Game Week Preview
Brittain Resorts Baseball by the Beach Tournament
Springs Brooks Stadium | Conway, S.C.
San Diego State vs. Virginia Tech
Friday, Feb. 14 | 11 a.m. ET/8 a.m. PT
Series Record: First meeting
SDSU: Michael Paredes, RHP (3-3, 5.29 ERA, 51.0 IP); VT: TBA
San Diego State at Coastal Carolina
Saturday, Feb. 15 | 3 p.m. ET/Noon PT
Series Record: First meeting
SDSU: Troy Melton, RHP (0-0, 6.75 ERA, 2.2 IP); CCU: Scott Kobos, LHP (2-2, 6.04 ERA, 28.1 IP)
San Diego State vs. UNC Greensboro
Sunday, Feb. 16 | 11 a.m. ET/8 a.m. PT | Live Stats
Series Record: First meeting
SDSU: Aaron Eden, RHP (4-2, 4.01 ERA, 74.0 IP); UNCG: TBA
AZTECS TO OPEN 2020 CAMPAIGN AT COASTAL CAROLINA TOURNAMENT
> San Diego State opens its 84th season of baseball competition this weekend when it travels to the Palmetto State for the Brittain Resorts Baseball by the Beach event, Feb. 14-16, in Conway, South Carolina.
> The three-day classic will be held at Springs Brooks Stadium on the campus of Coastal Carolina University.
> The Aztecs will battle Virginia Tech on Friday at 11 a.m. ET/8 a.m. PT before meeting the host Chanticleers on Saturday at 3 p.m. ET/Noon PT. SDSU will wrap up its season-opening excursion on Sunday when it squares off against UNC Greensboro, starting at 11 a.m. ET/8 a.m. PT.
> All three games this weekend will include live stats, with Saturday's clash vs. Coastal Carolina featuring a pay-per-view live stream via the Chanticleer Sports Network.
SETTING THE SCENE
> San Diego State returns 19 letterwinners from last year's squad that finished with a 32-25 overall record and a 16-13 mark in the Mountain West. The Aztecs welcome back five starting position players and two starting pitchers.
> SDSU has captured five of the last seven MW tournament championships and is the only team in the league to have won 30 or more games six times in the last seven years.
> The Aztecs were pegged for a first-place finish in the 2020 MW preseason coaches poll, attaining the status of conference favorites for the second year in a row.
> Leading the list of returners is junior Casey Schmitt, a consensus preseason All-American who additionally earned a spot on USA Baseball's Golden Spikes Award Watch List. Last year, the Aztec third baseman/relief pitcher was a second-team all-MW honoree after receiving freshman All-America recognition in 2018 from Collegiate Baseball magazine.
> Also back in the mix are 2019 all-Mountain West selections Matt Rudick (first team) and Mike Jarvis (second-team), as well as Jaden Fein, who was named the league's Co-Freshman of the Year last season to go with freshman All-America distinction.
> The Aztecs were ranked 31st in Collegiate Baseball's Fabulous 40 Preseason Poll and have received votes in the NCBWA Top 25 Preseason Poll.
SERIES RECORDS
> All three Aztecs opponents at this weekend's event will be first-time adversaries.
> SDSU is 3-6 against the Atlantic Coast Conference, including a 7-6 come-from-behind victory over Notre Dame in the finale of the Tony Gwynn Classic on Feb. 25, 2017. The Aztecs are also 2-4 against NC State and 0-2 vs. Virginia.
> The Scarlet and Black sports a 4-3 mark against Sun Belt Conference foes. SDSU fell short in its last meeting against an opponent from that league on May 31, 2014, when it was eliminated from the NCAA Lafayette Regional with a 9-2 loss to host Louisiana. The Aztecs have played just two other Sun Belt members at game time in program history - Western Kentucky (0-2) and South Alabama (2-2).
> Similarly, SDSU has faced just two teams representing the Southern Conference but nonetheless boast unblemished marks against Western Carolina (3-0) and The Citadel (1-0). The Aztecs swept the Catamounts in a late-season road trip in 2011.
FOR OPENERS
> San Diego State has a record of 52-28-1 in season openers dating back to 1936 (SDSU did not field a team from 1943-45) Since attaining Division I status in 1969, the Aztecs are 31-17 in their annual debuts.
