April 16, 2008
AZTECS ON THE ROAD FOR THREE-GAME SERIES AT UNLV
*** SDSU returns to conference play when it visits UNLV for a three-game series this weekend beginning with a game on Friday, April 18, at 6:30 p.m. (PDT) at Earl E. Wilson Stadium.
*** The Aztecs and Rebels will also meet in contests on Saturday (April 19) and Sunday (April 20) at 2:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. respectively.
*** San Diego State began its week with a 10-7 win over UC Riverside at home on Tuesday (April 15). In that contest, Brett Tanos had three hits and scored twice while Brandon Decker recorded a pair of hits and three RBI.
SERIES RECORD
*** SDSU's record against UNLV over the years stands at 48-40. The teams first met in 1978 and were members of the Western Athletic Conference together for 19 years before moving to the Mountain West Conference in 2000.
*** The Rebels have won eight of the last 11 meetings including a three-game sweep of the Aztecs in San Diego last season. SDSU is 25-24 vs. UNLV in Las Vegas, 23-13 in San Diego and 0-3 at neutral sites.
SCOUTING THE REBELS
*** UNLV's record stands at 16-19 overall and 5-7 in the Mountain West Conference. The Rebels defeated Texas Tech on Tuesday and Wednesday in Las Vegas by scores of 9-8 and 15-8. UNLV dropped three contests at TCU last weekend.
*** Leading the UNLV offense are third baseman Xavier Scruggs (.429, 11 HR, 40 RBI) and outfielder Jesse Wight (.345, 8 2B, 13 RB). Adam Moser has a record of 4-4 with five saves in 20 appearances out of the bullpen. The Rebels are hitting .315 as a team with a 6.64 ERA.
STRASBURG STRIKES
*** Sophomore right-hander Stephen Strasburg established new SDSU and MWC records when he struck out 23 batters in the win over Utah on April 11.
*** He allowed only one hit in the contest and a total of four base runners, none of whom advanced past second base. He struck out the side in five innings and 16 of the final 17 outs in the game came via the strikeout.
*** His performance earned him the following honors this week:
MWC Pitcher of the Week
Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week
NCBWA Pro-Line National Pitcher of the Week
College Baseball Foundation Team of the Week
*** It marks the third time that Strasburg has won conference pitcher of the week honors in 2008.
*** Strasburg had missed his regular Friday start the previous week due to the flu and an ear infection.
*** He has struck out 73 and walked only eight this season. He has allowed more than one walk in a game only once in 2008 (vs. Santa Clara on March 7).
*** In his last two starts covering 17 innings, Strasburg has recorded 35 strikeouts and two walks.
THE STRIKEOUT RECORDS
*** Strasburg's 23 strikeouts broke the old SDSU mark of 18 by John Hemmerly vs. Colorado State in 1988.
*** It also shattered the Mountain West Conference record of 17 held by former Aztec Marcos Mendoza, who struck out 17 against New Mexico in 2001.
*** The 23 K's is the third-most ever in a Division I game and the most since 1981.
*** The NCAA record is 26 by Buddy Schultz of Miami of Ohio vs. Wright State in 1973.
COLWELL' S HISTORIC DAY
*** Sophomore outfielder Pat Colwell became the first SDSU player ever to hit for the cycle when he accomplished the feat last Saturday (April 12) vs. Utah.
*** Colwell singled in the third inning, homered in the fourth, doubled in the sixth and tripled in the 8th. His hit in the fourth inning was an inside-the-park homer that eluded a diving Utah right fielder and rolled to the fence.
*** He also reached base on an error to open the contest and scored after each of his five plate appearances on the afternoon.
STRASBURG, COLWELL HONORED
*** Both Stephen Strasburg and Pat Colwell were named to the College Baseball Foundation National All-Star Lineup for the week of April 7-13.
*** The National All-Star Lineup honors the top collegiate performances in Division I baseball each week.
GLOVER STREAKING
*** Senior outfielder Brandon Glover has the team's current longest hitting streak at seven games.
*** During that streak, he has a two doubles, a triple, a pair of home run and four bases on balls.
*** His home run in last Saturday's win over Utah was the first of his collegiate career (including two seasons at Texas A&M). He added a second two games later vs. UC Riverside this past Tuesday.
*** Prior to Saturday's blast, he had recorded 482 at bats as a collegiate player with a home run.
*** Glover has drawn 22 walks this season to rank second on the team in that category.
HANZAWA LEADS THE OFFENSE
*** Shortstop Troy Hanzawa missed his first start in two seasons at SDSU when he was injured during pre-game warm-ups prior to the game vs. Utah last Saturday.
