May 11, 2011
Complete Release and Season Statistics in PDF Format
WHAT'S ON TAP THIS WEEKEND IN AZTEC BASEBALL
After Tuesday's win over Cal State Northridge, San Diego State now resumes Mountain West Conference play as it hosts a three-game series against Brigham Young. The Aztecs and Cougars will meet for games on Thursday (May 12) and Friday (May 13) at Tony Gwynn Stadium with first pitch set for 6:00 p.m. each evening. The series will conclude on Saturday, May 14, with a contest scheduled for a 1:00 p.m. start.
SENIOR DAY
Saturday's game will be San Diego State's final regular-season home contest and has been designated Senior Day. The Aztecs will honor four senior members of the 2011 squad in a brief ceremony prior to the game. That foursome includes outfielder-third baseman Pat Colwell along with pitchers Craig Rasmussen, Steven Moranda and Ryan Wynveen.
SERIES RECORD
San Diego State's all-time record against Brigham Young stands at 72-57-1 in the series that began back in 1957. BYU took two of three from the Aztecs in Provo earlier this season (March 24-26). SDSU's win in that series came in extra innings in the final contest. The Aztecs are 36-21 against the Cougars in San Diego, 23-28 in Provo and 12-6-1 at neutral sites.
TORRES PROVIDES PUNCH
Jomel Torres hit his second home run of the year on Tuesday vs. CSU Northridge. He has hit safely in 10 of the last 12 games going 18-for-44 (.409) with three doubles, nine RBI and 14 runs scored. He has also drawn 14 walks and been hit by pitch once over that span for a .559 on-base percentage. He leads the Aztecs in multiple-hit games with 17 and is second with nine multiple-RBI efforts. He has reached base safely (hit, walk or hit by pitch) in each of the last 19 games.
SMITH SOLID OFFENSIVELY
Freshman outfielder Cody Smith has the team's current longest hitting streak at 11 games. In those 10 contests he is hitting .416 (20-for-48) with six doubles, a triple and 11 runs scored. He had a career-high four RBI in the contest at Utah last Saturday (May 7). He had his first three-hit effort of the year in Sunday's (May 1) game at Western Carolina and followed that up with another three-hit contest vs. Long Beach State on Tuesday (May 3). He recorded three hits again on Tuesday (May 10) vs. Cal State Northridge.
BRYANT HITTING AWAY
Freshman outfielder Dillon Bryant has hit safely in each of the last 10 games, going 10-for-30 (.333) with a pair of doubles, six RBI and five runs scored. He has also drawn nine walks and been hit by pitch once over that span for a .500 on-base percentage. He drove in the winning run against CSU Northridge on Tuesday (May 10) when he was hit by pitch with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth.
COLWELL GETTING ON BASE
Fifth-year senior Pat Colwell has reached base safely (via hit, walk or hit by pitch) in each of the last 21 games. He had a season-best six-game hitting streak end on Saturday (May 7) at Utah. His 10 sacrifice bunts this season tie for seventh-most in a season for an Aztec and give him a career total of 25, third-most on the SDSU all-time list.
SWANSON GETTING SUPPORT
In freshman left-hander Cole Swanson's four wins, the Aztecs have scored 41 runs including reaching double digits in three of those contests. SDSU scored just four runs in the game he lost. After missing one turn in the rotation due to injury, freshman Swanson has picked victories as the starting pitcher each of the past two weekends. Opponents are hitting just .225 against him. That mark ranks fifth in the Mountain West Conference this week while his 3.39 earned run average is eighth-best in the league.
KENDZORA IN RELIEF
Freshman TJ Kendzora has his best performance since the opening weekend of the season with a stellar relief effort against Cal State Northridge on Tuesday (May 10). He entered the game in the second inning with two men on and no outs and went on to toss the next 7.2 innings, allowing a run on three hits with two walks and seven strikeouts. It was his longest outing of the year, surpassing his six-inning start against Winthrop when he allowed a run on one hit with three walks and three strikeouts. Kendzora's seven K's against Northridge were a season high.
MEREDITH CONSISTENT
Brandon Meredith is hitting .326 (14-for-43) over SDSU's last 12 games. Over those 12 games he has recorded five doubles, two home runs, 11 runs scored and 13 runs batted in. His 34 walks this season give him a career total of 96, a mark that ranks ninth on the SDSU all-time list. He is hitting .375 (21-for-56) with runners in scoring position and leads the team with 10 multiple-RBI games.
VASKO IMPRESSES
Junior Ben Vasko has hit safely in each of the past eight games in which he has appeared and 10 of the last 11. During his steak he has gone 11-for-27 (.407) with six RBI and eight runs scored. He has scored at least once in seven of the last eight games in which he has appeared.
DEFENSIVE IMPROVEMENT
Over the last 13 games SDSU has a .985 fielding percentage. That compares to a .958 percentage in the first 35 contests. SDSU committed just three errors in its last seven games (.989 fielding percentage).
GETTING PLUNKED
Two of SDSU's players adept at getting hit by pitch during their college careers will be on the field this season. Senior Pat Colwell, who was hit in last Tuesday's (May 3) game vs. Long Beach State, has assumed the career lead with 36 HBPs. Junior Brandon Meredith is right behind him at 35. Meredith has been hit 10 times this season while Colwell has been plunked on Five occasions. His 10 hit by pitches in 2011 ties for 11th on the SDSU single-season list.
AZTEC NOTES
The Aztecs have a record of 5-3 over their last eight games ... San Diego State has drawn an average of just under seven walks per game in its last six contests ... The Aztecs have been in double digits in hits in five of the last seven games ... Sophomore right-hander Ethan Miller made his first relief appearance of the season at Utah on Sunday (May 8), tossing 4.1 innings and allowing a run on five hits with a walk and strikeout ... Evan Potter record his first two doubles of the year in back-to-back games at Utah on May 7-8 ... Senior lefty Craig Rasmussen picked off his seventh runner of the season against UC Riverside on April 26 to tie for the most in the MWC this season. His seven pickoffs is a new SDSU record ... SDSU has a record of 5-2 in one-run games this season and is 2-3 in extra-inning contests ... SDSU's most productive innings on offense has been the seventh when it has scored 33 runs. Conversely, the Aztecs have put up only 18 runs in the second ... Two of SDSU's nine pinch hits this season have been solo home runs (Denny Vigo and Brad Haynal).