May 22, 2018
Baseball Notes vs. San Jose State
MW Championship Bracket
Ticket Information
San Diego State hosts the Mountain West Baseball Championships from May 24-27 at Tony Gwynn Stadium. SDSU takes on UNLV in the Mountain West Championships semifinal tonight at 6:00 p.m.
NEWS AND NOTES
ON THE AIR: All Mountain West Baseball Championship games will be aired on the Mountain West Network. Fox Sports San Diego XTRA 1360 will also pick up broadcasts of San Diego State's games in the tournament with Judson Richards and Jon Schaeffer on the call. Links to listen, watch, and follow along with live stats are available on GoAztecs.com.
MW CHAMPIONSHIP HISTORY: San Diego State clinched its spot in the 2018 Mountain West Baseball Tournament against San Jose State two weeks ago, giving the Aztecs its 18th consecutive season with a postseason tournament and 20th postseason tournament in the last 21 years.
SDSU is 47-30 (.610) all-time in the Mountain West Tournament, good for the most tournament wins and best tournament winning percentage among all active MW members.
SDSU is 20-6 in the MW tournament over the last five years and is the only team in DI baseball to have won four conference tournament championships in the last five years.
KICKING THINGS OFF: SDSU has won each of its last two tournament-opening games and are 10-7 all-time in the first round of the Mountain West Championships.
AGAINST THE FIELD: San Diego State posted a 10-5 record against its MW Championship counterparts in Nevada, San Jose State, and UNLV. The Aztecs outscored its opponents 121-76 over those 15 games.
THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN Tony Gwynn STADIUM AND EVERYWHERE ELSE IN THE MW: Tony Gwynn Stadium has proven to be the most pitcher-friendly stadium in the Mountain West, as Mountain West hitters have hit just .246 at Tony Gwynn Stadium, where hitters at the other six MW ballparks have hit a collective .316 -- a full .070-point difference.
Only 8.2 percent of Mountain West home runs were hit at Tony Gwynn Stadium this regular season (14 of 171 total). For comparison, Tony Gwynn Stadium hosted 15.4 percent of regular-season Mountain West games in 2018.
On average, games at Tony Gwynn Stadium will see 8.1 combined runs per game, while the average at the other six Mountain West home facilities averaged a collective 12.6 runs per game.
Despite the pitcher-centric focus of Tony Gwynn Stadium, the Aztecs have outhit its conference opponents .270 - .222 at home this season. Chase Calabuig is hitting .397 at home against MW opponents this season.
The pitching staff has made the most of its home field advantage this season, owning a 2.88 staff ERA on home soil in conference play. The Aztec bullpen has especially been good this season, owning a 2.56 ERA.
Overall, SDSU is 22-10 at Tony Gwynn Stadium this season.
HOW WE FINISHED: SDSU finished the regular season 14-6 in its final 20 games, with four of those losses having come by two runs or less.
The Aztecs are hitting .315 as a team over the last 20 games, led by Chase Calabuig's .410 mark. The Aztecs have also outscored its opponents 135-90 over its last 20 games and are averaging 6.75 runs per game.
Jordan Verdon leads the team with seven home runs and 25 RBIs over the team's last 20 games.
FEATS OF Chase Calabuig: Senior Chase Calabuig is ending his collegiate career in style for his senior season, leading the Aztecs with a .397 batting average in conference play and leading the MW with 51 conference hits.
Against SJSU two weeks ago, Calabuig extended his on-base streak in home games to 51, extending the Tony Gwynn stadium record.
Calabuig recorded his 250th career hit on Sunday, becoming the fourth player in Aztec history to reach that mark. Calabuig had a 12-game hitting streak snapped on Saturday at Nevada, ending a 12-game stretch where he hit .524 (22-for-42) with 17 runs, four doubles, two triples, and a home run. Calabuig leads SDSU with 28 multi-hit games this season.
Calabuig is three games shy of tying SDSU's all-time games played record and has started in 120 consecutive games. Having played in 233 career games, he's missed just eight games in his entire four-year career.
In addition to being three games away from tying the games played record, Calabuig is 12th in Aztec history with 11 triples, sixth with 360 total bases, fourth with 52 hits, eighth with 159 runs, third with 836 at bats, and seventh with 112 walks.
