April 12, 2018
EXPECTED STARTING PITCHERS
Friday, April 13 - 6:00 p.m. SDSU: RHP Harrison Pyatt (2-2, 4.50 ERA)CSUF: RHP Colton Eastman (4-2, 2.11 ERA)Saturday, April 14 - 6:00 p.m.SDSU: RHP Garrett Hill (6-1, 1.47 ERA)CSUF: RHP Tommy Wilson (3-0, 3.29 ERA)Sunday, April 15 - 1:00 p.m.
SDSU: RHP Justin Goossen-Brown (1-1, 3.81 ERA)CSUF: RHP Andrew Quezada (1-3, 4.07 ERA)
NEWS AND NOTES
VS. THE TITANS: Cal State Fullerton visits Tony Gwynn Stadium for the first time since 2016, as the Aztecs host the Titans for a three-game series beginning Friday at 6:00 p.m.
The Aztecs defeated then No. 7-ranked Cal State Fullerton on the road last season, 5-4, giving the Aztecs its second win over a top-10 opponent in the last nine years and the team's first win in Fullerton since 1977.
SDSU has won each of the last two meetings with Cal State Fullerton, which participated in the 2017 College World Series.
SDSU is 21-7 against the Big West since the start of the 2017 season, while Cal State Fullerton enters this weekend having won six in a row.
WHAT'S HAPPENING AT Tony Gwynn STADIUM: The first 500 fans in attendance at baseball or softball on Saturday (both games start at 6:00 p.m.) will receive a free SDSU hat. (Corrected from previous posting that said Friday).
On Sunday, SDSU will host First Responders Day, where San Diego police chief Dave Nisleit and San Diego fire chief Kevin Ester will throw out the ceremonial first pitches. Also, police and fire vehicles will be parked on the concourse for fans to check out and first responders will present the colors, sing the national anthem, and have a helicopter flyover.
ON THE AIR: XTRA 1360 will broadcast all three games this weekend. Links to listen live and live stats are available at GoAztecs.com.
A LOOK AT THE WEEKEND ROTATION: One of SDSU's primary strengths in its 2018 campaign has been its starting pitching, as starters have collectively posted a 3.60 ERA and a .227 opponent batting average this season.
In his last start, Friday starter Harrison Pyatt took a no-hitter into the eighth inning against Long Beach State and finished his outing with only one hit and one run allowed to earn his second win of the season.
Last weekend, Garrett Hill suffered his first loss of the season at Air Force, despite only allowing two runs over 6.2 innings pitched. Hill's first eight starts still rank as one of the most impressive runs in SDSU history.
Hill is currently one of just seven pitchers in the country with six or more wins and an ERA under 1.50, joined by Texas A&M's Mitchell Kilkenny, Stetson's Joey Gonzalez, East Carolina's Chris Holba, LSU's Ma'Khail Hilliard, Saint Louis' Drew Reveno, and San Francisco's Riley Ornido. In March, Hill became the first Aztec in recorded history to post five wins in a single calendar month. For the month, Hill logged a 5-0 record with a 0.81 ERA.
Below is a comparison of Garrett Hill and Stephen Strasburg through the first eight starts of their junior seasons at San Diego State. Strasburg won the Golden Spikes Award and was the No. 1 overall pick that same year.
HILL - 2018 STAT STRASBURG - 20091.47 ERA 1.496-1 RECORD 7-049.0 INNINGS PITCHED 54.17 XBH ALLOWED 8
Over his last seven outings, Sunday starter Justin Goossen-Brown owns a 2.93 earned run average. At home, Goossen-Brown owns a 1.35 ERA and .188 opponent batting average, having allowed just two earned runs and nine hits over 13.1 innings pitched at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
HOME COOKING: San Diego State has an 11-6 record at home this season. The Aztecs have particularly thrived on the mound at Tony Gwynn Stadium, owning a team 2.85 ERA and .209 opponent batting average this season. 13 of the 15 pitchers used this season at home have ERAs lower than 4.00.
Chase Calabuig leads the Aztecs in hitting at home, owning team-bests in batting average (.377), slugging percentage (.623), total hits (26), runs scored (14), doubles (11), home runs (2), and RBIs (14). Calabuig has also reached base in each of his last 36 home games, split between 2018's 17 home games and the final 19 home games of the 2017 season.
JUST HOLD ON, WE'RE COMING HOME: San Diego State kicked off an eight-game homestand on Tuesday, beginning a homestand that is tied for the team's longest home-strech of the season, tied with SDSU's season-opening eight-game homestand. 11 of SDSU's next 12 games will be played at home.
GOOD IN ALL ASPECTS: San Diego State is one of just five teams in the country to have a batting average of .300 or higher, an ERA of 3.75 or lower, and a fielding percentage of .970 or higher, joined by only Arkansas, Texas Tech, Ole Miss, and Minnesota.
DOUBLING UP: Jordan Verdon is currently second in the nation with 18 doubles on the season and his teammate, Chase Calabuig, is not too far behind at 13th in the nation with 14. The combined doubles total between Verdon and Calabuig is tied for most in the nation between two teammates.
HIGHEST DOUBLE TOTAL BETWEEN TWO TEAMMATESJordan Verdon & Chase Calabuig, San Diego State - 32Bryston Stott & Max Smith, UNLV - 32David Villar & Duke Stunkel, South Florida - 27Nick Grande & Michael Wilson, Stony Brook - 26Grant Williams & Griffin Helms, Kennesaw St. - 25
MARCH MADNESS: Despite only having seven of its 18 games in March at home, the Aztecs enjoyed quite a bit of success over its March schedule, owning an 12-6 record for the month.
SDSU posted a .302 team batting average for the month while holding its opponents to a .250 mark. Julian Escobedo led the team with a .424 batting average for the month, going 25-for-59 at the plate. Jordan Verdon led the team with 15 extra-base hits and 24 RBI last month.
On the mound, SDSU was led by Garrett Hill, who recorded a 0.81 ERA in a 5-0 month. A pair of freshmen led the efforts coming out of the bullpen last month, with Casey Schmitt's 1.08 ERA and Casey O'Sullivan's 1.29 ERA last month being the best on the team. SDSU as a team posted a 3.55 ERA in March.
HOMEGROWN: The San Diego State roster features 10 players from San Diego. Collectively, San Diego natives have posted 65.5 percent of SDSU's 2018 hit total (226 of 345)
EXPERIENCE ON THE DIAMOND: Despite having a team of 15 freshmen -- the program's largest freshman class since 2011 -- the Aztecs have two of the most experienced players in the nation this year in Chase Calabuig, who is fourth among all DI players with 211 career games played, and Jacob Erickson, who leads all DI pitchers with 109 career pitching appearances. The Aztecs are the only team in the nation to have a player in the top five of both categories. Erickson recently set SDSU's program record in pitching appearances, while Calabuig is 24 games shy from setting the program's career games played record.
Games Played1 JJ Schwarz , Florida 2422 Ryan Chandler , Rice 2203 Gage Morey , FGCU 216T4 Chase Calabuig , San Diego St. 212T4 Gabe Snyder , Wright St. 212
Pitching Appearances1 Jacob Erickson , San Diego St. 1092 Cooper Hammond , Miami (FL) 1033 Dylan Moore , Louisiana 974 Seth Pinkerton , Hartford 975 Charlie Fletcher, WIlliam & Mary 95
FOUR OF FIVE: SDSU enters 2018 as the only team in DI baseball to have won four conference tournament championships in the last five years. The Aztecs look to make it five of six in 2018, and as an added bonus, SDSU will host the 2018 Mountain West Tournament from May 24 - 27.