March 23, 2011
Complete Release and Season Statistics in PDF Format
WHAT'S ON TAP THIS WEEK IN AZTEC BASEBALL
San Diego State will continue Mountain West Conference play this weekend with a three-game series against Brigham Young that begins with a game on Thursday, March 24, at 6:00 p.m. (MT) at Larry H. Miller Field in Provo, Utah. SDSU and BYU will also meet in contests on Friday (March 25) at 6:00 p.m. (MT) and Saturday (March 26) at 1:00 p.m. (MT)
SERIES RECORDS
San Diego State's all-time record against Brigham Young stands at 71-55-1 in the series that began back in 1957. Last season BYU swept a three-game series from the Aztecs in Provo and also defeated SDSU in their meeting at the Mountain West Conference Tournament at Tony Gwynn Stadium. The Aztecs are 36-21 against the Cougars in San Diego, 23-28 in Provo and 12-6-1 at neutral sites.
ZIER HEATS UP
Freshman second baseman Tim Zier (Escondido, HS) saw his eight-game hitting streak in Sunday's (March 20) contest against New Mexico. At Riverside on Tuesday he went 1-for-3 (double) with a walk and hit by pitch. During his eight-game streak he hit .452 (14-for-31) with six runs batted in and compiled a .514 on-base percentage. He leads the team with eight multiple-hit games.
HAYNAL STREAK ENDS
Freshman catcher Brad Haynal had reached base safely (hit, walk or HBP) in 14 consecutive games with base hits in 11 of those contests before failing to do so in against New Mexico on Sunday. He had a personal-best six-game hitting streak ended on March 15 in the game at Loyola Marymount. During that streak he went 10-for-24 (.417) with three doubles, a home run and eight RBI. Haynal has four multiple-RBI games to tie for the team lead with Brandon Meredith.
WILSON STREAK CONTINUES
Catcher/third baseman Chris Wilson hit safely in all three games against New Mexico last weekend and had an RBI single at Riverside on Tuesday to extend his current hitting streak to 12 games. The streak is the longest by an Aztec this season. During his streak he is hitting .341 with three doubles, a triple, two home runs and 11 runs batted in.
MEREDITH COMES BACK
Brandon Meredith continues to recover from the pneumonia that caused him to miss most of SDSU's four-game series against Arkansas (March 10-13). He had served as the Aztecs' designated hitter in four games last week, but returned to the field as the starter at first base on Tuesday at UC Riverside and collected a pair of hits and scored once. He ranks third in the nation with four triples and eighth in triples per game (0.22).
SLADER GAME WINNER
Cody Slader, a freshman from Castro Valley, Calif. (Bishop O'Dowd HS), had a six-game hitting streak end on Saturday against New Mexico. That streak saw him hit .391 (9-for-23) with three runs scored and three RBI. He hit safely in Sunday's game vs. the Lobos as well as on Tuesday at UC Riverside and reached safely in eight of SDSU's last nine games. At UCR on Tuesday (March 22), he had a pair of hits including a double along with a season-high three runs batted in.
MILLER PITCHES TOUGH
Sophomore right-hander Ethan Miller picked up his second win of the season last Friday (March 18) vs. New Mexico. He went six innings in that contest allowing four runs (two earned) on seven hits with no walks and five strikeouts. He has recorded 26 strikeouts in 27.0 innings and walked only six this season.
SWANSON MAKES FIRST START
Left-hander Cole Swanson made his first collegiate start against New Mexico on Sunday. He shut out the Lobos on two hits over the first five innings, but gave up five runs in the sixth. Despite giving up five hits in that game, opponents are only .192 against him.
BLACK DEALS
Sophomore right-hander Corey Black has walked seven and struck out 27 batters over his 20.0 innings of work this season. He ranks 12th in the nation in strikeouts per nine innings at 12.15. He has been a two-way player for San Diego State in 2011 as he was a year ago, appearing at shortstop and third base in three games in 2011.
AZTEC NOTES
The Aztecs are 4-3 in their last seven games ... As a team, SDSU hit .324 in its MWC opening series against New Mexico last weekend with seven doubles, two triples and two home runs ... San Diego State has a record of 2-0 in one-run games this season ... Cody Smith recorded a hit in each game against New Mexico this past weekend, going 4-for-12 and scoring a run in each contest ... Catcher Ben Vasko recorded his first collegiate hit with a pinch-hit single to left in the ninth inning the contest at Loyola Marymount on March 15 ... SDSU pinch hitters are 4-for-25 (.160) with one of those hits being the home run by Denny Vigo in the season opener. Opposing pinch hitters are 1-for-13 (.077).