> SDSU has won its last three season openers - San Francisco (2019), UC Santa Barbara (2018) and Pacific (2017) - giving the Scarlet and Black a 5-5 mark in its last 10 lid-lifters.
> When opening the season at home, SDSU sports a record of 18-11 in the Division 1 era and a 13-9 ledger when beginning the year on the road. Friday's clash will mark the Aztecs' first neutral site clash in 51 years at the Division I level.
> The Aztecs will play their season opener away from Tony Gwynn Stadium for the first time since 2014, when they won two of three games in a weekend series at San José State.
WEEKEND ROTATION
> San Diego State's pitching rotation for the first weekend of the 2020 campaign will have sophomore Michael Paredes starting the season opener on Friday vs. Virginia Tech.
> Paredes started five games in 17 appearances on the mound during his freshman season in 2019, compiling a 3-3 record and a 5.29 ERA in 51.0 innings. He ranked third on the team with 56 strikeouts, walking just 19 batters.
> Fellow classmate Troy Melton will get the call on Saturday vs. Coastal Carolina, with another sophomore Aaron Eden set to wrap up the trip with a start in Sunday's contest vs. UNC Greensboro.
> Eden made 12 starts in 18 appearances during his rookie campaign, notching a 4-2 record with a 4.01 ERA and 41 strikeouts. He allowed one earned run or less in seven starts.
SCHMITT NAMED TO GOLDEN SPIKES AWARD WATCH LIST
> Junior Casey Schmitt added to his already lengthy list of preseason accolades on Feb. 13 when he earned a spot on the USA Baseball's Golden Spikes Award Watch List, beginning the process of identifying the nation's top amateur player for the 2020 season.
> With his nomination, Schmitt becomes the fourth Aztec player since 2008 to land on the preseason Golden Spikes Award Watch List, joining Michael Cederoth (2014), Addison Reed (2010) and Stephen Strasburg, who took home the top prize in 2009. In addition, Tyler Adkison landed on the GSA mid-season watch list in 2017.
> In addition, Schmitt enters the 2020 campaign with four preseason All-America honors, including three second-team plaudits from Collegiate Baseball, D1Baseball.com and Perfect Game and a third-team honor from Baseball America.
> As SDSU's starting third baseman in 2019, Schmitt finished second on the team with a .315 batting average, adding eight doubles, five home runs and 36 RBI to merit second-team all-Mountain West distinction. He also appeared in 21 games with four starts as a pitcher, posting a 3-3 record and a 3.77 ERA in 43.0 innings to go with a team-high eight saves.
> In 2018, Schmitt was a consensus freshman All-American, setting an Aztec single-season record with a 0.28 ERA (min. 30 IP) while allowing just one earned run in 32 innings pitched. He also posted a .264 batting average with one home run and 32 RBI, finishing the year as one of only two players nationally to maintain a 2.00 ERA or lower (min. 15 IP) and drive in more than 30 runs.
SCHMITT, RUDICK LAND ON PRESEASON ALL-MOUNTAIN WEST TEAM
> Aztec juniors Casey Schmitt and Matt Rudick each earned on spot on the preseason all-Mountain West team announced on Feb. 11.
> Rudick garnered first-team all-conference accolades in 2019 after leading SDSU in several categories, including batting average (.320), total bases (95), hits (77) and runs scored (48), serving as the team's leadoff hitting throughout the year.
> Additionally, the Aztec outfielder topped the squad with 18 multi-hit games and reeled off a team-high 21-game hitting streak. The Scripps Ranch High alumnus was also the toughest player in the Mountain West to strike out last season, fanning just once per 12.1 at-bats which was good for 25th nationally.
VETERAN HONOREES
> Not to be outdone, San Diego State also returns outfielders Mike Jarvis (.289, 5 HR, 8 2B, 30 RBI), who was a second-team all-MW selection as a junior last season, and Jaden Fein (.293, 4 HR, 11 2B, 20 RBI), who collected league Co-Freshman of the Year distinction to go with Freshman All-America honors from Collegiate Baseball magazine.
> In addition, Brian Leonhardt (.272, 1 HR, 14 2B, 34 RBI) is back in the mix after leading the Aztecs with a team-high .389 batting average with runners in scoring position and topping the squad with 16 two-out RBIs. He also occupied the fourth spot with multiple RBIs in seven games and ranked fifth with 16 multi-hit performances.
NEWCOMERS AMONG STARTERS
> A pair of junior college transfers and one true freshman are expected to make their SDSU debuts on Friday.
