April 14, 2011
Complete Release and Season Statistics in PDF Format
WHAT'S ON TAP THIS WEEKEND IN AZTEC BASEBALL
SDSU resumes Mountain West Conference play as it hosts the No. 9 TCU for a three-game series with weekend. The first contest between the Aztecs and Horned Frogs is scheduled for Friday, April 15, at 6:00 p.m. at Tony Gwynn Stadium. The teams will also meet in games on Saturday (April 16) at 7:00 p.m. and Sunday (April 17) at 11:00 a.m.
DIETZ JERSEY RETIMENT CEREMONY
Former long-time San Diego State Head Baseball Coach Jim Dietz will have his number officially retired in ceremonies prior to Friday night's contest vs. TCU. Dietz coached the Aztecs for 31 seasons (1972-2002) during which he compiled a career record of 1231-750-18 (.620). During his tenure his teams won eight conference titles and advanced to the NCAA Regional Tournament on eight occasions. A total of 27 of his players went on to compete for Major League clubs including Tony, Chris and Anthony Gwynn, Bud Black, Dave Smith, Travis Lee, Aaron Harang and Bobby Meacham.
AZTECS ON TV
Friday night's (April 15) game against TCU will be televised nationally by CBS College Sports TV beginning at 6:00 p.m. (PT). Brent Stover will call the play-by-play with former major leaguer Kevin Stocker providing the color analysis. The game is available in San Diego on Cox Cable channel 321 and Time Warner Cable channel 415. It may also be viewed on channel 613 on DirecTV and channel 152 on Dish Network.
SERIES RECORD
San Diego State's all-time record against TCU stands at 10-16 in the series that began back in 1998. Last season the Aztecs won one of the three contests between the teams in Fort Worth. This weekend's series marks the lone contests between the teams during the 2011 regular season. Since joining the MWC for the 2006 campaign, the Horned Frogs are 10-8 against the Aztecs. San Diego State is 6-5 against TCU in San Diego and 4-11 in meetings in Fort Worth.
BLACK EXPECTED TO GET START
Sophomore right-hander Corey Black is expected to start on the mound for the Aztecs against TCU on Friday. It will be his first start since the contest at Brigham Young on March 26 when he allowed four runs in three innings and was the losing pitcher in a 6-4 setback. Since that game he has made three relief appearances including two in last weekend's series vs. Utah. He recorded his first win of the season in the 5-3 victory over the Utes on April 8. He has struck out 35 in 30 innings this season with a career-high 13 in eight innings vs. Arkansas.
MEREDITH GETTING OFFENSIVE
Brandon Meredith wa scratched as the starting right fielder at UC Irvine on Tuesday, but did start at the DH spot. He had suffered an injury to a finger on his throwing hand when it was hit during a bunt attempt in last Sunday's contest against Utah. His availability to play in the field this weekend has yet to be determined. Meredith scored seven runs during last weekend's three-game series against Utah. He went 3-for-10 and drew four walks over the three games with a double. His 24 walks give him a career total of 85, a mark that ranks 15th on the SDSU all-time list.
HAYNAL PITCHES
Junior pitcher Austin Haynal (brother of Brad) has been solid in a relief role in April. In his last four appearances covering 5.1 innings, he has allowed no runs on four hits with no walks and three strikeouts. At UC Irvine on Tuesday he tossed three innings, giving up a lone single. He faced only nine batters as he came into the game with the bases loaded and got a double play.
TORRES AT THE PLATE
Jomel Torres went 3-for-9 with four walks, two doubles, two runs scored and five RBI in last weekend's series against Utah. Over the last 11 games he has gone 11-for-36 (.306) with eight doubles, a home run, eight runs scored and eight runs batted in. He also walked 14 times and was hit by pitch twice for an on-base percentage of .500 in those 11 contests.
BLUMAN ON THE MOUND
Freshman left Mitch Bluman has gotten the job done out of the bullpen in recent weeks. He has made short relief appearances in five of SDSU's last eight contests allowing no runs on four hits over 5.1 innings. He has given up just one run overall in eight relief stints with six strikeouts in 7.1 innings for a 1.23 earned run average. Bluman doubles as a first baseman, making seven appearances including three starts there.
AZTEC NOTES
Freshman second baseman Tim Zier (Escondido, HS) is 4-for-11 over the past three games and has the team's current longest hitting streak ... Freshman catcher Brad Haynal has reached base (via a hit, walk or HBP) in each of the last 11 games ... In seven relief appearances covering 16.0 innings, Bryan Crabb has allowed just three earned runs (1.69 ERA) on six hits with four walks and 12 strikeouts ... Senior left-hander Ryan Wynveen tossed 2.1 perfect innings of relief at No. 19 UC Irvine on Tuesday, retiring all seven batters he faced ... After starting the season with a 2-12 record, the Aztecs are 8-8 in their last 16 games ... After nine conference contests, San Diego State is hitting .280 with a 4.84 ERA in league play ... Over the last six games SDSU has a .978 fielding percentage (5 errors in 228 chances) ... San Diego State has two players ranked among the top 10 in batting average in Mountain West Conference games: Chris Wilson (7th - .382) and Jomel Torres (9th - .367) ... Two of SDSU's five pinch hits this season have been solo home runs (Denny Vigo and Brad Haynal).