April 15, 2010
WHAT'S ON TAP THIS WEEK IN AZTEC BASEBALL
After its non-league contest at Cal State Northridge this past Tuesday, San Diego State resumes conference play with a three-game series against Utah this weekend. The Aztecs and Utes will meet for the first time this year on Friday, April 16, at 6:00 p.m. (PT) at Tony Gwynn Stadium. Action continues on Saturday, April 17, with a single game at 1:00 p.m. (PT) followed by the series finale on Sunday (April 18) at 1:00 p.m. (PT). After opening league play with three straight away series, SDSU now begins a 15-game home stand that includes MWC series against Utah, New Mexico and Air Force.
SERIES RECORD
San Diego State's all-time record against Utah stands at 97-28 since the teams first met in 1964. The schools were members of the Western Athletic Conference from 1979-1999 before joining the Mountain West for the 2000 campaign. The Aztec won two of the three regular-season meetings between the teams in 2009 that were played in Ogden, Utah. The Utes later lost to SDSU in the second round at the conference tournament, but came back to defeat SDSU twice to win the title. Since joining the MWC in 2000, the Aztecs are 41-21 vs. the Utes. SDSU is 61-13 vs. the Utes in San Diego and 26-11 at Utah's home field. The Aztecs are 10-4 in meetings at neutral sites.
REED SET TO RETURN
Preseason All-American pitcher Addison Reed is set to return to action this weekend for the first time in four weeks. Reed suffered a broken pinky finger in the game vs. Santa Clara on March 20 when he reached for a hot shot up the middle late in the game and it went off his throwing hand. In five starts this seasons he is 4-1 with a 2.70 average and has struck out 36 and walked only seven over 33.1 innings. Reed is expected to start the series opener against Utah on Friday.
WEEKEND ROTATION
SDSU's pitching rotation for the weekend's series at Air Force includes Addison Reed on Friday, Brian Crabb on Saturday and Ethan Miller on Sunday. Reed (4-1, 2.70), the 2009 national Stopper of the Year as a reliever, will be making his sixth start as he returns from an injury that has sidelined him the past four weeks. Crabb (3 -3, 2.79 ERA) is a freshman from nearby Coronado High School who has been SDSU's No. 2 starting hurler since opening weekend. His last outing was a win at Air Force last Saturday (April 10) when he gave up two runs on seven hits in seven innings. Miller (0-1, 3.98) made his third start of the year last Sunday (April 11) at Air Force. He went seven innings allowing five hits on nine hits, but was not involved in the decision.
BLACKBURN STREAKING
Mitch Blackburn has hit safely in each of SDSU's last 12 contests. Over that span he has gone 22-for-58 (.379) with two doubles, a triple, two home runs, 13 runs scored and seven RBI. He has raised his season average from .244 to .301 during his streak. Blackburn has scored a run in nine of those 12 games including seven straight at one point. His best days at the late this season were four-hit efforts against Monmouth on March 5 and vs. Stony Brook on March 30. He leads the team with 24 walks and has a .401 on-base percentage. Blackburn, who played in 61 contests at second base last season, made his first SDSU start (and first appearance) at shortstop against UC Riverside on Tuesday, Feb. 23. He has played that position 13 more times since that debut. He is the only player to have started and appeared in every game this season.
MEREDITH'S HOT BAT
Outfielder Brandon Meredith went 11-for-17 (.647) during last weekend's league series at Air Force. He finished the three-game set with three doubles, a home run, eight runs scored and seven RBI. His five RBI in the series opener marked a career high as did his five hits in the second game of the series. He leads the Aztecs in hitting at .358 and his .488 average in conference play ranks third in the MWC. Meredith has been hit by pitch on 10 occasions to tie for 10th on the SDSU single-season list. His .459 on-base percentage leads the team. Meredith suffered a concussion when he was hit in the head by a pitch in the game against UAB on Thursday, March 11 and missed the ensuing here contests. He is tied for the team lead in multiple-RBI games with seven and is second in multiple-hit games with 10.
O'SULLIVAN RETURNS
Ryan O'Sullivan has been a regular in the lineup since returning from an arm injury incurred in the third game of the season. He returned as a pinch hitter at New Mexico on March 26 and was the DH in six games following that comeback. He has assumed his spot as SDSU's starting shortstop over the past five contests, making his first start there in the contest at UC Irvine on April 6. O'Sullivan had a short four-game hitting streak end this past Tuesday in the contest at Northridge. During the streak he went 6-for-15 (.400) with six runs scored and six RBI. He has drawn seven walks in SDSU's last three games and enters the weekend with a .472 on-base percentage.
