SAN DIEGO – San Diego State hits the road for the first time in over three weeks when it heads north to Silicon Valley to battle San José State in a three-game Mountain West series, March 18-20, at Excite Ballpark in San Jose, California.
Friday's opener is slated to begin at 6 p.m., while Saturday's clash is set for a 2 p.m. start, followed by Sunday's finale, which gets underway at noon.
Live stats will be available throughout the weekend, with Sunday's finale featuring a live stream via the Mountain West Network. Links to both platforms can be found on GoAztecs.com.
Both squads will be looking to put the brakes on their respective four-game losing streaks. SDSU (4-12, 0-3 MW) dropped all three encounters to UNLV at Tony Gwynn Stadium in its first Mountain West action of the season, March 11-13, before falling short to Iowa by a 6-4 count on Tuesday to wrap up a season-long 12-game homestand.
Similarly, the Spartans (9-8, 2-4 MW) suffered a three-game sweep at the hands of Nevada last weekend in Reno before falling to California, 17-5 at home on March 15.
San Diego State's Troy Melton (0-0, 0.00 ERA) is scheduled to make his second consecutive start on Friday, while fellow right-hander Kelena Sauer (1-2, 3.80 ERA) is projected to get the call on Saturday, followed by left-hander TJ Fondtain (1-2, 2.95 ERA), who is slated to make his fourth start of the season on Sunday.
Entering the weekend, the Aztec pitching staff leads the Mountain West in strikeouts (172) and ranks second in both ERA (4.68) and opposing team batting average (.251).
Through four starts, Sauer occupies the second spot in the conference with 26 strikeouts and ranks seventh with a 3.80 ERA and a .244 opposing batting average, while Fondtain finds himself among the league leaders in ERA (5th, 2.95) and strikeouts (9th, 15).
Offensively, SDSU sports four regulars who are hitting .300 or better for the season, including Cole Carrigg (.346), who ranks 10th in the conference in that statistic and shares the team lead in hits (18) with Caden Miller (.300, 11 BB). In addition, Tyler Glowacki and Poncho Ruiz are both hitting .304 and are tied for seventh in the MW with 10 walks apiece.
Ruiz has reached base safely in all but the first game for the Aztecs, while Miller leads the team with multiple hits in six games, followed by Carrigg (5) and Glowacki (4).
In addition to his batting average, Glowacki tops all SDSU newcomers with 14 hits and a .439 on-base percentage. Earlier this month, the Santana High School alumnus collected MW Freshman of the Week honors on March 7.
In all, the Aztecs have had 19 of 37 players made their initial appearances in a Scarlet and Black uniform this season, including 10 true freshmen.
Meanwhile, SJSU's projected rotation this weekend includes right-hander Jonathan Clark (0-1, 6.48 ERA), lefty Ethan Ross (0-1, 10.13 ERA) and right-hander Aaron Eden (0-0, 11.57 ERA), a former Aztec who compiled a 7-3 record and 4.47 ERA in three seasons on The Mesa from 2019-21, when he combined for 74 strikeouts in 114 2/3 innings.
The Spartans have been paced by sophomore utility player Charles McAdoo, who finds himself among the MW leaders in several categories this week, including batting average (4th, .394), on-base percentage (5th, .494), RBIs (T-5th, 15), slugging percentage (6th, .606), doubles (T-7th, 5), home runs (T-7th) and runs scored (T-8th, 14).
Additionally, fellow classmate Hunter Dorraugh tops the conference with seven home runs and ranks second in slugging percentage (.621) while tying for fifth in RBIs (15). Elsewhere, SJSU has received a boost from outfielder Robert Hamchuck (.345), who is tied for fourth in the MW with 25 hits and four homers while occupying the 10th spot in slugging percentage (.547).
Collectively, the Spartans lead the league with 20 home runs but have landed in the second position this week with 153 strikeouts.
San Diego State holds a sizable 84-33 lead in the all-time series, which dates back to 1938. The Aztecs' 51-game advantage in head-to-head meetings vs. the Spartans ranks as the fourth-largest spread against a single opponent in program history behind Air Force (116-31), Utah (104-35) and UC Santa Barbara (84-29-1).
SDSU is 46-13 against San José State in San Diego and 33-20 in Silicon Valley. In addition, the Aztecs have won all five meetings vs. the Spartans on a neutral field. Since SJSU joined the Mountain West during the 2013-14 academic year, San Diego State is 32-7 vs. the Spartans, capturing all 12 series played between the two teams and winning three conference tournament games.
The Aztecs have not lost a three-game series to SJSU since suffering a road sweep in May 1999 during San Diego State's last season in the Western Athletic Conference.
Last year, the Aztecs won five of six meetings against the Spartans, including a three-game sweep at Tony Gwynn Stadium, May 8-9, 2021. SDSU opened its home series vs. San José State with a big 17-3 run-rule victory in seven innings in game one of a twin bill, followed by a 10-6 triumph in the nightcap. The Scarlet and Black wrapped up the series the next day with an 8-3 win, scoring all of its runs in the sixth and seventh innings to complete the sweep.
During Mark Martinez's seven-year tenure as head coach on The Mesa, SDSU sports a 27-5 record vs. San José State, including a 14-2 mark at home, an 11-3 ledger on the road and a 2-0 record at a neutral park.
Following this weekend's Bay Area excursion, San Diego State will battle UC San Diego in a single game on Tuesday, March 22, at Triton Ballpark in La Jolla, California. The Aztecs-Tritons clash will usher in the newly dubbed "Trolley Series" between the two squads, with three additional meetings slated for this spring.
Aztecs Travel to San José State This Weekend