*** Hanzawa was hit in the mouth by a batted ball and required stitches. However, he returned to the ball park and entered the game in his customary position in the top of the fourth inning.
*** Over the past eight games, the senior from Hawaii is 13-for-34 (.382) with four runs scored and eight RBI.
*** He has scored at least two runs in a game on 10 occasions in 2008.
*** His .351 batting average leads the club as does his 54 hits, 35 runs scored, four triples and 11 stolen bases.
*** Hanzawa's four RBI vs. Houston on March 30 was a career high.
*** His 16 multiple-hit games are the most on the team and his six multiple-RBI efforts tie for second-most on the club.
*** Hanzawa is hitting .296 in conference play and has not committed an error in 12 MWC contests (54 chances).
COLWELL ON FIRE
*** After going 6-for-10 in the final two games of the Utah series last weekend, Pat Colwell has the top batting average in the MWC in conference games at .478.
*** In Tuesday's win over UC Riverside, he was 1-for-3 and scored a pair of runs.
*** In the three games last weekend, he scored eight runs and had a pair of doubles, a triple and home run.
*** His five-hit effort vs. New Mexico on April was the first (and only) by an Aztec in 2008.
*** Colwell tallied four singles and a double, with his single in the 11th inning driving in the game-winning run.
*** In the three games during the UNM series, he went 8-for-12 with a run scored and two RBI.
*** Over the past 10 games, he has raised his batting average from .253 to .336.
*** In his 16 games as SDSU's leadoff hitter, Colwell has an on-base percentage of .513 and his batting average is .413.
*** He has not committed an error this season (56 chances in 29 games) and has seen action in all three outfield positions.
ROMERO DRIVES `EM HOME
*** Junior third baseman Nick Romero's sixth home run of the season was a two-run shot vs. UC Riverside in the eighth inning on Tuesday.
*** Last week he hit a grand slam in the game against Arizona this past Tuesday. It was his first career slam as an Aztec and moved him into the team lead for homers.
*** His five RBI in that game marked the second time this season he has driven in five runs.
*** His five-RBI effort vs. Arizona and in the BYU series finale (March 15) marked the only times this season that an Aztec has driven in five runs in a game.
*** Romero had a brief four-game hitting streak stopped in the series finale vs. Utah on Sunday.
*** He is second on the team lead with 13 multiple-hit games and leads the squad with eight multiple-RBI efforts. He has driven in four or more runs in a game four times in 2008.
*** Romero has drawn a walk in each of the last four games and six of the last eight.
MURPHY WIN STREAK
*** J.R. Murphy's has now recorded wins in five of his last six starts (the other a no-decision) to improve to 5-1 on the year.
*** In his most recent outing (vs. Utah, April 12), he tossed 7.2 innings of shutout ball, scattering six hits and striking out eight.
*** The eight K's matched his career high, set earlier this season against Utah in Salt Lake City (7.1 innings).
*** In his last five starts, Murphy has struck out 31 and walked only six. He had a string of 16.2 consecutive innings without surrendering a base on balls earlier this season.
*** Over his last three starts (22.1 innings), he has an earned run average of 1.21. In the process, he has lowered his overall ERA to 2.94.
DECKER HEATING UP
*** Outfielder Brandon Decker has hit safely in each of the last five games to establish a personal best hitting streak as an Aztec.
*** In those five contests, he has gone 9-for-19 (.473) with a double, three runs scored and six runs batted in.
*** In Wednesday's contest vs. UCR, he went 2-for-4 and dove in three runs.
*** He has gotten at least one hit in 10 of his last 12 contests.
*** Decker has raised his overall average to .299, its highest point of the season.
MCLAUGHLIN OUT OF THE PEN
*** After not allowing a run in his previous seven appearances, junior right-hander James McLaughlin gave up two in the final inning of SDSU's 9-2 win over Utah last Saturday.
*** Prior to that game, he had not allowed a run in his last seven relief appearances covering 18.1 innings.
*** On Tuesday vs. Riverside, he tossed two-thirds of an inning, striking out one of the two batters he faced.
*** In his last nine outings, his earned run average is 0.90 (two earned runs in 20.0 innings).
*** McLaughlin had his longest outing of the year on Monday, March 17, against Southern Utah, going six innings in relief. In that contest, he scattered three hits while striking out seven and walking none. The seven strikeouts in that contest were his career high as an Aztec.
*** He recorded his lone save of the season with four innings of relief work vs. Oklahoma State on March 9.
*** All three of his wins have come in relief with his lone start of 2008 coming at UC Riverside on March 4.
KAUFMAN SHUTS `EM DOWN
*** Senior right-hander Shane Kaufman had his second straight excellent starting performance in Sunday's contest vs. Utah.
