Projected Starting Pitcher Matchups
Friday, Feb. 15 - 6:00 pm - Mountain West Network
USF: RHP Riley Ornido (8-5, 2.58 ERA)
SDSU: RHP Logan Boyer (0-0, 3.79 ERA)
Saturday, Feb. 16 - 6:00 pm
USF: LHP Grant Young (0-1, 3.12 ERA)
SDSU: RHP Harrison Pyatt (4-4, 4.68 ERA)
Sunday, Feb. 17 - 1:00 pm
USF: RHP Landen Bourassa (8-4, 3.02 ERA)
SDSU: RHP Brad Wegman (1-0, 0.00 ERA)
Aztec Storylines
BACK IN ACTION: Fresh off their fifth Mountain West Championship in the last six years, the San Diego State baseball team begins its 83rd season of play on Friday, welcoming the University of San Francisco for a three-game set.
Friday, the Aztecs will honor the 2018 Mountain West Championship team with a pregame ring ceremony. In addition, the first 250 fans will receive a free SDSU beach towel.
Friday night's game will be aired on the Mountain West Network. Links to live stats for each game are available on GoAztecs.com.
HISTORY WITH USF: The Aztecs enter this weekend with a 5-3 advantage in the all-time series with San Francisco. Most recently, the Aztecs defeated the Dons in 2017, 4-2. Seven of the eight all-time meetings have been played in San Diego.
PRESEASON FAVORITES: Mountain West head coaches named SDSU the preseason favorite in the conference, collecting four first-place votes and 32 overall points. SDSU also placed Casey Schmitt, Logan Boyer, and Julian Escobedo on the all-MW preseason team, leaving SDSU in a tie with Nevada for most selections on the preseason all-conference team. SDSU is preseason favorites for the first time since 2014, when SDSU was co-preseason favorites with New Mexico.
In addition, both D1Baseball.com and Baseball America have also projected SDSU to win the Mountain West.
CLASS OF THE MOUNTAIN WEST: In addition to winning their fifth conference crown in the last six years, SDSU led the conference in nearly every team pitching category last season including earned run average (4.03), opposing batting average (.253), strikeouts (467), wins (39), saves (19), hits allowed per nine innings (8.67), fewest runs allowed (291), fewest earned runs allowed (240), fewest extra-base hits allowed (125), fewest triples allowed (9), and fewest home runs allowed (26).
OPENING WEEKEND HISTORY: The Aztecs are 13-5 in the first weekend of the season since the start of the 2013 season, including a three-game sweep of UC Santa Barbara last season.
SUCCESS AT TONY GWYNN STADIUM: The Aztecs set a Tony Gwynn Stadium record (since 1997) with 25 home wins last season, besting the previous mark of 24 set in 1997, 2002, and 2014. Since the start of the 2012 season, the Aztecs are 131-86 (.604) when playing at home.
AGAINST THE WCC: Against the West Coast Conference, the Aztecs are 12-7 (.632) since Mark Martinez took over as head coach before the 2015 season.
PRESEASON ALL-AMERICAN CASEY SCHMITT: After a record-setting freshman season, sophomore RHP/IF Casey Schmitt was recognized as a preseason all-American by both the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (Second Team) and Collegiate Baseball Newspaper (Third Team). After setting SDSU's single-season ERA record (minimum 30 IP) at 0.28, Schmitt was the first Aztec to become a Baseball America First Team Freshman All-American since Stephen Strasburg did so in 2007.
Schmitt enters 2019 having thrown 25.1 scoreless innings and was the only player in the nation last season to have an ERA under 1.00 (minimum 15 IP) and drive in 30 or more runs at the plate. In the Mountain West Championships, Schmitt became the first freshman in the league to win Most Valuable Player since SDSU's Ty France did so in 2013.
THE NEW GUYS: SDSU has 14 newcomers for the 2019 season, split between 10 true freshmen, two graduate transfers, and two junior college transfers. Three freshmen in Brian Leonhardt (No. 9 LHP), Jaden Fein (No. 9 OF) and Noah Kaagan (No. 11 OF) rank inside the top 11 at their respective positions among class of 2018 California high school players. Leonhardt, although ranked as a pitcher, is expected to be SDSU's opening day first baseman.
