May 9, 2007
Complete Release and Season Statistics in PDF Format
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AZTECS HOST BRIGHAM YOUNG TO CONCLUDE REGULAR SEASON
*** San Diego State wraps up its 2007 regular season by hosting a three-game series with Brigham Young at Tony Gwynn Stadium this weekend.
*** The series gets underway on Thursday (May 10) at 6:00 p.m. (PDT). The teams will also meet Friday (May 11) at 6:00 p.m. and Saturday (May 12) at 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.
TOURNAMENT IMPLICATIONS
*** San Diego State can still finish anywhere from second through sixth in the Mountain West Conference final standings.
*** The Aztecs currently sit in third place and trail Brigham Young by 3.5 games (four in the loss column).
*** Third through sixth place are currently separated by just two games in the loss column.
*** The Aztecs finish their league schedule this week while the other six MWC teams will all be in action next weekend with those results playing a large part in SDSU's final standing.
*** The league standings determine the seedings for the MWC tournament the following week (May 23-26 at UNLV) with the top two places receiving bye's in the first round.
AZTEC BASEBALL ON TV
*** The third game of this week's SDSU-BYU baseball series will be televised regionally.
*** The regular-season finale vs. Brigham Young may be seen on The Mtn. network on Saturday (May 12) at 1:00 p.m. (PDT).
*** Video of the game will not be available on the Internet, but audio can still be heard at www.GoAztecs.com.
*** Every game of the 2007 Mountain West Conference Tournament will be televised live on The Mtn.
SPECIAL DAY
*** In addition to being televised live, Saturday's game will also be Senior Day as the Aztecs honor members of the senior class making their final appearance for the Red and Black.
*** The 2007 squad consists of pitcher Bruce Billings and catcher-outfielder Frank LoNigro.
*** Saturday has also been designated as SDSU Veterans Day to honor current San Diego State Students who have served time in the U.S. armed forces. Some 1200 current students are former military members.
SERIES RECORD
*** The Aztecs' all-time record against Brigham Young is 63-46-1 in the series that began during the 1957 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 Cougars is 24-24. That ledger includes a 19-20 record in regular-season play and 5-4 in conference tournament action. The Aztecs are 31-16 in contests played in San Diego and 11-6-1 at neutral site fields. San Diego State's record on the Cougars' home field is 21-24.
SCOUTING THE COUGARS
*** Brigham Young has a record of 29-17 (12-6 MWC) after defeating Southern Utah, 12-1, on Tuesday. The Cougars are in second place in the Mountain West Conference, 3.5 games ahead of SDSU.
*** BYU's top hitters include first baseman Kasey Ko (.360, 15 doubles, 33 RBI), second baseman Kent Walton (.354, 5 HR, 35 RBI) and designated hitter Apana Nakayama (.349, 9 HR, 35 RBI).
*** Cougar pitchers have allowed only 18 runs in the last seven games as the Cougars have won six of those contests. The team is hitting .311 with a 3.97 staff earned run average.
BAD STREAK
*** The Aztecs enter the BYU series in the midst of a nine-game losing steak, its longest of the season.
*** Since scoring 31 runs against Air force on Apr. 22, SDSU has totaled just 25 runs in the nine losses since.
*** After that game vs. Air Force, the team batting average stood at .302. In the nine games since, the team has batted .247.
*** On the pitching side, the team ERA after that Air Force contest was 3.93. Over the last nine games, that number has been 5.86.
SPECIAL K
*** The pitching staff's 12 strikeouts vs. UNLV last Sunday marked the 14th time this season that it has reached double digits in K's in a game.
*** The mound corps has reached that mark in three of SDSU's last four contests.
*** The team's season high was a 15-strikeout effort at UC Riverside on March 13 in a game that went 9.2 innings. The most strikeouts over nine innings this season was 14 vs. UCLA on March 16.
