COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – San Diego State's Troy Melton (Anaheim, Calif.) was named Mountain West Co-Pitcher of the Year, while outfielder Irvin Weems (Las Vegas, Nev.) shared the league's Freshman of the Year honor, as the conference announced its postseason awards on Thursday in advance of the MW Championship.
Joining Melton on the all-Mountain West first team was Cole Carrigg (Turlock, Calif.), while TJ Fondtain (Clovis, Calif.) garnered second-team accolades as a pitcher.
The postseason honors are voted on by the league's seven head coaches and take into account MW games only.
In likely his final season on The Mesa, Melton posted four of his five wins during conference play in 2022, leading the league with a 2.40 ERA while ranking second in strikeouts (62), third in opposing batting average (.246) and fourth in innings pitched (56.1). The Aztec right-hander also tied for fourth in victories and shared the eighth position in fewest walks allowed (15).
For all games, Melton topped the conference with a 2.07 ERA while occupying the second position in opposing batting average (.235), fewest hits allowed (57) and fewest walks allowed (15). The SDSU senior also ranked fourth in strikeouts (67) and ninth in innings pitched (65.1).
On April 22, Melton tossed the second complete game of his career in the Aztecs' 2-1 triumph over Grand Canyon, which entered the contest with a No. 30 ranking by Collegiate Baseball newspaper. For his efforts, the Anaheim, California, product received MW Pitcher of the Week recognition for the third time in a Scarlet and Black uniform. He also struck out a collegiate-best 11 batters vs. Air Force on May 6, the most by an SDSU hurler since Bubba Derby (2014).
With his honor, Melton garnered San Diego State's seventh MW Pitcher of the Year accolade since the league's inception in 2000, joining Garrett Hill (co-2019), Brett Seeburger (2017), Stephen Strasburg (2008-09), Bruce Billings (2005) and Scott Shoemaker (2004).
Similarly, Weems becomes the Aztecs' third conference Freshman of the Year honoree, along with Strasburg (co-2007) and Jaden Fein (co-2019).
Against MW competition, Weems tied for the league lead in stolen bases (17) while hitting .357 with three homers, six doubles, 18 RBIs and 20 runs scored.
A native of Las Vegas, Weems enjoyed a spectacular return to his hometown last weekend vs. UNLV, leading the Scarlet and Black in most statistical categories during a three-game series, including batting average (.692), hits (9) home runs (2), runs scored (5), RBIs (4), slugging percentage (1.231) and on-base percentage (.714) to go with a 3-for-3 effort in stolen bases.
For the season, Weems started 40 of 46 games in the outfield (37 CF, 3 RF), finishing second on the team in stolen bases and third in hitting (.293). His stolen base total was good for third in the Mountain West during the regular season, while his four sacrifice hits were tied for seventh.
In addition, Weems tied for third on the Aztecs with multiple RBIs in seven games and had two or more hits in 14 contests, which ranked fifth. He posted a six-game hitting streak from April 9-16, batting .458 (11-24) with eight stolen bases, seven RBIs and six runs scored in that span.
Carrigg, meanwhile, earned first-team all-MW honors for the first time in his career, meriting such distinction as an infielder. During the 2022 conference slate, the SDSU sophomore topped the squad with a .423 batting average and 52 hits, which ranked second and third in the league, respectively. He also notched a team-high 27 RBIs to go with 15 stolen bases, the latter of which was good for third in the MW.
For the season, Carrigg led the team in numerous categories, including batting average (.388), hits (83), doubles (15), total bases (109), RBIs (40), slugging percentage (.509), on-base percentage (.426) and stolen bases (19). Additionally, the Turlock, California, product found himself among the MW leaders in steals (2nd), sacrifice bunts (T-3rd, 5), batting average (4th) and hits (T-6th).
On April 15, Carrigg became just the second Aztec player in the last six seasons to record six hits in a single game (Jaden Fein - 2021) when he notched a career-high 6-for-6 effort in the second game of a weekend series at New Mexico.
Not to be outdone, Carrigg led the Scarlet and Black with multiple hits in 26 games, accomplishing the feat in 15 of his last 22 starts. He also topped the squad with multiple RBIs in 12 contests, highlighted by the aforementioned performance vs. the Lobos, where he set a collegiate best with four runs driven in.
Carrigg hit safely in 28 of his final 31 starts of the season, including a team-best 16 consecutive games from April 22-May 20. Since April 1, he hit .448 (57-127) with 27 RBIs, 23 runs scored and 14 stolen bases, raising his season batting average from .299 to .388 in that stretch.
Rounding out the list of all-MW honorees for SDSU is Fondtain, who received second-team distinction in his first year as a starting pitcher. Against league competition, the Aztec left-hander finished second in the conference with a .242 opposing batting average while ranking fifth in ERA (4.89), sixth in innings pitched (53.1), eighth in strikeouts (44) and eighth in fewest walks allowed (tie, 50).
Earlier this month, Fondtain tossed back-to-back complete games vs. Air Force (May 7) and Nevada (May 14), becoming the first Aztec hurler to accomplish the feat in consecutive starts since Dominic Purpura in 2016. For his efforts, the Clovis, California, native was twice named Mountain West Pitcher of the Week.
In the Scarlet and Black's 12-0 whitewash of the Falcons, Fondtain became the first SDSU pitcher to record a complete-game shutout since Justin Goossen-Brown in 2019, while his eight strikeouts in the Aztecs' 9-2 triumph over the Wolf Pack the following week marked a career high.
In overall games this season, Fondtain ranked among the MW leaders in several categories, including opposing batting average (3rd, .237), innings pitched (5th, 72.2), earned run average (6th, 4.58) and fewest hits allowed (T-7th, 66).
Against Hawai'i on Feb. 25, Fondtain struck out seven batters in SDSU's 7-1 victory en route to his first MW Pitcher of the Week award. His three conference weekly pitching honors in 2022 are the most by an Aztec in a single season since Addison Reed garnered a trio of such accolades in 2010.
With Fondtain and Melton on staff, the Aztecs led the Mountain West for all games this season in team ERA (4.97), opposing team batting average (.256), strikeouts (504) and fewest hits allowed (491).
In addition, the Scarlet and Black topped the conference with 8.85 hits allowed per nine innings, which ranked 64th during the regular season, as well as 9.1 strikeouts per nine innings, which was good for 87th in the country.
2022 MW Baseball Postseason Awards
Tony Gwynn Player of the Year
Sam Kulasingam, INF, So., Air Force
Co-Pitchers of the Year
Troy Melton, RHP, Sr., San Diego State
Paul Skenes, RHP, So., Air Force
Co-Freshmen of the Year
Irvin Weems, OF, San Diego State
Santino Panaro, DH, UNLV
Coach of the Year
Stan Stolte, UNLV
First-Team All-MW Selections (SDSU only)
Cole Carrigg, INF, So.
Troy Melton, RHP, Sr.
Second-Team All-MW Selections (SDSU only)
TJ Fondtain, LHP, So.