SAN DIEGO – San Diego State returns to action early this week when it battles UC San Diego in a brief home-and-away series, April 10-11.
The Aztecs will travel across town for a Monday night showdown at Triton Ballpark before the teams square off in a rematch on Tuesday at Tony Gwynn Stadium. Both contests are slated to commence at 6 p.m. PT.
In addition to live stats, Monday's matchup will be broadcast live on ESPN+, while Tuesday's clash on The Mesa is set to air on the Mountain West Network.
SDSU looks to return to the win-column after dropping three straight games to No. 25 USC in Los Angeles, April 6-8. The Aztecs (11-16) fell short in the first two games by scores of 12-2 and 7-2 before suffering a 7-0 shutout in the series finale.
Caden Miller (.429) and Shaun Montoya (.300) led the Scarlet and Black with three hits and two walks apiece against the Trojans. However, SDSU will look to get its offense on track after hitting a collective .116 in Los Angeles.
Despite the sweep, the Aztecs (7-3 MW) still maintain their perch atop the Mountain West standings over second-place San José State (8-4 MW), which won two of three games at New Mexico over the weekend, while Air Force (14-19, 8-7 MW) registered a home sweep of Fresno State (15-15, 7-7 MW) to vault into third place ahead of the Bulldogs.
Entering the week, SDSU pitchers occupy the second spot in the MW in ERA (5.04), opposing batting average (.266) and fewest hits allowed (241) while ranking third in strikeouts (254). In addition, the Aztecs top the conference with 9.9 strikeouts per game.
Reliever Kelena Sauer leads the Mountain West with 12 games finished and is tied for second with five saves. Additionally, Eldridge Armstrong III shares the third spot with 14 appearances, while Sauer is tied for fifth with 13 games pitched, along with teammate Ricky Tibbett.
On the basepaths, the Scarlet and Black lead the league with 1.80 stolen bases per game and 45 stolen bases overall, while at the plate, SDSU ranks fifth in the MW with a .267 team batting average.
Elsewhere on defense, the Aztecs are leading the Mountain West with six runners picked off.
Individually, SDSU sports four players who find themselves among the conference top 10 in stolen bases, including Montoya (12, 1st), Irvin Weems (8, T-2nd), Cole Carrigg (6, T-7th) and Tino Bethancourt (5, T-9th).
Miller (.326) and Montoya (.316) rank 12th and 14th in the MW in batting average, while TJ Fondtain (5) and Poncho Ruiz (4) are tied for fifth and ninth in home runs, respectively.
Ruiz has reached base safely in 11 straight games and leads the team with multiple hits in 12 games and two or more RBIs in eight contests. Additionally, Montoya owns the squad's longest current hitting streak at six games.
UC San Diego (20-9, 10-2 Big West) is coming off a weekend sweep of UC Davis at home, winning a pair of nail-biters 5-4 and 6-5 before notching a big 13-4 victory in the finale. With the results, the Tritons took over sole possession of first place in the Big West Conference.
UCSD has played just three true road games this season, posting a 1-2 record in those contests to go with a 1-3 mark on a neutral field. However, the Tritons have compiled an 18-4 ledger at home thus far.
Entering the week, UCSD is slotted second in the Big West with a .296 team batting average while ranking third in on-base percentage (.398) and slugging percentage (.459).
Individually, the Tritons boast five players with batting averages over .300, including infielders Patrick Hackworth (.344), Matt Halbach (.336), and Doyle Kane (.336), along with catcher Emiliano Gonzalez (.318) and first baseman Brandon Larson (.303).
Halbach is tied for the conference lead with 40 hits while ranking eighth in RBIs (27), 11th in slugging percentage (.563) and 15th in batting average. Additionally, shortstop Michael Fuhrmann (.280) is tied for 11th in the Big West with five homers and 25 RBIs while occupying the 12th position with a .561 slugging percentage.
As a staff, UC San Diego pitchers are slotted second in the Big West in ERA (4.15) and opponent batting average (.244) while ranking third in strikeouts (273) and fewest hits allowed (239).
Freshman Spencer Seid (10.0 IP) leads the Tritons with 14 appearances, followed by fellow classmates Seth Sumner (12 gms, 17.0 IP) and Donovan Chriss (11 gms, 11.0 IP), along with junior Izaak Martinez (11 gms, 24.2 IP).
The Aztecs will be seeking to avenge a 2-1 loss to UCSD on March 28 in a pitcher's duel at Triton Ballpark. Seven SDSU hurlers combined for 10 strikeouts on the night; however, the Scarlet and Black was limited to just one hit, scoring its lone run when Cade Martinez walked and ultimately crossed the plate on Weems' groundout to second.
With the defeat, the Aztecs dropped their fourth straight to the Tritons in the head-to-head series dating back to last season. Despite the setback, however, SDSU still leads the all-time series 24-8 dating back to 1971. The Aztecs posted a decisive 14-7 victory at Tony Gwynn Stadium in the first game between the two squads last year before falling short in the final three encounters by scores of 4-0, 4-2 and 9-6.
SDSU has won 39 of their last 60 games against Big West opponents, including a 14-5 triumph over UC Riverside at home on April 4, avenging a 3-1 road loss to the Highlanders on March 7. Along with their previous engagement at UCSD, the Scarlet and Black posted a 3-2 victory over Hawai'i on Feb. 27, the final day of the Tony Gwynn Legacy, after falling short to CSUN by a 7-5 tally in its home opener on Feb. 21.
Following Tuesday's clash, San Diego State jumps back into Mountain West play next weekend when it travels to the Central Valley for a key three-game series at Fresno State, April 14-16, in Fresno, California.
Aztecs Prep for Back-to-Back Games vs. UCSD
