COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – For the fourth time this year, San Diego State's Jaden Fein has been named Mountain West Player of the Week after helping the Aztecs claim their eighth series victory in nine weeks at Fresno State, April 17-18.
After opening the season with three straight honors (Feb. 22-March 8), Fein's latest selection gives SDSU seven conference weekly awards thus far during the 2021 campaign, joining Wyatt Hendrie (March 22) and Mike Jarvis (March 29), while Troy Melton was named MW Pitcher of the Week on March 8.
In addition, Fein becomes the first non-pitcher in Mountain West history to garner four conference weekly accolades in the same season and the first baseball competitor since Fresno State hurler Edgar Gonzalez received conference Pitcher of the Week recognition on four occasions in 2018.
In three games vs. the Bulldogs this past weekend, Fein batted .600 (9-15) with one home run, three doubles, six RBIs and five runs scored. The Aztec right fielder led the team in hits (9), doubles (3), total bases (15) and slugging percentage (1.000) while sharing the top spot in RBIs, all which were recorded with two outs.
Fein capped his stellar weekend with a career-high six hits in six at-bats (1.000), helping SDSU to a big 21-14 victory in the series finale. In addition, he blasted a home run, totaled three RBIs and scored a collegiate-best five runs, as the Aztecs overcame a 14-5 deficit.
In that contest, Fein roped an RBI single and later scored during the Aztecs' eight-run outburst in the sixth that narrowed the gap to 14-13. The Simi Valley, California, native also doubled and crossed the plate with the tying run in the eighth before he singled and scored once again in the ninth during SDSU's seven-run uprising that clinched the victory.
Earlier in that game, Fein singled and scored in the first inning and later belted a two-run homer in the fifth, his second round-tripper of the year.
In the opener of a doubleheader on Saturday, Fein went 2-for-5 at the plate and tied for the team lead with three RBIs, which proved pivotal late in the game, as SDSU held on for a narrow 12-11 triumph. He hit a key two-run double on a 1-2 pitch with two outs during a four-run fourth, as the Aztecs vaulted in front at the time 5-3. In addition, Fein laced an RBI single with two outs in the first, which gave the Aztecs an early 1-0 lead.
Fein, who was named to the Golden Spikes Award Midseason Watch List on April 14, notched an extra-base hit in all three games vs. Fresno State, including a double in Saturday's nightcap.
With his performance against the Bulldogs, Fein extended his hitting streak to 11 games to match a season high and has reached base safely in 16 consecutive outings.
For the season, Fein leads the Mountain West in batting average (.475), hits (57), RBIs (41) and on-base percentage (.526) while sharing the top spot with 13 doubles. He also occupies the third spot in conference with a .633 slugging percentage and ranks fourth with 30 runs scored.
Not to be outdone, Fein leads the nation in batting average and hits per game (2.04) as of April 18, while his 57 hits are tied for third. In addition, he ranks seventh in the country in RBIs per game (1.46), while his RBI total of 41 is tied for 10th.
After the Fresno State series, San Diego State leads the nation with a .339 team batting average and a scoring average of 9.3 runs per game.
The Aztecs will step out of conference this weekend when they play host to Dixie State in a three-game series, April 24-25, at Tony Gwynn Stadium.