Projected Starting Pitcher Matchup
Tuesday, April 9 - 6:00 p.m. PT - XTRA 1360
SDSU: RHP Aaron Eden (1-0, 3.21 ERA)
LMU: LHP Mark Finkelnburg (0-2, 7.88 ERA)
BACK HOME: San Diego State returns to Tony Gwynn Stadium after a five-game spring break road trip at Oregon State and Nevada last week to host Loyola Marymount at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday.
The game will air live on XTRA 1360, with Judson Richards on Jon Schaeffer on the call.
LAST TIME OUT AGAINST LMU: The Aztecs fell to Loyola Marymount in Los Angeles, 5-1, on March 19. The loss for SDSU snapped their season-best four-game winning streak. Jaden Fein hit his first career home run in the loss.
The Aztecs lead the all-time series, 67-42 and have won four of the last six meetings. SDSU has won three consecutive home games against the Lions, with the last home loss coming on March 8, 2008 (7-2).
RECAPPING THE NEVADA SERIES: San Diego State rebounded from a series-opening 8-7 walk-off loss on Friday to win the series with a 6-2 win on Saturday and an 11-3 win on Sunday. The Aztecs have won two of their last three series in Reno after having lost each of their first four series in the all-time series.
Julian Escobedo led the offense in the series, hitting a team-best .462 (6-for-13) while Brian Leonhardt drove in a team-high six runs and hit .455 (5-for-11).
The SDSU bullpen allowed four earned runs in 12.2 innings pitched for a 2.84 ERA for the series.
SDSU hit .333 with runners in scoring position for the series while the Aztec pitching staff held the Wolf Pack to just a .207 average in the same situation.
A BREAK FROM MW PLAY: The Aztecs begin a stretch of five consecutive non-conference games on Tuesday and are 11-8 in non-conference play. Five of SDSU's non-conference games have been against nationally ranked opponents.
Matt Rudick and Casey Schmitt lead the team with non-conference batting averages of .346 and .344, respectively. Brian Leonhardt is averaging nearly an RBI per non-conference game with a team-best 18 runs batted in. Rudick has recorded a hit in each of his last 11 non-conference games.
ADRIAN MARDUENO - COLLEGIATE BASEBALL NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK & MOUNTAIN WEST PITCHER OF THE WEEK: Adrian Mardueno was named Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week and Mountain West Pitcher of the Week on Monday. Mardueno threw 11 shutout innings last week, split between appearances against defending national champion and No. 6/7-ranked Oregon State and Nevada.
The Upland, Calif. product allowed just three hits over his 11 innings last week, holding opposing hitters to a .091 batting average. Of the 36 batters Mardueno faced, only one reached third base.
Both of Mardueno's relief outings last week started in bases-loaded, no-out situations. The junior was able to strand five of a possible six inherited runners for the week and he earned the win in both SDSU' 4-3 win over Oregon State on Tuesday and SDSU's 11-3 win against Nevada on Sunday.
Mardueno turned in one of SDSU's most dominant outings of the season against the Beavers, throwing seven shutout innings while allowing just two hits against the defending national champions. Mardueno logged a streak of 4.2 consecutive innings without allowing a hit against the Beavers until allowing a two-out double in the ninth inning. The seven innings pitched marked a new career-high for the junior, who leads all active Aztecs with 70 career appearances.
Mardueno followed his performance against the Beavers with a dominating four-inning relief appearance against the Wolf Pack, allowing just one hit while striking out six. Mardueno finished his outing facing the minimum over his final nine batters faced on Sunday.
Mardueno, currently on a streak of 14.1 innings without allowing an earned run, leads the Mountain West in both earned run average (1.50), hits allowed per nine innings (4.00), and opponent batting average (.139). Mardueno is also 25th in the nation with his 1.50 ERA.
Mardueno is the first Aztec to win Mountain West Pitcher of the Year this season and he's the first Aztec since Jordan Verdon to win Collegiate Baseball National Player of the Week. Verdon won the honor twice during the 2018 season.
21-GAME STREAK FOR RUDICK: Matt Rudick had a 21-game hitting streak snapped last Friday, marking the third-longest hitting streak by an Aztec in the Mountain West era. Rudick's on-base streak is still intact and sitting at 26 games, the longest since Julian Escobedo had a 27-game streak snapped earlier this season.
Over Rudick's 21-game hitting streak, the sophomore hit a team-best .376 (35-for-93), with team-highs in extra-base hits (seven), RBIs (17) and doubles (five).
Longest SDSU hitting streaks since 2000:
Quintin Berry (2005) - 27
Mitch Blackburn (2010) - 23
Matt Rudick (2019) - 21
Cory Vaughn (2010) - 21
Tim Zier (2012) - 21
Steven Pallares (2015) - 21
ROAD TRIPPING: After playing each of their first eight, 16 of their first 18, and 21 of their first 27 at home, San Diego State is in the middle of a stretch where they will play nine of 10 on the road and only have six home games the entire month of March.
Due to SDSU's postponed games at Air Force in the beginning of March, the Aztecs and Falcons will play a five-game series on the weekend of April 18 -20. Dates and times are still to be determined.
WHERE WE RANK IN THE MW: The Aztecs are the only team in the Mountain West to be hitting .275 or better while having an ERA under 5.00.
The Aztecs rank second in the Mountain West with a 4.22 ERA and third with a .278 batting average.
SEEING DOUBLE: SDSU leads the nation with 38 double plays turned this season. Since the start of the 2017 season, SDSU's 164 double plays turned are the most among any team in the nation.
FIVE, IT'S A MAGIC NUMBER: SDSU is 51-9 in their last 60 games when scoring five or more runs.
REBOUNDING QUICKLY: SDSU is 40-12 in their last 50 games following a loss.
UNDER PRESSURE: SDSU is 27-14 in their last 41 one-run games.
MAKING THE MOST OF IT: Due to injuries on the pitching staff, SDSU has had to use 11 different starters during the 2019 season. SDSU's 11 different starters are tied for the most used in a season since 12 were used in the 2012 season. The Aztecs also had 10 different starting pitchers used in the 2017 and 2013 seasons.
All three of SDSU's opening weekend starters have not pitched in each of the last three weekend series and have not made an appearance since opening-day starter Logan Boyer threw 0.2 of an inning at CSUN on March 12.
Despite the wide variety of starters, the starting pitchers have combined for a 3.88 ERA this season.
STRIKEOUTS GALORE: SDSU has exceeded its 2018 total of 13 double-digit strikeout games, needing just 23 games this season to record 14 10+ strikeout games. The Aztecs are currently 29th in the country averaging 9.7 strikeouts per nine innings.
Despite having 24 games left on the regular season schedule, SDSU's 19 double-digit strikeout games are the most since the 2015 team recorded 20 10+ strikeout performances.
CALIFORNIA LOVE: Since 2014, the Aztecs lead all Division I California programs in win total. Also, over that span, SDSU is 99-49 (.669) when playing in-state counterparts.
Team Wins
San Diego State 203
Stanford 199
Cal State Fullerton 198
Sacramento State 191
UC Santa Barbara 191
Baseball to Host Loyola Marymount Tuesday
