April 13, 2017
LAS VEGAS, Nev. - San Diego State will begin a three-game Mountain West baseball series against UNLV this evening at Earl E. Wilson Stadium in Las Vegas. First pitch is set for 6:05 pm PT. Due to the Easter holiday weekend, the series will run Thursday through Saturday.
UNLV enters Thursday's contest with a record of 12-23 overall and 6-9 in the Mountain West. The Rebels have dropped three of their last four games and 14 of their last 16 contests.
UNLV is led offensively by outfielder Ernie De La Trinidad (.372, 5 2B, 3 HR, 21 RBI), catcher Payton Squier (.343, 4 2B, 20 RBI and second baseman Justin Jones (.336, 5 HR, 30 RBI). The Rebels are hitting .306 as a team with a 6.09 earned run average.
The home sides is expected to start right-hander Alan Strong (3-3, 6.44) on the mound tonight where he will be opposed by Aztec junior right-hander Jorge Fernandez (0-0, 0.00). It will be just the third start of the year for Fernandez, who has not pitched since March 14 in a start at the University of San Diego.
San Diego comes into this evening's game with a mark of 24-10 overall and 11-4 in conference play. The Aztecs have won eight of their last 10 contests and are 21-6 since beginning the 2017 campaign with a 3-4 record.
Alan Trejo has been stellar both at the plate and on the mound this season. On Tuesday vs. UC Irvine, he collected a pair of hits along with an RBI and run scored. In Sunday's win over Nevada, he went 3-for-3 with a pair of walks and run scored. As a pitcher, he tossed two late scoreless innings in that contest to pick up his first win.
Left fielder Tyler Adkison was named a second team Perfect Game/Rawlings Midseason All-American. He has also been added to the 40-player mid-season watch list for the Golden Spikes Award, presented to the top amateur baseball player in the country. He hit his team-leading ninth home run of the season on Tuesday (April 11) vs. UC Irvine and he has accounted for almost a third of the team's 28 homers in 2017.
Outfielder Chase Calabuig has hit safely in eight of the last nine contests. Over that span he is hitting .387 (12-for-31) with three doubles, a home run, seven RBI and six runs scored.
Junior left-hander Jacob Erickson has been impressive out of the bullpen this season. In his last 17 appearances covering 25.1 innings, he has allowed two runs on 18 hits with 10 strikeouts. In the process, he has lowered his earned run average to 1.50.
San Diego State and UNLV will continue their weekend series on Friday (April 14) with a game schedule to get underway at 6:05 p.m. PT at Earl E. Wilson Stadium.