April 21, 2016
Complete Release and Season Statistics
WHAT'S ON TAP THIS WEEKEND IN AZTEC BASEBALL
San Diego State began its week with a 5-1 victory over UC Irvine on Tuesday, April 19, at Tony Gwynn Stadium. The Aztecs will now hit the road for its next four games beginning this weekend when they travel to Albuquerque, for a three-game series against Mountain West foe New Mexico. That set gets underway on Friday, April 22, with a contest scheduled to start at 6:00 p.m. (MT) at UNM's Santa Ana Star Field. The Aztecs and Lobos will also hook up for games on Saturday (April 23) and Sunday (April 24) at 2:00 p.m. and 1:00 a.m. (MT) respectively.
ON THE AIR
All three games at New Mexico this weekend will have live video streaming on The Mountain Digital Network. Links to those broadcast may be found at the SDSU web site (www.GoAztecs.com). In addition, live stats will be available for all three games this weekend with the links available at GoAztecs.com.
SERIES RECORD
San Diego State's record against New Mexico stands at 108-71. The Lobos are one of three teams against which SDSU has recorded 100 wins. The others are Utah (102-34) and Air Force (100-22). The Lobos have won 28 of the last 32 meetings between the teams dating back to the 2008 season. A year ago, UNM won two of three games in in Albuquerque during the first weekend of March this season while SDSU won two on three in San Diego in early April. The Aztecs also won a pair from the Lobos at the Mountain West tournament, including the tourney title contest. San Diego State has a record of 66-30 vs. UNM in San Diego, 33-37 in Albuquerque and 9-4 on neutral fields.
THORNTON HEATING UP
Senior left fielder Spencer Thornton is hitting .342 (14-for-40) over SDSU's last 11 games with two doubles, two home run, four RBI and seven runs scored. He hit his fourth home run, a solo shot in the second inning, vs. UC Irvine on Tuesday (April 19) to send SDSU on its way to a 5-1 win over visiting UC Irvine. He is now tied for the team home run lead with Tyler Adkison. He has reached base safely (via hit, walk or hit by pitch) in each of the past 18 contests.
ADKISON HITS AWAY
Sophomore Tyler Adkison is hitting .324 over SDSU's last 10 contests with two doubles, two triples, a home run, four RBI and six runs scored. He went 4-for-12 over the three contests at No. 10 Texas Tech last weekend. He had a personal season-best nine-game hitting streak come to an end in the game at USD on April 12. During that streak he went 12-for-35 (.343) with three doubles, a triple, home run, 11 RBI and four runs scored. He is the team co-leader in home runs with four.
SAYLOR RETURNS
Junior catcher CJ Saylor made his first appearance since March 25 in Tuesday's game vs. UC Irvine. He made the most of his stat behind the dish, recording two singles and a walk in four plate appearances, Saylor missed time after suffering a concussion in the contest vs. New Mexico in San Diego in late March.
TREJO KEEPS HITTING
Shortstop Alan Trejo went 5-for-11 with a triple during last weekend's three-game series at No.10 Texas Tech. Over the past five games he is batting .368 (7-for-19). He had a team season-high 15-game hitting streak end on March 25 vs. New Mexico. During that streak he batted .419 (27-for-66) with two doubles, 11 RBI and 12 runs scored. He has recorded multiple-hit efforts in almost half of SDSU's games this season (16 of 34) including in five of the past seven contests.
HENSLEY STREAK ENDS
David Hensley hit his first career home run in the second inning of last Tuesday's (April 12) contest at University of San Diego, giving SDSU a 1-0 lead in a game it went on to win, 7-3. He had a 12-game hitting streak come to an end in the series finale vs. UNLV on April 10. During that streak he hit .365 (19-for-52) with a two doubles, four RBI and eight runs scored. He has scored six runs in the Aztecs' six of the past eight contests. Hensley leads the team in sacrifice bunts with seven.
BROWN CONSISTENT
Andrew Brown had a RBI single to dive in SDSU's second run of the game in the win over UC Irvine on Tuesday (April 19). He had the game-winning RBI in the win over No. 20 Long Beach State on April 5, with a single in the bottom of the 12th inning that brought home Tyler Adkison in the 6-5 win. Brown had a seven-game hitting streak end at USD on Tuesday, April 12, during which he batted .323 (10-for-31) two doubles, a triple, three RBI and four runs scored. In that contest at USD he drove in a run with a sacrifice fly and also drew a base on balls.
CAUGHT STEALING
Opponents have stolen only 17 bases in 36 attempts (47 percent) against the Aztecs this season. With Hunter Stratton behind the play, 10 of 23 runners have been caught stealing. With CJ Saylor at catcher, 8 of 12 runners have been caught trying to advance. The Aztecs have been successful on 58 percent (29-of-50) lead by Tyler Adkison and Justin Wylie with five stolen bases apiece.
STREAKS
The team's longest steak this season is 15 games by Alan Trejo. Spencer Thornton has reached base safely (via hit, walk or hit by pitch) in each of the last 18 games while Tyler Adkison had a string of 12 contests come to an end on Sunday at Texas Tech. Trejo leads the Aztecs with 16 multiple-hit contests while Adkison leads with six multiple-RBI games.
AZTEC NOTES
Jordan Verdon is one of five Aztecs to have recorded a double, triple and home run this season. The others include Alan Trejo, Tyler Adkison, Andrew Brown, Dean Nevarez and Chase Calabuig … Senior outfielder Spencer Thornton had his first four-hit game of the season in the contest at Nevada on April 1. Only Thornton and Alan Trejo have recorded four-hit efforts for the Aztecs in 2016 … Shortstop Alan Trejo is the only player to have started all 33 games this season at the same position … Only one other Aztec has started all 30 games, but not at the same position each time: Justin Wylie (2B-3B-DH) … Niko Navarro (1-for-3), Dean Nevarez (1-for-3) and Jordan Verdon (1-for-2) are the only three Aztecs to have recorded a hit as a pinch hitter. Aztec pinch hitters are 3-for-20 on the year.
UP NEXT
Following the New> Mexico series this coming weekend, San Diego State will visit Long Beach State on Tuesday, April 26, for a contest at 6:00 p.m. at Blair Field. The Aztecs will then host a three-game series against Nevada the following weekend. That set gets underway on Friday, April 29, at 6:00 p.m. (MT) at Tony Gwynn Stadium. The Wolf Pack and Aztecs will complete a suspended game that was halted in Reno earlier this month prior to that regularly-scheduled 6:00 p.m. contest. The teams will also meet for games on Saturday (April 30) and Sunday (May 1) at 2:00 p.m. and 1:00 p.m. (PT) respectively.