COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – San Diego State's Jaden Fein captured his third straight Mountain West Player of the Week honor, while Troy Melton garnered conference Pitcher of the Week accolades after helping the Aztecs to a series victory over Fresno State, March 6-7, to open league play.
With his selection, Fein becomes the first non-pitcher in MW history to win three consecutive conference weekly awards and the first baseball competitor to accomplish the feat since former Aztec legend Stephen Strasburg merited Pitcher of the Week recognition on five straight occasions from April 12-May 14, 2008.
In addition, Melton collected the second MW weekly honor of his career, giving SDSU an outright sweep of the conference weekly baseball awards for the 15th time since the league's inception in 2000.
Against the Bulldogs, Fein maintained his hot bat with multiple hits in all three games, leading the Aztecs with a .750 batting average, nine hits, seven RBIs and a .786 on-base percentage while sharing the top spot with 10 total bases.
With his effort, Fein raised his batting average nearly 60 points from a stellar .529 pace to an even loftier .587 clip, which leads the Mountain West. In addition, the SDSU right fielder was a perfect 6-6 with runners in scoring position during the series and went 4-4 in two-out situations. He also had an 87.5 success rate in advancing runners (7-8) and further demonstrated his clutch hitting, with four of his seven RBIs occurring with two outs.
In Saturday's doubleheader split, Fein went a combined 5-for-9 at the plate with five RBIs and two runs scored. The Aztec redshirt sophomore opened with a 3-for-4 performance and added an RBI before returning in the nightcap with a pair of two-run singles in the same inning, as the Scarlet and Black erupted for 11 runs in the second, sending 16 batters to the plate en route to the huge 17-0 shutout.
In the series finale on Sunday, Fein went 4-for-4 with two RBIs, propelling SDSU to a 12-7 triumph. In the fifth inning of that contest, he delivered an RBI single during a key five-run outburst that put the Aztecs up for good.
For the season, Fein has 27 hits and 21 RBIs overall, which both lead the nation as of March 7.
Not to be outdone, Melton improved to 2-0 on the year after his tossing his first career complete-game shutout in the Aztecs' whitewash of Fresno State in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader.
The SDSU right-hander matched his collegiate-best with nine strikeouts against four hits and one walk in the victory, shrinking his season ERA from 5.79 to 3.31 with the performance. He also lowered opponent season batting average from .206 to .193.
Making his third start of the year, Melton gave up all four hits with the bases empty and allowed just one runner to advance to third throughout the game. The Aztec redshirt sophomore finished strong, posting three of his strikeouts in the seventh and final inning to complete the shutout.
San Diego State (7-3, 2-1 MW) returns to the diamond this weekend when it plays host UNLV in a three-game series, March 13-14, at Tony Gwynn Stadium. The Aztecs and Rebels will square off in a doubleheader on Saturday before wrapping up the set with a single game on Sunday.