the teams first met during the 1960 season.
*** The Aztecs are 30-22 vs. the Lobos in Albuquerque and 54-18 in San Diego. SDSU has won all three of the four games played at neutral sites.
*** Last season, the UNM won three of the four games played between the teams with all four at Tony Gwynn Stadium. In 2005, the Lobos took two of three on their home field while SDSU won the contest when they met at the conference tournament.
SCOUTING THE LOBOS
*** New Mexico enters the weekend with a record of 12-17 overall and 1-2 in the Mountain West Conference. The Lobos have lost six of their last eight games including two of three to Utah last weekend in their league-opening series with the Utes.
*** New Mexico is led offensively by second baseman Jordan Pacheco (.410, 10 doubles, 23 RBI), right fielder Derek Pilkington (.364, 5 doubles, 12 RBI) and first baseman Daniel Stovall (.356, 10 doubles, 26 RBI). The Lobos are hitting .301 as a team.
*** The team's top starting pitcher is left-hander Bobby LaFromboise, who will face SDSU on Thursday. He is 4-1 with a 3.12 earned run average and has won MWC pitcher of the week honors twice this season. New Mexico has a team ERA of 6.22.
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 C 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
*** SDSU opened Mountain West Conference play with a pair of wins at Air Force last week before dropping a game at the University of San Diego this past Tuesday.
*** Last Thursday, the Aztecs used an eight-run seventh inning to overcome a 6-4 deficit and defeat Air Force 12-9. Nick Romero and Troy Hanzawa had four hits apiece and drove in four and three runs respectively. Mike Koons picked up the win in relief to improve to 2-1 while Stephen Strasburg recorded his fourth save.
*** On Friday, Garett Green's two run single in the eighth broke a 10-10 tie as SDSU went on to a 21-10 victory over the Falcons. Brandon Decker and Troy Hanzawa both hit home runs as every starter collected at least one hit. Freshman Nate Solow went the final three innings to get the win.
*** At University of San Diego this past Tuesday, the Toreros scored eight runs in the second inning en route to a 9-3 win over SDSU. SDSU relievers allowed just one hit over the final six innings, but the offense was held in check. Garett Green and Frank LoNigro had two hits apiece to account for half of the team's total. Starter Lance Sewell took the loss to fall to 4-2.
HANZAWA HITS AWAY
*** Shortstop Troy Hanzawa had a six-game hitting streak snapped in Tuesday's game vs. University of San Diego.
*** During that streak he batted .583 (14-for-24) with two doubles, three triples, a home run, 14 runs scored and four RBI.
*** His current overall batting average of .354 leads the team. He is also the team leader in hits, runs triples and on-base percentage.
*** He is among the top five in the Mountain West Conference in five offensive categories.
DECKER BREAKS OUT
*** Freshman Brandon Decker, who was mired in an 0-for-30 slump, broke out of it in the two contests at Air Force last week, going 3-for-6 with seven RBI.
*** In his lone plate appearance off the bench in the opening game, he laced a bases-loaded double to left to score three runs.
*** The following day he had an RBI single and a three-run homer, his first as a collegiate player.
SOLOW STEPPING UP
*** Over his last four appearances (one start, three in relief), freshman left-hander Nate Solow has allowed just one run in 11 innings.
*** During that run, he has recorded 12 strikeouts and walked only three.
*** He had a career-high seven K's in his start at UC Riverside on Mar. 13 in which he allowed only three hits over five innings.
*** Last Friday at Air Force, he came into a tied game in the seventh inning with the bases loaded and no outs, and proceeded to retire three batters without allowing any more runs to score.
*** Solow finished that contest to pick up his second win of the season.
GLOVER COMING THROUGH
*** Brandon Glover has raised his season batting average almost 50 points over SDSU's last six contests.
*** In those games, he was 11-for-29 (.379) with two doubles, two triples, seven RBI and six runs scored.
*** Glover has driven in at least one run in five of SDSU's last seven contests.
*** The loss on Tuesday at USD was SDSU's first since moving Glover into the leadoff spot in the order on Mar. 16 vs. UCLA.
GREEN CONSISTENT
*** Second baseman Garett Green has hit safely in six of SDSU's last seven games and 11 of the last 13.
*** Over the last 13 contests, he has scored eight runs and driven in 13.
*** He has also recorded five doubles in those games.
*** Green has scored at least one run in five of San Diego State's last six contests.
HUME SET FOR RETURN
*** Junior left-hander Donnie Hume is expected to return to the field during this week's series at New Mexico.
*** Hume, the team's No. 1 starter for the first five weeks of the season, has been sidelined since Mar. 2.
*** He is not expected to start this weekend, but may see duty in a relief role.
DOUBLE DUTY
*** Junior Aaron Brady, who has made 15 relief appearances on the mound this season, made his first start in left field on Tuesday in the game at University of San Diego, collecting a hit and a walk in four plate appearances.
*** He has been used at the designated hitter spot on four occasions this season as well.
*** Brady is hitting .200 (3-for-15) and has a 2.95 earned run average.
HIRSCHFELD STEADY
*** With Donnie Hume sidelined, junior Steven Hirschfeld has been SDSU's Friday starter the past three series and will continue in that role this weekend.
*** He has gone at least five innings in six of his seven starts in 2007, going 4.2 innings in the other.
*** Hirschfeld (3-1) picked up his third win of the season vs. UCLA on Mar. 16, going five innings and recording a season-high eight strikeouts.
*** He was not involved in the decision in his most recent outing last Thursday at Air.
STRASBURG SAVES
*** Freshman right-hander Stephen Strasburg picked up his fourth save of the year in the win at Air Force last Thursday.
*** He tossed the final inning, walking one while and striking out three.
*** In his last 11 appearances (14.1 innings) out of the bullpen, he has allowed just one run on two hits. He has struck out 19 and walked just three over that span.
