SAN DIEGO – San Diego State returns to the diamond this weekend when it plays host to three games in the Tony Gwynn Legacy at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
The Aztecs open the eighth annual event against Washington State on Friday, Feb. 24, beginning at 2 p.m. PT, and the first 200 fans in attendance will receive a free Tony Gwynn poster.
The action takes a pause on Saturday due to expected rain; however, the tournament resumes on Sunday, Feb. 26, when the Scarlet and Black locks horns with North Dakota State at 6 p.m. PT. The first 200 fans to arrive for the Aztecs-Bison clash will be presented a free SDSU hat.
The Aztecs then wrap up their homestand on Monday, Feb. 27, when they battle Hawai'i at 6 p.m. PT once again. Fans are encouraged to arrive early for that contest vs. the Rainbow Warriors for the clear bag giveaway to the first 200 patrons.
In addition to live stats, all three games involving SDSU will air live on the Mountain West Network with links to both platforms available on GoAztecs.com.
SDSU (0-4) is coming off a 7-5 defeat to CSUN on a rainy and wind-swept Tuesday night. TJ Fondtain went 2-for-4 with a homer, double and two runs scored, while Drew Giannini contributed an RBI double.
In addition, the bullpen trio of Ricky Tibbett, Eldridge Armstrong III and Kelena Sauer combined for 11 strikeouts against two hits and zero walks over the final 6 2/3 innings, but it wasn't enough, as the Aztecs saw their winning streak in home openers snapped at six games.
Shaun Montoya is off to a hot start for the Scarlet and Black, batting .417 (5-12) with two doubles and a triple, while fellow outfielder Cole Carrigg is hitting .353 (6-17) with a double and a pair of RBIs.
Fondtain is scheduled to make his second pitching start of the season on Friday against Washington State, while the Cougars (4-0) are projected to go with right-hander Caden Kaelber.
Fondtain (0-0) took the mound for SDSU in its season-opening 6-5 defeat at Arizona State on Feb. 17 but did not factor in the decision, yielding three runs on seven hits and one walk before exiting with two outs in the fourth.
Conversely, WSU swept two games apiece from Villanova and UC Riverside last weekend on a neutral diamond in Peoria, Arizona. Kaelber (1-0) was the winning pitcher in the Cougars' 17-4 romp over UCR on Feb. 18, when he surrendered just one run on five hits and two walks while posting eight strikeouts in six innings of work.
Offensively, WSU was led by outfielder Jonah Advincula, who hit .500 (8-16) in four games with two home runs, a triple, two doubles and 13 RBIs en route to earning Pac-12 Player of the Week honors.
The Aztecs maintain a 10-6 advantage in the all-time series vs. the Cougars. However, the two sides have not met since February 2000 when SDSU took two of three games in a weekend series at Tony Gwynn Stadium. The Scarlet and Black emerged victorious by scores of 5-4 and 6-3 in the first two encounters before falling by a 6-3 count in the finale.
Saturday's clash marks the first meeting between the Aztecs and North Dakota State, which will square off against Hawai'i in its Tony Gwynn Legacy opener earlier that afternoon at 1 p.m. PT.
The Bison posted a 1-3 ledger in a four-game road trip to Sacramento State last weekend, salvaging the series finale with a 13-4 triumph over the Hornets. NDSU kept the score close in those three defeats, falling 5-3, 8-6 and 3-2, before breaking out the bats with 17 hits in game four.
In that victory, second baseman Peter Brookshaw led the Bison with four hits, while outfielder Cadyn Schwabe and third baseman Davis Hamilton finished with three apiece. In addition, shortstop Druw Sackett roped a bases-clearing double and Terrell Huggins belted a two-run homer to key a seven-run outburst in the seventh.
NDSU pitcher Nolan Johnson (1-0) picked up the win after allowing one run on two hits against four strikeouts in two innings of relief of starter Parker Puetz.
For the season, catcher Will Busch leads the Bison with a .455 batting average (5-11), while Schwabe and Hamilton are hitting .333 apiece. Additionally, Sackett (.313) has blasted three homers already with eight RBIs.
The Aztecs have faced just two schools that are currently aligned with the Summit League in baseball, posting a 6-6 record against Oral Roberts while winning their only encounter vs. Northern Colorado (5-4) at SDSU's Sun-Lite Classic in 1984. The Scarlet and Black last faced ORU in 2011, dropping two of three in a home series.
Meanwhile, Hawai'i (3-1) will be making its second straight appearance in the Tony Gwynn Legacy after winning three of four over Wright State in a season-opening homestand last weekend.
After falling in game one by an 8-3 count, the Rainbow Warriors rebounded with a doubleheader sweep by scores of the 5-4 (eight innings) and 12-2 (seven innings) before storming to a 16-7 victory in the finale last Sunday.
Infielder Kyson Donahue hit .438 in the series (7-16) with a homer, three doubles and four RBIs, while outfielder Matt Wong (.417) and infielder Ben Zeigler-Namoa (.400) also reached the .400 plateau for the weekend. Wong went 5-for-12 at the plate with a triple, four runs scored and three walk, while Zeigler-Namoa (4-10) topped the squad with seven RBIs.
Not to be outdone, Zeigler-Namoa opened on the mound for Hawai'i in the finale and picked up the victory, tossing three scoreless innings with one hit and one walk, while relievers Tai Atkins and Harrison Bodendorf were credited with wins in the doubleheader, respectively. Connor Harrison, who pitched the final 2 2/3 innings of the nightcap in that twin bill, struck out five batters to offset one walk in his scoreless stint.
San Diego State trails the all-time series vs. Hawai'i 68-79 after the teams split two meetings at Tony Gwynn Stadium last season. The Aztecs claimed a 7-1 victory in the opener of the Tony Gwynn Legacy on Feb. 25, 2022, before dropping a 15-inning marathon by an 8-5 score outside of the tournament three nights later.
The contest was SDSU's longest game since April 19, 2013, when the Scarlet and Black was edged 9-8 at UNLV in 17 innings. In addition, the Aztecs and Warriors collectively used 16 pitchers on the night, including nine for Hawai'i and seven for SDSU. The Aztecs recorded a season-high 21 strikeouts, including seven by reliever Jadon Bercovich. Both teams squandered numerous scoring chances, combining for 32 runners left on base, including 17 for SDSU and 15 for Hawai'i. In all, San Diego State employed 25 players on its 37-man roster during the 6-hour, 18-minute affair.
The Aztecs and Warriors first met in 1980 and over the next 20 seasons, the two sides squared off annually as members of the Western Athletic Conference. SDSU is 42-28 against Hawai'i in San Diego, 25-50 in Honolulu and 1-1 on a neutral diamond.
The Aztecs are 12-10 in the Tony Gwynn Legacy, which was launched in 2016. After posting a 1-5 record in the first two years of the event, the Scarlet and Black has compiled an 11-5 ledger in their home tournament, including a 2-1 mark last year. In addition to the aforementioned triumph over Hawai'i, SDSU split two games with Utah last season, losing 4-0 before regrouping with a dramatic 4-3 walk-off victory.
Following this weekend's action, San Diego State will travel to the Silver State, March 3-5, for a three-game series at UNLV to open Mountain West competition.
Aztecs Set for Three Games at Tony Gwynn Legacy
