April 11, 2007
Complete Release and Season Statistics in PDF Format
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AZTECS RESME CONFERENCE ACTION WITH THREE-GAME SERIES AT UTAH *** The Aztecs will resume Mountain West Conference action this weekend as they travel to Salt Lake City for a three-game series against Utah that gets underway on Friday, Apr. 13, at 6:00 p.m. (MDT). Those contests will be played at Franklin Covey Field, home of the Slat Lake City Bees, the AAA affiliate of the Los Angeles Angels.
*** The series will continue with single games on Saturday (Apr. 14) and Sunday (Apr. 15), both at 1:00 p.m. (MDT).
*** 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 *** The Aztecs record against Utah stands at 87-21 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 both teams joined the Mountain West Conference.
*** Since joining the MWC, SDSU's record against the Utes is 31-14. That ledger includes a 27-13 record in regular-season play and 4-1 in conference tournament action.
*** San Diego State's record on its home field against Utah is 58-13. The Aztecs are 21-7 in contests played in Salt Lake City and 8-1 at neutral site fields.
SCOUTING THE UTES *** Utah will enter this weekend's series with a record of 14-18 and 3-3 in the Mountain West Conference. The Utes defeated Southern Utah, 9-2, at home on Wednesday.
*** Top hitters for Utah included center fielder Nate Burnham (.352, 8 doubles, 18 RBI), second baseman Corey Shimada (.325, 8 triples, 28 RBI), catcher Jesse Shriner (.316, 6 doubles, 20 RBI) and first baseman Jay Brossman (.308, 8 home runs, 32 RBI). Brunham's 14 steals rank third in the MWC this week.
*** Pitcher Eric King, who will start on Saturday, leads the Mountain West Conference with a 2.79 earned run average. Top reliever is Brett Bruneel (2-2 with two saves). The Utes are hitting .300 as a team with a 5.47 ERA.
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 *** San Diego State dropped its game at Loyola Marymount on Tuesday after having swept three games from New Mexico at home last weekend.
*** SDSU was held to just six hits against LMU as it dropped a 3-1 decision on Tuesday. Cameron Johnson had a pair of hits and drove in the Aztecs' only run. Lance Sewell took the loss to fall to 4-3 on the year.
*** In last Thursday's opener against New Mexico, Nick Romero had four hits while Brian Lucas and Matt Parker scored two runs each in the 6-3 win over the Lobos. JR Murphy picked up the win in relief while freshman Stephen Strasburg recorded his league-leading fifth save.
*** On Friday, the Aztecs scored a run in the bottom of the 10th when Joe Spiers was hit by pitch with the bases-loaded to claim a 6-5 victory over UNM. Aaron Brady (two singles) was the lone SDSU player with more than one hit and Brandon Glover had a pair of RBI. Strasburg tossed the final two innings to pick up the win.
*** In the series finale, SDSU broke open a close with a five-run sixth inning en route to a 13-6 win. Lucas, Brady and Mike Willeford all had four hits apiece and Parker had a team-high three runs batted in. Bruce Billings went six innings for the win to improve to 3-1 on the season.
STRASBURG EARNS MWC HONOR *** San Diego State freshman right-hander Stephen Strasburg has been named Mountain West Conference Pitcher of the Week for the first time in his career. He was honored for his efforts during the Aztecs' series vs. New Mexico last weekend.
*** Strasburg, a San Diego, Calif. (West Hills HS) native, picked up a win and a save in the first two games of the three-game set vs. the Lobos last Thursday and Friday.
*** In the first game, he came on in the ninth inning to pick up his league-leading fifth save of the season, giving up two hits and striking out one in San Diego State's 6-3 win.
*** In game two, he again took the mound in the ninth, with no outs, a runner on second base and the score tied at five apiece. Strasburg gave up a sacrifice bunt, then intentionally walked the bases loaded before tallying a strikeout and inducing a ground out to end the inning. In the top of the tenth he pitched his way out of a jam after an error an and a hit batter put two runners on base with one out, winning his first game as a collegiate hurler.
*** Strasburg is the third SDSU pitcher to win the weekly conference honor in 2007.
JOHNSON RETURNS *** Left fielder Cameron Johnson, who had been out of action since suffering an injury in practice on Mar. 27, was in the starting lineup this past Tuesday at LMU.