*** Opponents are hitting just .133 against him (8-for-60) and he has given up only one extra-base hit (a double on Feb. 18).
*** His four saves tie him for first in the league this week.
ROMERO HEATING UP
*** Third baseman Nick Romero has reached safely in seven of SDSU's last eight contests.
*** Over that span he is hitting .515 (17-for-33) with two doubles, three triples, two home runs, eight runs scored and 11 RBI.
*** His on-base percentage in those contests was .595.
*** He leads the Aztecs in home runs with four, slugging percentage (.617), triples (5-tied) and walks (16-tied). He is second in batting average (.346) and doubles (seven).
*** Romero's slugging percentage ranks sixth in the conference this week. His five triples are also tied for the most by an MWC player.
CHASSE RETURNS
*** Outfielder Josh Chasse, who missed over three weeks with a hyper-extended knee suffered in the game at USC on Feb. 16, was injured in the first game at Air Force last Thursday.
*** He had played nine games since his return and was 2-for-3 in the contests at Air Force before hurting himself.
*** In the last four games in which he played, he went 5-for-16 (.313) with five runs scored.
*** Chasse, who has missed the last two games, is expected to be available this weekend at New Mexico.
ANDERSON CATCHING ON
*** Over the last four contests, catcher Chris Anderson has gone 5-for-14 with three doubles, four RBI, five runs scored.
*** He has also drawn three walks for an on-base percentage of .471 over that span.
*** He has raised his batting average to .281, his highest mark since Feb. 23.
JOHNSON OUT THIS WEEKEND
*** Left fielder Cameron Johnson injured his shoulder diving for a ball in practice earlier this week and will not be available this weekend.
*** He has hit safely in five of the last six games in which he played, going 8-for22 (.364) with four runs scored and three runs batted in.
*** He leads the team in stolen bases and ranks third in the MWC with 10.
*** After beginning the season going 2-for-4 in steals, Johnson was successful on eight in a row before being caught against UCLA on Mar. 18.
SPIERS INJURED AGAIN
*** First baseman Joe Spiers returned to the lineup in a starting role vs. UCLA on Mar. 16 after missing three weeks due to injury.
*** In the final two contests against the Bruins, he went 4-for-7 with two RBI and two runs scored. He also had a stolen base in each game.
*** Last Thursday vs. Air Force, he was 2-for-3 before pulling a hamstring and being forced to the bench. He is out for this weekend's series at New Mexico.
*** After striking out five times in SDSU's first four games, Spiers has struck out only once in his last 29 plate appearances.
COLWELL INJURED
*** Freshman walk-on Pat Colwell, who took over in right field when Chasse was injured, suffered an injury himself when he ran into the outfield wall in the first inning of the game vs. Oklahoma on Mar. 9. He is expected to be out one more week.
*** Over the 14 contests in which he started, he batted .304 with eight runs scored and two RBI.
*** Colwell also had a nine-game hitting streak during that period (from Feb. 13 to Feb. 27).
TEAM IMPROVEMENT
*** SDSU's overall record after the opening weekend of MWC play stands at 17-12. Last season it had a mark of 6-23 after its first 29 contests.
*** The Aztecs have reached the 17-win mark over a month earlier than they did during the 2006 season. The team did not attain that win total until April 30th a year ago.
*** San Diego State's team earned run average at this point last season was 7.29 compared to the team's current ERA of 4.01.
DEFENSIVE CATCHERS
*** San Diego State had its first error of 2007 at the catching position as Chris Anderson recorded a throwing error in the game at Air Force on Mar. 23.
*** San Diego State's catching trio of Anderson, Frank LoNigro and Matt Parker has now committed one error in 254 chances for a .996 fielding percentage after 29 games.
*** In addition, Anderson has thrown out seven of the 14 runners attempting to steal on him.
*** LoNigro and Anderson have alternated as the Aztecs' starter behind the plate this season while Parker has made one appearance behind the dish.
STEALING AWAY
*** With a total of 45 steals, San Diego State is averaging 1.55 thefts per game.
*** Last season, SDSU had recorded 22 stolen bases through its first 29 games and finished the year with an average of 0.93 per game.
*** The Aztecs have six players with at least three steals led by Cameron Johnson with 10 and Brandon Glover with seven. Troy Hanzawa is next with six.
*** The team's pace has slowed recently with just one stolen base in its last three contests.
STREAKS AND SUCH
*** Brian Lucas and Brandon Glover both have current four-game hitting streak in progress. Pat Colwell has the team's longest streak of 2007 at nine games, which he set in February.
*** Garett Green has nine multiple-RBI games this season while Brandon Glover is the only Aztec to have five RBI in a game.
*** Troy Hanzawa has the team lead with 14 multiple-hit contests followed by Green with 12.
THE RECORD BOOK
*** Junior pitcher Bruce Billings has 271 strikeouts over his three-plus collegiate seasons and is approaching the SDSU career mark.
*** He needs 29 K's to break the Aztec record of 299 held by Mike Erb (1985-87).
*** Billings currently is tied for second in career starts with 46 (school record is 57), sixth in innings pitched at 286.1 (school record is 342.2) and tied for 10th in wins with 20 (school record is 32 victories).
ON DECK
*** Following this weekend's action, the Aztecs will return home and host New Mexico in a three-game series at Tony Gwynn Stadium beginning Thursday, Apr. 5, at 6:00 p.m. (PDT).
*** The teams will also square off on Friday (Apr. 6) at 6:00 p.m. and Saturday (Apr. 7) at 1:00 p.m.