SDSU also added a pair of graduate transfers from USC in Angelo Armenta and Brad Wegman. Armenta is expected to be the Aztecs starting shortstop, while Wegman will begin the year as SDSU's Sunday starter. Armenta recorded a career .239 average in 86 games for the Trojans, while Wegman logged a 5-6 record and 3.93 ERA over four years in Los Angeles. Wegman last season did not allow a run over 10 innings pitched before his season was cut limited due to injury.
Mike Jarvis, a transfer from Saddleback College, is expected to join the starting lineup after recording a career .297/.405/.399 slash line over two years in junior college. Jarvis also provides the Aztec lineup with some speed, having stolen 20 bases on 30 chances in his junior college career. Jacob Cruce also comes from the junior college ranks and led San Joaquin Delta College to a CCCAA state championship and 43-9 record after leading the team with 11 home runs.
REPLACING WHAT'S GONE: The Aztecs lost four position player starters -- all drafted by MLB teams -- and two pitchers who ranked near the top of the Mountain West. Chase Calabuig, SDSU's all-time games played leader and leading hitter last season was drafted in the 27th round by Oakland, while Jordan Verdon, the team's leader in home runs, extra-base hits, and RBIs a year ago, was picked by Detroit in the 23rd round. Starting shortstop David Hensley and starting catcher Dean Nevarez were picked up by Houston (26th round) and Seattle (19th round), respectively. 2018 Mountain West Co-Pitcher of the Year Garrett Hill was drafted by Detroit in the 26th round.
SDSU also lost the Mountain West's all-time pitching appearances leader, Jacob Erickson, who ended his career with 120 appearances. Erickson recorded a 2.37 ERA against Mountain West opponents -- good for the second-best mark among all qualified pitchers in the conference. Erickson, an all-MW second team honoree, also led the conference in strikeout-to-walk ratio.
2019 SCHEDULE: The 2019 schedule features four teams that are currently nationally ranked, including No. 3/8 Texas Tech who visits Tony Gwynn Stadium on March 5-6. The Aztecs visit defending national champion No. 8/10 Oregon State on April 2-3. SDSU has a weekend series at No. 25/NR Cal State Fullerton from April 12-13 and have a home-and-home with No. NR/25 UC Irvine, with the Anteaters visiting America's Finest City on Feb. 19 before SDSU makes the trip north on April 16.
The Aztecs play each of their first eight games and 16 of their first 20 games at home. After April, where the Aztecs have just four home games for the entire month, SDSU closes its regular season schedule with seven of its last 10 games at home. SDSU's weekend series at Cal State Fullerton is its only non-conference weekend on the road.
SDSU's 2019 schedule features 32 home games and 24 road games.
IN THE NATIONAL CONVERSATION: The Aztecs are one of 18 teams in the country to have reached a regional five times in the last six seasons and one of nine teams to have hit .300 or better in each of the last two seasons. SDSU is one of just three west coast programs to have played in five regionals since 2013, joined by only Oregon State and Cal State Fullerton.
Teams that have reached five regionals in the last six years: Arkansas, Cal State Fullerton, Clemson, Dallas Baptist, Florida, Florida State, Indiana, Louisville, LSU, Mississippi State, NC State, Oklahoma State, Ole Miss, Oregon State, Rice, San Diego State, Texas A&M, Vanderbilt
ONLY ONES: The Aztecs are the only team in the country to have won five conference tournament championships in the last six seasons.
GOOD IN ALL ASPECTS: The Aztecs were one of five teams in the country last season to have a batting average above .300, an ERA below 4.05, and a fielding percentage above .973 last season, joined by only Oregon State, New Mexico State, Ole Miss, and Minnesota.
CALIFORNIA LOVE: Since 2014, the Aztecs lead all Division I California programs in win total.
Team..........................Wins
San Diego State.........185
Cal State Fullerton.....184
Stanford.....................178
Sacramento State......170
Long Beach State......169
UC Santa Barbara.....168
SHUTTING THINGS DOWN: Heading into 2019, the Aztecs have won 85 consecutive games when leading after eight innings. The streak currently stands as one of the top five longest in the nation.
HOMEGROWN: 11 players on the SDSU roster are from San Diego County. Last season, San Diego natives accounted for 411 of SDSU's 632 hits (65 percent) while San Diego native pitchers combined for a 1.67 earned run average over 64.1 innings pitched.
Baseball Opens 2019 at Home Against San Francisco