*** He marked his return with a pair of hits and also drove in SDSU's lone run of the game.
*** Including that contest, Johnson has hit safely in six of the last seven games in which he has played, going 10-for-26 (.385) with four runs scored and four runs batted in.
LUCAS STREAKING *** First baseman/DH Brian Lucas had a 10-game hitting streak halted on Tuesday, going 0-for-3 with a hit by pitch at Loyola Marymount. The streak was the longest by an Aztec this season.
*** During those 10 contests he batted .385 (15-for-39) with 13 runs scored, seven RBI, two doubles and a triple.
*** He had scored at least one run in seven of the Aztecs' last nine games prior to Tuesday.
*** Lucas also had an on-base percentage of .442 during his hitting streak.
GLOVER HEATS UP *** Center fielder Brandon Glover has hit safely in six straight and 10 of the Aztecs' last 11 games.
*** Over SDSU's last 11 contests, he has gone 17-for-47 (.362) with eight runs scored, 10 RBI, six doubles and two triples.
*** He is one of three Aztecs (along with Nick Romero and Troy Hanzawa) to have started all 35 games in 2007.
*** Glover is batting .361 in conference play.
LONIGRO HITTNG AWAY *** Prior to Tuesday, Frank LoNigro had started the previous four games in left field as a result of injuries to regular starters. At LMU he was the starter in right field.
*** He has a 10-game hitting in progress during which he has gone 14-for-41 (.341) with seven runs scored, nine RBI, two doubles and two home runs.
*** He hit his first homer of the year in the game at New Mexico on Mar. 31.
*** He has not drawn a base on balls over his last 18 games. The last time he walked was on Feb. 24 vs. UC Riverside.
PARKER STEPS IN *** With the injury to catcher Chris Anderson in the game at New Mexico on Mar. 30, freshman Matt Parker stepped in and caught the final four innings of that contest and has also started each of the last five contests.
*** Parker has hit safely in five of the last six games, going 6-for-20 (.300) with four runs scored and three runs batted in.
HUME RETURN SUCCESSFUL *** Junior left-hander Donnie Hume returned to the mound in last Thursday's series opener vs. New Mexico.
*** Hume, the No. 1 starter for the first five weeks of the season, had been sidelined since Mar. 2 with an elbow injury.
*** He went four innings and left the game with a 3-0 lead and was not involved in the decision as he had reached his pitch count as determined by the Aztec coaching staff.
*** He comes into the week with a record of 3-2 and a 2.80 earned run average, the second-best ERA in the conference.
*** He still has a strikeout-to-walk ratio of better than four-to-one (31 Ks, 7 BB).
DOUBLE DUTY *** Junior Aaron Brady, who has made 16 relief appearances on the mound this season, made his first start in left field in the game at University of San Diego on Mar. 27. In that contest he collected a hit and a walk in four plate appearances.
*** Since then, he had started the last five games in the outfield (one in left, four in right) due to injuries to regular starters. He did not play at Loyola Marymount on Tuesday.
*** Since debuting in the outfield, he has hit safely in six of SDSU's last seven contests, going 12-for-30 (.400) with seven runs scored, four RBI, two doubles and a triple.
*** He has been used at the designated hitter spot on four occasions this season as well.
*** Brady is hitting .333 (14-for-42) and has a 2.95 earned run average on the mound.
STRASBURG SAVES *** Freshman right-hander Stephen Strasburg picked up his league-leading fifth save of the season last Thursday vs. New Mexico and recorded his first collegiate win the following evening against the Lobos.
*** Over his last 14 appearances covering 19.1 innings, Strasburg has allowed one earned run on five hits. He has walked five (two intentionally) and has struck out 23.
*** Opponents are hitting just .130 against him (10-for-77) and he has given up just one extra-base hit (a double on Feb. 18).
*** Of the six earned runs he has allowed in 2007, four came in the contest vs. USC on Feb. 18. Discounting that outing, his ERA this spring would be 0.86 (two earned runs over 21 innings).
ROMERO GETS OFFENSIVE *** Third baseman Nick Romero has raised his season batting average by over 80 points (from .270 on Mar. 10 to its current .356) during SDSU's last 15 contests.