ON THE DEFENSIVE
*** SDSU's defense has shown improvement over the past three weeks compared to the first part of the season.
*** Over the last 15 games, the Aztecs have 13 errors for a .976 fielding percentage.
*** The team had a .955 percentage over the first 38 contests with 65 errors.
*** The Aztecs were errorless for three straight games prior to last Sunday's contest. It was the first time in 2007 that SDSU had not committed an error in back-to-back games.
TEAM IMPROVEMENT
*** SDSU's overall record entering the weekend stands at 27-26, already an improvement of four victories over last years win total. Last season it had a mark of 20-33 after its first 53 contests.
*** San Diego State's team earned run average at this point last season was 6.83 compared to the team's current ERA of 4.25. The team's batting average was .286 compared to its current mark of .293.
STREAKS AND SUCH
*** Garett Green has the team's current longest hitting streak in progress at five games. The longest for an Aztec this season was 14 games by Brandon Glover.
*** Green also has 15 multiple-RBI games this season to lead the squad. Chris Anderson and Frank LoNigro have each had six RBI in a game while Brandon Glover and Joe Spiers have had five-RBI efforts.
*** Troy Hanzawa has the team lead with 22 multiple-hit contests followed by Nick Romero with 20 and Glover with 18. LoNigro and Glover are the lone Aztecs to have five-hit games this season.
THE RECORD BOOK
*** Junior pitcher Bruce Billings has 295 strikeouts over his four collegiate seasons and is approaching the SDSU career mark.
*** He needs five K's to break the Aztec record of 299 held by Mike Erb (1985-87).
*** Billings currently is second in career starts with 51 (school record is 57), third in innings pitched at 317.0 (school record is 342.2) and tied for ninth in wins with 21 (school record is 32 victories).
WALLACE WATCH LIST
*** Third baseman Nick Romero has been included in the field of candidates for the 2007 Brooks Wallace College Player of the Year Award. The revised list includes the top 112 players in the nation.
*** Romero has started every game this season is batting .337 overall with 12 doubles, five triples and six home runs. He has a slugging percentage of .541 and a .417 on-base percentage.
*** In conference play, he is hitting .402 with 19 runs scored and 25 RBI in 21 MWC contests.
*** The current list of candidates will be narrowed to 30 semifinalists toward the end of May.
STAR OF THE MONTH
*** Freshman closer Stephen Strasburg has been named a Star of the Month for April by the San Diego Hall of Champions. He is the second SDSU pitcher to receive the honor in 2007.
*** Strasburg was given the award for his performance during the month of April when he recorded a win and three saves with a 2.38 earned run average. He was the MWC pitcher of the week after picking up a win and a save in the home series vs. New Mexico.
*** Previously, senior right-hander Bruce Billings was selected a Star of the Month for March, when he was selected the league pitcher of the week for his performance in SDSU's win over Michigan at PETCO Park.
*** Billings was also named to a pair of all-tournament teams during the month at the Tony Gwynn Classic and the Pacific State Bank Tiger Classic at the University of the Pacific.
AZTEC NOTES
*** Pitcher Steven Hirschfeld has gone five or more innings in 10 of his 13 starts. Over his last three outings, he has struck out 23 and walked only three in 23.2 innings.
*** Aztec pinch hitters are 7-for-24 (.292) led by Brandon Decker who has gone 3-for-6 with three RBI in that role.
*** Lance Sewell has recorded 19 strikeouts over 14.1 innings in his last three starts.
*** With seven and six home runs respectively, Frank LoNigro and Nick Romero have accounted for over two-thirds of the team's home run total of 19. Five others (Brian Lucas, Joe Spiers, Chris Anderson, Garett Green, Brandon Decker, Troy Hanzawa) have one apiece.
*** Entering the week, San Diego State leads the Mountain West Conference in batting average in league play with a .349 mark. SDSU's 4.98 ERA in league games is second to TCU.
*** In the overall MWC statistics, the team's 4.24 earned run average ranks third while its .294 batting average is fifth.
ON DECK
*** The Aztecs will not be in action next week as they have the conference bye while awaiting the start of the Mountain West Conference Tournament.
*** That event will get underway on Wednesday, May 23, at Earl E. Wilson Stadium on the campus of UNLV in Las Vegas.