Calabuig is one of just three players in Aztec histroy to have 150 or more runs scored and 250 or more hits, joined by Bobby Meacham and Jake McLintock.
UNSCHMITTABLE: Since taking over the closer's role on April 2, Casey Schmitt leads the country with nine saves since the start of April and owns the lowest ERA by an Aztec in the Mountain West era (minimum 10 IP) at 0.31.
Schmitt currently rides a 22.2 consecutive scoreless inning streak (longest by an Aztec this season), with his last run allowed coming against CSU Bakersfield on March 20 (both runs in that outing were unearned). Schmitt enters this weekend having not allowed an earned run in over two calendar months, with his last coming at Cal Poly on March 17.
Schmitt, who has solidified himself as one of the best two-way players in the nation as just a freshman, is the only freshman in the country to have driven in 25 or more runs at the plate while owning an ERA under 2.00 (minimum 15 IP). Schmitt is one of just two players in the country to have 25 or more RBIs while owning an ERA below 1.00 (minimum 15 IP), joined by only Duke senior Jack Labosky (36 RBI, 0.87 ERA in 31.0 IP).
Against Mountain West opponents, Schmitt owns a perfect 0.00 ERA over 10 appearances and 15.2 innings pitched. MW opponents have yet to score a run off Schmitt, who has held opposing MW hitters to a .120 batting average (6-for-50).
GOOD IN ALL ASPECTS: SDSU is one of six teams in the nation to have a batting average above .300 and an ERA below 4.00, joined by only No. 2 Oregon State, N. 4 Ole Miss, No. 8 Arkansas, No. 14 Southern Miss, and UNC Greensboro.
GOOD PITCHING: SDSU enters the weekend with a 3.98 earned run average, good for the best single-season ERA since 2007 when the team posted a 3.97 ERA. Including this year, SDSU has owned the Mountain West's best ERA in three of the last five seasons. SDSU's 3.98 ERA is the best in the MW since Fresno State posted a 3.72 staff ERA in 2016.
FINISHING STRONG: SDSU enters this weekend having won 83 consecutive games when leading after eight innings, good for one of the top five longest active streaks in the country.
30-WIN MARK: With SDSU's 31st win on against UC Riverside on May 1, the Aztecs are the only Mountain West program to have more than 30 wins in five of the last six seasons.
AMONG THE NATIONAL/CONFERENCE LEADERS: In addition to being the Mountain West leader in earned run average (3.98), WHIP (1.36) and hits allowed per nine innings (8.75), SDSU ranks among the top of the nation in numerous statistical categories.
- SDSU's .305 batting average is 11th best in the nation.
- SDSU's 53 double plays turned are 13th most in the nation- SDSU's 119 doubles are the 12th most in the nation- SDSU's 590 total hits are sixth most in the nation- SDSU's .449 team slugging percentage is 33rd best in the nation- Jordan Verdon and Chase Calabuig are third and 2nd in the country with 26 and 20 doubles, respectively.- Chase Calabuig is 25th in the nation in total hits (81).- Jordan Verdon is 18th in the nation with 61 runs batted in and 17th in the nation with 140 total bases.- Casey Schmitt is 50th in the country with nine saves.- Chase Calabuig is 12th in the nation and leads the Mountain West with five triples.
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 230 career games played, and Jacob Erickson, who leads all DI pitchers with 117 career pitching appearances. The Aztecs are the only team in the nation to have a player in the top five of both categories. Erickson set SDSU's program record in pitching appearances earlier this season and is also the Mountain West all-time leader, while Calabuig is three games shy of tying the program's career games played record (currently owned by Tim Zier's 236 games played (2011-14).
Games Played1 JJ Schwarz , Florida 2622 Ryan Chandler , Rice 2403 Gage Morey , FGCU 2344 Chase Calabuig , San Diego St. 2335 Gabe Snyder , Wright St. 232
Pitching Appearances1 Jacob Erickson , San Diego St. 1172 Cooper Hammond , Miami (FL) 1103 Seth Pinkerton, Hartford 106T4 Charlie Fletcher, William & Mary 105T4 Seth Kinker, Ohio St. 105