SAN DIEGO -- San Diego State jumps back into Mountain West action this weekend when it plays host to Air Force in a three-game series, March 24-26, at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
The first two contests on Friday and Saturday are scheduled to get underway at 6 p.m. PT, while Sunday's finale is slated for a 1 p.m. start.
Live stats will be available for the entire weekend, while Friday's showdown is scheduled to air on the Mountain West Network. Links to both platforms can be found on GoAztecs.com. In addition, the Aztecs will conduct Salute to Service festivities throughout the series.
SDSU took two of three games against the Falcons at home during their lone series of the 2022 campaign, dropping a tough 10-8 decision in the opener before rebounding with a 12-0 rout, followed by a 7-6 thriller in 12 innings.
The two sides will square off in another three-game series, May 12-14, at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado.
Following this weekend's encounters, the Aztecs will head across town to battle UC San Diego in a midweek clash on Tuesday, March 28 at Triton Ballpark. First pitch is set for 6 p.m.
SETTING THE SCENE
> With a 2-2 ledger in conference games, San Diego State is one of five teams with a .500 record in Mountain West action, joining Fresno State (4-4), Air Force (3-3), New Mexico (3-3) and UNLV (3-3).
> The Aztecs will look to regroup after dropping three of four games to visiting UConn in a non-conference series last weekend at Tony Gwynn Stadium. The Scarlet and Black countered a 10-2 defeat in the opener with a dramatic 4-2 triumph in game two before falling short in the final two contests by scores of 12-6 and 10-3.
> In the Aztecs' victory over the Huskies last Friday night, Poncho Ruiz hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth, while Maddox Haley added some insurance with an RBI single moments later.
> Thanks in part to his contribution, Haley garnered Mountain West Freshman of the Week accolades following the series on March 20.
> San Diego State leads the Mountain West with 1.88 stolen bases per game and 30 stolen bases overall, which rank 39th and 73rd in the nation, respectively, entering the weekend.
> Individually, Shaun Montoya tops the conference with 10 stolen bases, which is tied for 71st in the country as of March 23.
> On the mound, the Aztecs occupy the second spot in the MW with 9.6 strikeouts per nine innings as a staff, which ranks 79th nationally.
SERIES RECORD VS. AIR FORCE
> SDSU holds a sizable 118-32 lead against Air Force in the all-time series that dates back to 1961.
> The Falcons are one of four teams which the Aztecs have recorded 100 wins against, while the other three are New Mexico (125), Fresno State (108) and Utah (104).
> SDSU is 65-12 vs. Air Force in San Diego and 46-20 at the Academy. In addition, the Aztecs have won all seven meetings at neutral sites.
> During Mark Martinez's nine-year tenure as head coach on The Mea, the Aztecs sport a 24-11 record vs. Air Force, including a 14-5 mark at home, a 9-6 ledger on the road and a 1-0 record on a neutral field.
> San Diego State took two of three games at Tony Gwynn Stadium in the lone series the teams played during the 2022 campaign.
> The Aztecs experienced a disappointing 10-8 defeat in the opener before rebounding with a 12-0 conquest in game two, followed by a thrilling 7-6 comeback victory in 12 innings in the finale.
> In that middle contest, SDSU left-hander TJ Fondtain tossed a complete-game shutout, allowing just four hits without a walk to earn the second of three Mountain West Pitcher of the Week honors for the season.
> Additionally, Fondtain appeared in all three games of the series at the plate, batting .571 with a team-high eight hits, including four doubles, while contributing three RBIs and four runs scored.
> Not to be outdone, Cole Carrigg saw action in the first two games of the aforementioned series and hit .875 (7-8) with four RBIs, three runs scored and a pair of stolen bases.
> In 11 career games vs. the Falcons, Carrigg is hitting .405 (15-37) with a homer, two doubles, nine RBIs and 18 runs scored while stealing four bases.
AIR FORCE AT A GLANCE
> The Falcons posted a 32-29 overall record last season and captured the Mountain West tournament title before dropping two games to the Texas Longhorns in the NCAA Austin Regional.
> Air Force was picked to finish fifth out of seven team in the 2023 Mountain West preseason coaches poll, while infielders Sam Kulasingam and Jay Thomason earned a spot on the preseason all-conference team.
> The Falcons are off to an 8-13 start this season, including a 3-3 mark in MW action after winning two of three games on the road at San José State, March 17-18. Air Force captured the opener by a 9-3 score in 12 innings and the finale by a 9-5 count, sandwiched around a 5-4 defeat in 11 innings.
> Prior to their series with the Spartans, the Falcons split two midweek games at Louisiana Tech, dropping a 5-0 decision before emerging victorious in a 12-10 slugfest.
> Individually, senior Trayden Tamiya garnered Mountain West Player of the Week accolades after batting .416 (10-24) in five games with two doubles, two walks and four RBIs. The Air Force second baseman finished the week with a .464 on-base percentage and has multiple hits in his final four outings.
