SAN DIEGO – San Diego State returns to the diamond this weekend when it plays host to San José State in a three-game Mountain West series, March 10-11, at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
The Aztecs will battle the Spartans in a doubleheader on Friday, March 10, beginning at 11 a.m. PT, before the two teams square off in a single contest on Saturday, March 11, starting at 3 p.m. Admission to all three games is free. Links to live stats will be available all weekend on GoAztecs.com.
The series was originally scheduled to played at Excite Ballpark in San Jose; however, impending rain the Bay Area prompted the switch to the SDSU campus.
The Aztecs (4-7, 2-1 MW) enter the weekend one-half game behind first-place SJSU (5-5, 2-0 MW) in the conference standings. SDSU dropped a 3-1 decision at UC Riverside in its last outing on Tuesday, while the Spartans routed San Francisco 23-2 at home on the same day.
Against the Highlanders, the Aztecs drew a season-high seven walks and stole four bases but could not get the timely hit, as UCR threw out runners at second on three other stolen base attempts and received a huge inning-ending double play in the sixth to keep the Scarlet and Black at bay.
Entering the weekend, Shaun Montoya leads the Mountain West with nine stolen bases and shares the fourth spot with nine walks while ranking eighth with a .371 batting average and a .500 on-base percentage. The SDSU right-fielder also tops squad with a .514 slugging percentage and 12 runs scored while occupying the third spot with 13 hits and 18 total bases.
In addition, catcher Poncho Ruiz and center fielder Cole Carrigg tied for second on the Aztecs with .326 batting averages and 15 hits, with the duo ranking first and second with 14 and 11 RBIs, respectively. Carrigg shares the third spot in the conference with four stolen bases, while Ruiz's RBI total is tied for eighth in the MW.
Ruiz has hit safely in his last seven games, batting .448 in that stretch with 12 RBIs, both of which are team highs. The SDSU junior collected Mountain West Player of the Week honors after helping the Scarlet and Black to a pair of victories at UNLV following a home triumph over Hawai'i.
In the Aztecs' 28-8 rout over UNLV on March 4, Ruiz scored a career-high five runs, which is tied for the eighth-most school history. He finished with a 3-for-6 performance in that contest with three RBIs, helping SDSU to its highest run (28) and hit (25) totals since April 22, 2007 in a 31-0 home whitewash of Air Force.
Collectively, the Aztecs lead the Mountain West with 24 stolen bases, which is tied for 33rd nationally. In addition, SDSU ranks third in the league with a .277 batting average while occupying fourth spot in hits (106) and runs scored (71).
On the mound, the Scarlet and Black is slotted second in the league in fewest hits allowed (93) while ranking third in ERA (4.36), strikeouts (101) and opposing batting average (.258).
Individually, sophomore Chris Canada is tied for third in the MW with 19 strikeouts and shares the seventh spot in fewest hits allowed (12) while ranking eighth in opponent batting average (.231).
Additionally, Jonny Guzman finds himself in the company of league leaders in opponent batting average (7th, .227) and ERA (8th, 2.92), the latter of which leads the squad among pitchers with at least 10.0 innings of work. He also ranks third on the team with 16 strikeouts.
Elsewhere, the Aztecs have received double-digit strikeouts from three other hurlers in Omar Serrano (12), TJ Fondtain (11) and Eldridge Armstrong III (11).
Despite dropping all six meetings to the Spartans during the 2022 campaign, San Diego State still holds a sizable 84-39 lead in the all-time series, which dates back to 1938.
The Aztecs' 45-game advantage in head-to-head meetings vs. San José State ranks as the fourth-largest spread against a single opponent in program history behind Air Force (118-32), Utah (104-35) and UC Santa Barbara (84-29-1).
During Mark Martinez's nine-year tenure as head coach on The Mesa, SDSU sports a 27-11 record against the Spartans, including a 14-5 mark at home, an 11-6 ledger on the road and a 2-0 record at a neutral park.
Projected to finish second in the Mountain West preseason poll just ahead of the Aztecs, San José State won the first two games in its MW-opening series against Fresno State (5-3, 6-2) before the finale was postponed due to rain. Earlier this week, the Spartans split a pair of non-conference encounters at home, falling to Central Michigan on Monday, 8-4, before rebounding with a big 23-2 victory over San Francisco the following day.
Juniors Hunter Dorraugh (.333, 10 RBIs) and Dalton Bowling (.306, 11RBIs) own SJSU's top two batting averages and RBI totals thus far. In addition, Dorraugh and fellow classmate Charles McAdoo are tied for the MW lead in doubles with six apiece, while Bowling has five to his credit.
As a team, the Spartans occupy the sixth spot in the Mountain West with a .249 batting average, 67 runs scored and 58 RBIs, but have the struck out the second-fewest times in the league (86).
Despite allowing the second-most walks in the conference (56) and posting the fewest strikeouts (71), San José State pitchers lead the conference in opposing batting average (.225) and fewest hits allowed (72) while ranking second in ERA (3.54).
Junior Micky Thompson, a transfer from Washington State, is slotted third in the Mountain West with a 2.40 ERA, while Jonathan Clark is fifth in that category (2.81 ERA) while ranking sixth in opponent batting average (.220).
Following Saturday's clash with the Spartans, San Diego State steps out of conference next weekend when it plays host to Connecticut in a four-game series, March 16-19, at Tony Gwynn Stadium.