VAUGHN HITS AND GETS HIT
Cory Vaughn has a six-game hitting streak in progress and he has reached base safely in 12 of the Aztecs' last 13 contests. He recorded a season-high three hits and five RBI in the contest vs. Santa Clara on March 22. His .306 batting average is fourth on the team while his eight doubles, four home runs and 30 RBI all rank first. His homer at New Mexico March 28 was the 20th of his career and moved him into a tie for the No. 11 spot on the SDSU career list. He ranks second among the Aztecs in multiple-hit (11) and multiple-RBI (7) games. Vaughn has been hit by pitch six times this season to bring his career total to 23 (third all-time at San Diego State). The record holder is Pat Colwell (a senior who is redshirting in 2010) with 31.
MOORE HEATING UP
Freshman infielder Blair Moore saw an eight-game hitting streak end at Cal State Northridge on Tuesday. Over those eight contests he was 12-for-29 (.414) with three doubles, seven runs scored and seven RBI. He has doubled in three of SDSU's last five contests. His three RBI at Air Force on April 11 was a career best. Moore has seen action at first, second and third as well as the DH role.
VAN HOOSIER HITTING AWAY
Freshman infielder Jordan Van Hoosier has been solid at the plate and his .313 batting average ranks second on the squad. He had a four-game hitting streak end in Tuesday's game at CSU Northridge. Over the four games prior to that, he went 7-for-19 with eight runs scored and five RBI. Van Hoosier hit his first collegiate home run at Air Force on April 11. He has drawn 22 walks and been hit by pitch four times for a team-leading .442 on-base percentage. He also leads the team with 14 stolen bases.
PARKER COMES THROUGH
Catcher Matt Parker enters the weekend on a six-game hitting streak during which he has gone 9-for-22 (.409). His two-out bases-loaded single in the ninth on April 3 drove in two runs and gave the Aztecs a 3-1 win over 11th-ranked TCU. Parker previously had a six-game hitting streak from March 20-28 during which he hit .375 (9-for-24). He has been SDSU's starting catcher is 28 of SDSU's 33 games and has come off the bench to catch in one contest.
WILSON GETS ON
Third baseman/catcher Chris Wilson has hit safely in each of SDSU's last seven contests, going 9-for-25 (.360) over that span. He had scored at least a run in six straight games until he failed to cross the plate at Northridge on Tuesday. His five RBI against Air Force on April 10 was a career high. Wilson hit his fourth home run of the season during the Air Force series and is tied for the team lead in that category.
HITTING STREAKS
The team's longest hitting streak in 2010 is Mitch Blackburn's current streak of 12 games. Blair Moore owns the Aztecs' second-longest streak at eight games (ended on Tuesday). Chris Wilson has had three pair seven-game streaks in 2010 and enters the weekend on his third such streak. Cory Vaughn, Brandon Meredith and Matt Parker have all had six-game streaks this season.
AZTEC NOTES
The Aztecs had a string of seven straight games in which they scored at least once in the first inning ended at CSU Northridge on Tuesday (April 13) ... Freshman starting pitcher Ethan Miller had a career-high six strikeouts over seven innings in his start at Air Force on April 11 ... First-year right-hander Kyle Shaver picked up his first win of the season on March 29 vs. Stony Brook when he tossed five innings of shutout relief, giving up three hits and striking out three ... Mitch Blackburn (21 BB, 14 K) and Ryan O'Sullivan (14 BB, 13 K) are the lone Aztecs to have recorded more walks than strikeouts. ... Aztec batters have drawn 177 walks through the first 33 games of the season, an average of 5.36 per contest. SDSU leads the MWC in that category and has recorded over 40 more walks than the next nearest team in the MWC (Air Force with 135) ... SDSU has drawn double figures in walks in four games this season ... Brandon Meredith is 17-for-29 (.436) with runners in scoring position. Cory Vaughn is behind him at 16-for-44 (.364) while Blair Moore is 11-for-32 (.344). Jomel Torres is 8-for-20 (.400) in that situation ... Aztec pinch hitters have gone 8-for-34 (.235). Blair Moore (2-for-6) and Guy Willeford (2-for-9) are the only Aztecs with more than one hit as a pinch hitter ... SDSU has started 12 different pitchers in its 33 contests during the 2010 season.
ON DECK
Following the Utah series, San Diego State's next game will be a mid-week contest against UC Irvine on Tuesday, April 20, at 6:00 p.m. at Tony Gwynn Stadium. Following that game, the Aztecs host Wagner for a four-game non-conference series that begins on Friday, April 23, at 6:00 p.m.