*** Over the last four games he has gone 11-for-21 (.524) with four runs scored and seven RBI.
*** He leads the Aztecs in home runs with five, batting average (.356), RBI (30), slugging percentage (.593), triples (5-tied) and walks (19).
*** Romero's slugging percentage ranks seventh in the conference this week. His five triples are also tied for the most by an MWC player. He ranks among the top eight in eight offensive categories in the MWC overall statistics.
SPIERS STARTS *** First baseman Joe Spiers, who suffered a hamstring injury in the game at Air Force on Mar. 22, started on Tuesday for the first time since that contest.
*** He made a brief appearance during the middle game of last weekend's New Mexico series.
*** In Friday's contest, he came to bat in the bottom of the 10th inning with the bases loaded and was hit by pitch to bring home the winning run. It was his only appearance of the weekend.
*** After striking out five times in SDSU's first four games, Spiers has struck out only once in his last 33 plate appearances.
CHASSE STILL OUT *** Outfielder Josh Chasse, who had not played since Mar. 22 with a quad injury, was on the active roster during last weekend's series vs. New Mexico. He made one appearance at the plate, striking out, but is not expected to be available this weekend.
*** Chasse previously missed over three weeks with a hyper-extended knee suffered in the game at USC on Feb. 16. Since his return from that mishap, he had played in nine games and was 2-for-3 in that contest at Air Force on Mar. 22 before being injured again.
*** In the last four games in which he played prior to last weekend, he went 5-for-16 (.313) with five runs scored.
TEAM IMPROVEMENT *** SDSU's overall record entering the week stands at 21-15. Last season it had a mark of 10-26 after its first 36 contests.
*** The Aztecs have reached the 21-win mark over a month earlier than they did during the 2006 season. The team did not attain that win total until May 13th a year ago.
*** San Diego State's team earned run average at this point last season was 6.93 compared to the team's current ERA of 4.04. The team's batting average was .271 compared to its current mark of .282.
STREAKS AND SUCH *** Frank LoNigro has the team's current longest hitting streak in progress at 10 games. That ties the streak of Brian Lucas that was ended this past Tuesday.
*** Garett Green has nine multiple-RBI games this season while Brandon Glover is the only Aztec to have five RBI in a game. Nick Romero has recorded three four-RBI efforts.
*** Troy Hanzawa and Romero share the team lead with 15 multiple-hit contests followed by Glover with 11. Glover is also the lone Aztec to have a five-hit game this season.
THE RECORD BOOK *** Junior pitcher Bruce Billings has 278 strikeouts over his three-plus collegiate seasons and is approaching the SDSU career mark.
*** He needs 22 K's to break the Aztec record of 299 held by Mike Erb (1985-87).
*** Billings currently is second in career starts with 48 (school record is 57), fourth in innings pitched at 298.1 (school record is 342.2) and tied for ninth in wins with 21 (school record is 32 victories).
AZTEC NOTES *** San Diego State's 24 hits against New Mexico last Saturday was a team high for the 2007 season.
*** After three MWC series, SDSU leads the conference in team batting average (.370), hits (111), runs scored (78) and on-base percentage (.423).
*** Nick Romero has accounted for almost half of the team's home run total with five. Frank LoNigro has a pair while four others (Chris Anderson, Garett Green, Brandon Decker, Troy Hanzawa) have one apiece.
*** Mike Koons had his longest outing of 2007 when he went 4.2 innings at UNM on Apr. 1. He allowed an unearned run on four hits, picking up the win to improve to 3-1. He has not allowed an earned run in his last five outings (10.1 innings).
*** Mike Willeford is 9-for-21 (.429) over his last six games with four runs and six RBI.
*** The SDSU pitching staff has reached double figures in strikeouts in nine games this season. The last time that occurred was on Mar. 16 vs. UCLA (16 K's).
AIR FORCE RESCHEDULED *** The third game of SDSU's scheduled three-game series at Air Force on Mar. 24 was postponed due to snow.
*** That contest will be made up as part of a doubleheader to be played on Saturday, April 21, at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
*** The first game of that twin bill is slated for a 1:00 p.m. start.