> As of March 23, Kulasingam leads the Mountain West with 54 total bases and occupies the second spot in the conference with a .422 batting average, which are tied for 48th and 90th in the nation, respectively. The Falcon junior is also tied for fifth in the country with 38 hits, which ranks second in the league and finds himself among the MW leaders in doubles (T-1st, 9), on-base percentage (2nd, .509) and slugging percentage (T-5th, .600).
> In addition, Thomason (.244) is tied for the conference lead in home runs (7) and shares the fourth spot in RBIs (20), while Tamiya is tied for fourth with 30 hits while ranking seventh in batting average (.349) and eighth in total bases (39).
> As a team, Air Force ranks among the top half of the MW in several offensive categories, including hits (2nd, 197), home runs (2nd, 21), RBIs (3rd, 104), runs scored (3rd, 117), slugging percentage (3rd, .409) and on-base percentage (3rd, .354).
> The Falcons' weekend rotation is projected to be Doyle Gehring (1-1, 4.33 ERA, 27.0 IP), Dylan Rogers (0-2, 6.75 ERA, 25.1 IP), Seungmin Shim (3-1, 5.48 ERA, 23.0 IP), respectively, while Duke Benge (2-1, 3.86 ERA, 21.0 IP) has made a conference-leading 13 appearances in relief thus far.
> Gehring occupies the second position in the conference this week with 32 strikeouts and finds himself among the league leaders in opposing batting average (6th, .227), innings pitched (T-7th, 27.0), while Shim (.227) and Benge (3.86) are tied for seventh in opponent batting average and ERA, respectively.
> In addition, Shim shares the second spot in the MW with three victories, while Benge and Jake Sansing are tied for fifth and eighth, respectively, with 10 earned runs allowed.
> Collectively, Air Force is slotted third in the conference this week with 151 strikeouts. However, the Falcons rank sixth in ERA (6.24), and opposing batting average (.304) while allowing the most hits (231) and home runs (22) of the league's seven teams.
> Head coach Mike Kazlausky is in his 13th season at the helm of the Air Force baseball program. As a player, Kazlausky was a two-time all-Western Athletic Conference honoree for the Falcons, leading the team in hitting in 1989 and 1991. Under Kazlausky's guidance, Air Force has garnered 37 all-MW accolades while producing seven All-Americans, three freshman All-Americans and six MLB draft picks. Kazlausky retired with the rank of major after 20 years of meritorious service with the U.S. Air Force. His career record stands at 271-362.
SDSU IN MW RANKINGS
> The Aztecs sport four of the league's top base stealers in Shaun Montoya (1st, 10), Irvin Weems (3rd, 7), Caden Miller (T-5th, 4) and Tino Bethancourt (T-5th, 4).
> Montoya also tops the conference with 0.62 stolen bases per game, which ranks 43rd nationally, while his 10 thefts is tied for 71st in the country.
> Additionally, Montoya occupies the sixth spot in the league with a .463 on-base percentage and is tied for ninth with five doubles.
> On the mound, TJ Fondtain is tied for sixth in the conference with 27 strikeouts as a starting pitcher, while offensively he ranks ninth in slugging percentage (.553).
> As previously mentioned, Jonny Guzman leads the Mountain West among qualifying pitchers in fewest hits allowed (14) and shares the second spot in fewest earned runs allowed (7) while ranking eighth in opposing batting average (.241) and ninth in ERA (3.94).
> In addition, Chris Canada is tied for the fifth position in fewest hits allowed (20).
> Elsewhere, reliever Kelena Sauer shares the top perch in the league with eight games finished and ranks third with three saves, while Eldridge Armstrong III is tied for the fifth spot with nine pitching appearances.
> Collectively, San Diego State enters the weekend ranked second in fewest hits allowed (144) and is tied for third in opposing batting average (.267) while occupying the fourth position in both ERA (5.08) and strikeouts (150).
> As a team, the Aztecs find themselves atop the conference leaderboard with 30 stolen bases.
IT'S MILLER TIME
> San Diego State second baseman Caden Miller, has been heating up over the past nine games, leading the team in batting average (.400) while sharing the top spot in total bases (17).
> In addition, the Aztec junior finds himself among the team leaders during that stretch in hits (2nd, 12), on-base percentage (2nd, .471) and slugging percentage (3rd, .567).
> In SDSU's 28-8 pasting of UNLV on March 4, Miller set career highs with four hits and four runs scored, helping the Scarlet and Black to its highest run total since 2007.
STREAKING AZTECS
> After a 2-for-4 performance against UConn on March 19, Shaun Montoya has reached base safely in all 16 games and leads the Aztecs with a .463 on-base percentage while tying Cole Carrigg for the team lead with a .327 batting average.
> Carrigg and Caden Miller lead the Scarlet and Black with multiple hits in six games apiece this season, while Poncho Ruiz has notched two or more RBIs in five contests.
> Ruiz owns the team's longest hitting streak this season, which was snapped at seven games against San José State on March 10. The Aztec catcher also had his streak of at least one RBI in seven consecutive games halted in that same contest vs. the Spartans.
> Three players have started all 16 games for the Aztecs this season, including the double-play combo of Miller (2B) and Xavier Gonzalez (SS) along with Ruiz, who has made 12 starts at catcher and four at first base.
