May 12, 2008
SAN DIEGO - San Diego State sophomore right-hander Stephen Strasburg has been named Mountain West Conference Baseball Pitcher of the Week for the seventh time this season. It also marks the fifth consecutive week that he has captured the league honor. In addition, he has also been tabbed a Louisville Slugger National Player of the Week by Collegiate Baseball magazine. It is the third time that he has earned that distinction in 2008.
Strasburg tossed his third consecutive complete-game victory in the Aztecs' 8-1 win at BYU last Thursday. He allowed just two hits and walked one, while striking out 15, his second highest total of the season. It was the sixth straight contest in which he finished in double figures in strikeouts. After giving up a base hit in the fourth, which led to an unearned run on a wild pitch, Strasburg struck out the next seven batters and faced only one batter over the minimum in his final 5.2 innings.
With his 15 K's in the game, Strasburg broke the San Diego State record for strikeouts in a season. His current total of 125 eclipses the old mark of 122 set by Rob Brown during the 1989 campaign.
Strasburg also established a new MWC record for strikeouts in a season in conference games with 92 (old record was 78 by SDSU's Marcos Mendoza in 2001). He also finished league play with a 0.63 earned run average in MWC games to break the record of Jake Arrieta of TCU (1.12 in 2006).
Strasburg's strikeout total leads the nation this week while his 1.28 earned run average is the second-best in Division I baseball. His 125 K's have come in 84.1 innings during which he has surrendered only 11 walks while compiling a record of 8-1.
San Diego State concludes its regular season this week as it hosts Long Beach State on Tuesday (May 13) at 6:00 p.m. at Tony Gwynn Stadium and visits Cal State Fullerton for a three-game series starting Thursday (May 15).