*** In that game, he allowed two runs (one earned) on six hits. He also struck out a career-high 11 batters over 7.2 innings.
*** He picked up the victory in that game, his first in two seasons at SDSU.
*** In his previous start vs. New Mexico, he allowed only two runs on four hits and two walk over 10 innings. From the fifth through 10th innings, he retired 16 of the 17 hitters he faced, allowing a lone base runner on a hit by pitch.
*** He was not involved in the decision in that contest as SDSU won in the 11th, one frame after he was relieved.
CLIMBING THE CHARTS
*** Troy Hanzawa's nine career triples moves him into a tie for 18th place on the all-time Aztec list.
*** Nick Romero's 132 career RBI ties him for ninth on the SDSU all-time list.
*** His home run on Tuesday, April 15, against Arizona was the 21st of his career, moving him into a tie for eighth on the San Diego State career list.
*** Romero's nine career triples also tie him for 18th.
AMONG THE NATIONAL LEADERS
*** Entering play this week, SDSU ranked among the national Division I leaders in two offensive areas: 16th with 15 triples and 25th in triples per game (0.42).
*** On the pitching side, the Aztecs are 16th in most strikeouts per game (8.7) and 26th in fewest walks per game with (3.03).
*** There is a total of 286 teams in Division I baseball.
*** Individually, Stephen Strasburg is second in the country in strikeouts (73), fourth in strikeouts per nine innings (13.06) and 29th in earned run average (1.97).
*** Nate Solow's 57 strikeouts this season rank 27th in the nation and he is 11th with an average of 11.66 K's per nine innings.
*** Troy Hanzawa's four triples ranks 26th in the nation while his hit total of 54 ranks 53rd.
*** In addition, Garett Green is 16th in Division I with five sacrifice flies.
STELLAR PITCHING
*** The San Diego State pitching staff allowed only three runs in the three contests vs. Utah last weekend.
*** Over half of Utah's outs during the series were on strikeouts as Aztec hurlers struck out 43 over the three games.
*** SDSU pitchers have recorded double digits in strikeouts on 11 occasions this season.
*** The team earned run average of 4.29 (prior to the UC Riverside game) was the lowest it has been since the eighth game of season on March 1 when it stood at 4.06. (The team ERA now stands at 4.31.) *** The Aztecs 2.61 ERA in 12 league games leads the Mountain West Conference this week.
AZTEC NOTES
*** Over the last 18 games, the Aztecs have committed only 15 errors and are fielding .978 in those contests.
*** Junior catcher Jason Schaniel made his Aztec debut as the DH in Tuesday's game vs. Arizona (April 8) and recorded an infield single in his first at bat for SDSU. He got his first RBI as an Aztec in Sunday's win over Utah.
*** SDSU's 4-0 win over Harvard on March 26 was played in a time of 2:09. It was the quickest nine-inning game for the Aztecs since a 6-3 loss to UNLV on May 28, 2004, that was completed in 1:58.
*** The infield duo of second baseman Garett Green and third baseman Nick Romero are the only Aztecs to have started all 36 game in 2008.
*** Catcher Bubba Ruddy hit his first home run as an Aztec in the contest against New Mexico on April 5, a solo shot in the seventh inning that tied the game.
*** Senior lefty Brandon Pullen recorded his first win in two seasons at SDSU in the 7-6 victory over Houston on Friday, March 29. He pitched to one batter in top of the ninth to retire the side, then saw his teammates for two runs rally in the bottom of the inning to win the game.
*** Pullen has allowed no runs on three hits in his last six appearances (3.1 total innings).
*** Over the past two seasons, sophomore right-hander Stephen Strasburg has not allowed a home run over 87.1 innings.
*** The Aztecs are 8-1 in one-run games. In 2007, SDSU finished with a mark of 4-10 in one-run contests.
*** San Diego State recorded a season-high eight stolen bases in the series finale against Houston on March 30.
ON DECK
*** Up next for San Diego State is a short trip to Los Angeles to take on the USC Trojans on Tuesday, April 22. That game is set for a 7:00 p.m. start at Dedeaux Field.
*** The Aztecs will resume Mountain West Conference play next weekend when they host TCU for a three-game series beginning Friday, April 25, at 6:00 p.m. at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
*** Game are also scheduled for Saturday (April 27) at 1:00 p.m. and Sunday (April 27) at 11:00 a.m.
*** The early game time on Sunday, a recent change to the schedule, is due to the Horned Frogs' flight availability.