STRIKEOUTS GALORE
> San Diego State recorded double-digit strikeouts in 21 of 56 games last year, including a season-high 21 in a 15-inning home loss to Hawai'i on Feb. 28, 2022.
> Collectively, San Diego State led the Mountain West with 9.1 strikeouts per nine innings during the 2022 campaign, which ranked 85th in the nation.
> In 2023, the Aztecs have posted 10 or more strikeouts on seven occasions, including a season-best 14 against Washington State in the Tony Gwynn Legacy on Feb. 24.
> Entering the weekend, SDSU is fourth in the Mountain West with 141 strikeouts; however, its average of 9.6 punchouts per nine innings ranks second in the conference and 79th in the country.
> Individually, TJ Fondtain is tied for sixth in the MW with a team-high 27 strikeouts, followed by Chris Canada (24) and Jonny Guzman (17).
> Dating back to 2019, the Aztecs are 46-31 in their last 77 games when striking out 10 or more batters.
> SDSU completed 27 games with 10 or more strikeouts during the 2019 season, marking the most double-digit strikeout performances for the Scarlet and Black in the MW era (since 2000). SDSU surpassed the previous MW record of 23 set in a 10-6 win at Fresno State on May 11, 2019.
> In 2021, the Scarlet and Black registered 10 or more strikeouts in 18 games, notching a 15-3 record in those contests.
GOING, GOING, GONE
> San Diego State has emerged victorious in 52 of its last 83 games dating back to 2019 when launching one out of the park.
> During an admittedly down year in 2022, the Aztecs logged a 7-14 record in games when they hit a home run. This season, they are 4-3.
> Previously, the Scarlet and Black homered in 29 of 46 games during the 2021 campaign, posting a 21-8 record in those contests.
> In addition, SDSU went 17-5 during the 2019 season when going yard and 5-2 in the shortened 2020 campaign.
OTHER TRENDS
> The Aztecs are 140-41 over the last six-plus seasons when scoring five or more runs, including a stellar 38-6 record during the 2017 campaign.
> San Diego State is 73-54 in its last 127 games following a loss, including an 14-23 mark in 2022 and a 2-8 ledger this season.
HEAD COACH MARK MARTINEZ
> Mark Martinez is in his ninth season as head coach of the Aztecs and 18th overall as a member of the San Diego State staff after succeeding the late Tony Gwynn on August 20, 2014. He is just the fifth head coach in SDSU history since baseball was elevated to major sport status in 1936.
> During his tenure as the Aztecs' head coach, Martinez has compiled a 238-199 record, highlighted by three Mountain West tournament championships in 2015, 2017 and 2018.
> Since 2015, SDSU has garnered 41 all-Mountain West accolades under Martinez's tutelage, including MW Pitchers of the Year Brett Seeburger (2017), Garrett Hill (co-2018) and Troy Melton (co-2022), as well as 2017 MW Player of the Year Danny Sheehan and 2022 MW Co-Freshman of the Year Irvin Weems.
> Additionally, Martinez has mentored three freshman All-Americans in Chase Calabuig (2015), Casey Schmitt (2018) and Jaden Fein (2019), with the latter also receiving Mountain West Co-Freshman of the Year distinction that season.
> Along with on-field success, the Aztecs have excelled academically during Martinez's tenure, posting the highest APR and the best team GPA in the history of the program. Over the past eight years, SDSU has had 69 players earn Mountain West all-academic honors while setting team records for the number of scholar-athletes.
> In 2017, Martinez recorded his 100th victory for the Scarlet and Black, becoming the fastest head coach in program history to reach the century mark in wins.
> Not to be outdone, Martinez also became the fastest head coach in Mountain West history to win three conference championships when the Aztecs captured the title in 2018.
> Martinez was hired as an assistant coach for the Aztecs in July of 2005 and served for nine years under head coach Tony Gwynn. During that time, he was promoted to the position of associate head coach.
> Since Martinez's arrival on The Mesa, the Aztecs have had 50 student-athletes chosen in the MLB First-Year Player Draft, with 12 of those selections making the big leagues (Stephen Strasburg, Addison Reed, Justin Masterson, Bruce Billings, Quintin Berry, Lance Zawadzki, Greg Allen, Ty France, Seby Zavala, Alan Trejo, Garrett Hill and David Hensley).
> Prior to his arrival at San Diego State, Martinez was an assistant coach at New Mexico for 17 seasons from 1989-2005. During his time as a hitting and infield coach, he helped develop the Lobos into one of the most prominent offensive teams in the country, with UNM ranking among the top 11 nationally in hitting over his final four seasons.
> Martinez served as an assistant at his alma mater, Mesa State College (now Colorado Mesa University) in Grand Junction, Colorado, from 1984-88. He played shortstop at the school from 1982-84, earning all-conference and all-district honors as a senior.
> Martinez graduated from Mesa State College (now Colorado Mesa) with a bachelor's degree in physical education in 1984 and completed his master's in sports administration at New Mexico in 1990.
> During the 2021-22 offseason, Martinez signed a three-year contract extension that will keep him at San Diego State through the 2026 season.
Aztecs Welcome Air Force for MW Weekend Series
