COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – San Diego State's Troy Melton (Anaheim, Calif./Canyon HS) was named Mountain West Pitcher of the Week, as announced Monday by the conference office.
Melton tossed the second complete game of his career on April 22 in the Aztecs' 2-1 victory over Grand Canyon, which entered the contest with a No. 30 national ranking by Collegiate Baseball Newspaper.
With his performance, the Anaheim, California, native recorded SDSU's first nine-inning complete game since Justin Goossen-Brown accomplished the feat in an 8-0 blanking of New Mexico at home on May 16, 2019.
Against the Lopes, Melton allowed just one unearned run on five hits and no walks while posting five strikeouts, lowering his season ERA from 1.80 to 1.38 in the process. In addition, the SDSU right-hander limited GCU to a .192 batting average after maintaining a .303 season clip prior to the game to emerge triumphant for the third time in his last four starts.
Melton set the tone early, retiring the first nine hitters he faced before totaling 124 pitches for the night, 64 percent of which were strikes (79). The Aztec junior gave up a leadoff single in the ninth but needed just seven more pitches to get the final three outs and finish the game.
With his award, Melton earned the third conference weekly honor of his career and gave the Aztecs five certificates this season after fellow hurler TJ Fondtain garnered the same accolade on Feb. 28, while Alex Rodriguez (Feb. 21), Tyler Glowacki (March 7) and Shaun Montoya (April 18) each received freshman of the week distinction.
Melton also pitched a complete game in SDSU's 17-0 run-rule victory in seven innings over Fresno State at Tony Gwynn Stadium on March 6, 2021, earning MW Pitcher of the Week honors for that performance as well.
For the season, Melton ranks eighth in the Mountain West with 42 strikeouts, while his 1.38 ERA would top the conference if he had enough innings pitched to qualify for that statistic.
San Diego State returns to the diamond on Tuesday night when it travels up the freeway to battle Long Beach State, starting 6 p.m. PT. The Aztecs will be looking to complete a season sweep of the Dirtbags after claiming a 5-1 victory on April 5 in San Diego.