COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The San Diego State baseball team, winners of five of the last six Mountain West Championships, was picked to win the league by MW head coaches, the conference office announced Wednesday morning. Junior RHP Logan Boyer, sophomore IF/RHP Casey Schmitt, and junior OF Julian Escobedo were all named to the Mountain West Preseason All-Conference team.
SDSU finished last season with a 39-21 record before seeing the season come to a close in the Corvallis Regional last June. The Aztecs return five position player starters and 11 pitchers from last year's pitching staff and have been named preseason favorites for the first time since 2014, when the Aztecs were preseason co-favorites with New Mexico.
Boyer, SDSU's opening night starter, battled through an injury-filled season last year but finished the year with a team-best 12.79 strikeouts per nine innings over 19 innings pitched. Last week, Baseball America tabbed Boyer as the Mountain West Preseason Pitcher of the Year.
Escobedo is expected to be a focal point of the 2019 lineup after having a breakout sophomore campaign as the Aztecs starting centerfielder. A 2018 All-Mountain West Second Team honoree, Escobedo enters this season with a 24-game on-base streak and recorded a .450 on-base percentage in conference play, good for the sixth-highest mark among qualified hitters in the conference.
Schmitt adds the all-MW preseason nod in addition to a pair of preseason all-American nods, having been recognized as an NCBWA Preseason Second Team All-American and a Collegiate Baseball Preseason Third Team All-American already. In addition to serving as SDSU's starting third baseman, Schmitt was arguably the most dominant closer in the nation last season, posting a school-record 0.28 earned run average while posting nine saves after April 2nd to lead the country in the tail-end of the season. Last season, Schmitt became the first Aztec to earn Baseball America First Team Freshman All-American since Stephen Strasburg earned the honor in 2007.
Including dominating season on the mound in 2018, the Aztecs have led the Mountain West in earned run average back-to-back seasons. Last year, the Aztecs also led the league in 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).
SDSU also returns all-conference designated hitter Chad Bible, starting second baseman Jacob Maekawa, and starting left fielder Matt Rudick.
The Aztecs kick off the 2019 campaign this Friday at home against San Francisco at 6:00 p.m. The game can be watched live on the Mountain West Network.
2019 MOUNTAIN WEST BASEBALL PRESEASON COACHES POLL
Rank Team (1st-place votes) Points
1. San Diego State (4) 32
2. Nevada (2) 29
3. Fresno State (1) 28
4. UNLV 24
5. Air Force 14
6. New Mexico 12
7. San José State 8
2019 MOUNTAIN WEST BASEBALL PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
Name Class Position Institution
Nic Ready Sr. 1B Air Force
Zach Ashford Sr. OF Fresno State
Carter Bins Jr. C Fresno State
Kaleb Foster Sr. C Nevada
Jake Jackson So. RHP Nevada
Joshua Zamora So. 3B Nevada
Jared Mang Sr. OF New Mexico
Logan Boyer Jr. RHP San Diego State
Julian Escobedo Jr. OF San Diego State
Casey Schmitt So. RHP San Diego State
Andrew Mitchel Sr. LHP San José State
Max Smith Sr. OF UNLV
Bryson Stott Jr. SS UNLV
Baseball Picked as MW Preseason Favorites