> Wyatt Hendrie will likely start at catcher after earning all-state honors by the California Community College Baseball Coaches Association (CCCBA) at Antelope Valley College in 2019. In his lone season with the Marauders, he led the team in several categories, including batting average (.410), hits (59) runs (32), RBIs (26), doubles (10) and triples (10).
> Hendrie was a 10th-round selection by the Chicago Cubs in the 2019 MLB First-Year Player Draft.
> At shortstop, Anthony Walters is expected to step in after arriving from Mt. San Antonio College, where he earned first-team all-state honors from the CCCBCA on the strength of a .374 batting average in 45 games with 10 home runs and 62 RBIs.
> Caden Miller is expected to get the starting nod at second base after graduating from Bishop Alemany High School in Mission Hills, California near Los Angeles. He was a two-time all-conference selection who finished with career-highs in batting average (.329), runs scored (29), stolen bases (21) and doubles (9) during his senior season.
> Miller was listed as the Mountain West preseason freshman of the year in several publications, including D1Baseball.com.
> Overall, the Aztecs' recruiting class for 2019 was ranked 20th nationally by Perfect Game.
AZTECS TABBED PRESEASON MOUNTAIN WEST FAVORITES
> For the second straight season, San Diego State baseball team was picked first in the Mountain West preseason coaches poll, as announced Feb. 11 by the conference office.
> Collectively, SDSU received 46 points and four first-place votes, edging second-place Fresno State (42 pts, 2 first-place votes), while Nevada (38 pts, 2 first-place votes) was predicted to finish third, followed by fourth-place UNLV (34 pts). Rounding out the remainder of the poll were New Mexico (5th, 23 pts), Air Force (T-6th, 17 pts), San José State (T-6th) and Boise State (8th, 7 pts).
> The Aztecs were also predicted to finish first prior to the 2014 campaign.
HEAD COACH MARK MARTINEZ
> Mark Martinez begins his sixth season as head coach of the Aztecs and 15th overall as a member of the San Diego State staff after succeeding the late Tony Gwynn on August 20, 2014. He is just the fifth head coach in SDSU history since baseball was elevated to major sport status in 1936.
> During his tenure as the Aztecs' head coach, Martinez has compiled a 175-128 record (.578), highlighted by three Mountain West tournament championships in 2015, 2017 and 2018. He has also posted an 84-64 ledger (.568) in conference regular-season games.
> Since 2015, SDSU has garnered 27 all-Mountain West accolades under Martinez's tutelage, including back-to-back MW Pitchers of the Year Brett Seeburger (2017) and Garrett Hill (2018), as well as 2017 MW Player of the Year Danny Sheehan.
> Additionally, Martinez has mentored three freshman All-Americans in Chase Calabuig (2015), Casey Schmitt (2018) and Jaden Fein (2019), with the latter also receiving Mountain West Co-Freshman of the Year distinction last year.
> In 2017, Martinez recorded his 100th victory for the Scarlet and Black, becoming the fastest head coach in program history to reach the century mark in wins.
> Not to be outdone, Martinez also became the fastest head coach in Mountain West history to win three conference championships when the Aztecs captured the title in 2018.
> Martinez was hired as an assistant coach for the Aztecs in July of 2005 and served for nine years under head coach Tony Gwynn. During that time, he was promoted to the position of associate head coach.
> Since his arrival on The Mesa as an assistant coach, Martinez has witnessed 42 SDSU players get drafted into the professional ranks, with eight of those selections making the major leagues (Stephen Strasburg, Addison Reed, Justin Masterson, Bruce Billings, Quintin Berry, Lance Zawadzki, Greg Allen and Ty France).
> Prior to his arrival at San Diego State, Martinez was an assistant coach at New Mexico for 17 seasons from 1989-2005. During his time as a hitting and infield coach, he helped develop the Lobos into one of the most prominent offensive teams in the country, with UNM ranking among the top 11 nationally in hitting over his final four seasons.
> Martinez served as an assistant at his alma mater, Mesa State College (now Colorado Mesa University) in Grand Junction, Colorado, from 1984-88. He played shortstop at the school from 1982-84, earning all-conference and all-district honors as a senior.
> Martinez graduated from Mesa State with a bachelor's degree in physical education in 1984 and completed his master's in sports administration at New Mexico in 1990.
Aztecs Set For Season Openers This Weekend
