SAN DIEGO – San Diego State returns to the diamond this weekend when it plays host to three games in the Tony Gwynn Legacy, Feb. 23-25, at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
The Aztecs open the ninth annual event against Missouri on Friday, and the first 250 fans in attendance will receive a free SDSU bat keychain.
The action continues with a clash against CSU Bakersfield on Saturday, before the tournament concludes with a Sunday showdown vs. Utah. All three games are slated for a 6 p.m. PT start.
Live stats will be available all weekend, while Friday's SDSU-Missouri contest will air live on the Mountain West Network, and links to both platforms may be accessed on GoAztecs.com. In addition, fans can watch the Aztecs-Tigers game on their TVs or smartphones by downloading the MW app.
The Aztecs are coming off a 7-5 defeat at home vs. CSUN on Wednesday, as six errors and a passed ball led to six unearned runs for the Matadors. Jacob McCombs hit a pinch-hit grand slam in the bottom of the seventh to give SDSU a brief 5-4 lead. However, CSUN scored twice in the eighth and added a solo homer in the ninth to account for the final margin.
With his blast, McCombs (.333) leads the Aztecs with five RBIs this season, followed by Brady Lavoie and Jake Jackson with four apiece.
Jackson captured Mountain West Freshman of the Week honors on Feb. 19 after batting .250 with one homer, four RBIs, four runs scored and a stolen base in SDSU's season-opening series vs. Portland.
Chris Canada (0-0, 5.40 ERA) is scheduled to make his second pitching start of the season on Friday against Missouri, while the Tigers (3-1) are projected to go with right-hander Bryce Mayer (0-1, 4.50 ERA).
Canada struck out seven batters in the season-opener on Feb. 16, holding the Pilots without a hit through 3.1 innings, but yielded two runs on four walks and a hit batter before giving way to three relievers.
Conversely, Mizzou claimed a series victory at Cal Poly last weekend, dropping a 3-2 decision in the opener, before defeating the Mustangs in the final two games by scores of 3-1 and 12-8. Prior to Friday's game with Aztecs, the Tigers (3-1) defeated CSU Bakersfield 6-3 on Thursday night at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
Mayer was the starting pitcher in Mizzou's opening-day defeat at Cal Poly last week, when he surrendered three runs (two earned) on four hits, three walks in four innings without a strikeout.
Offensively, the Tigers have been led by the duo of catcher Thomas Curry (.444) and infielder (.353), both of whom have contributed a homer, two doubles and four RBIs this season. In addition, infielder/outfielder Trevor Austin (.250) has gone yard twice this year while adding a pair of doubles.
As a team, Mizzou is batting .264 with seven home runs and 13 doubles this season, while Tiger pitchers own a collective 3.09 ERA, limiting the opposition to a .254 batting average.
SDSU has faced Missouri on three occasions in program history, with the two sides battling to a 10-10 tie at the Riverside Invitational in 1985, before the Aztecs claimed a 5-4 decision at the San Diego Classic in 1997. However, the Tigers won the last meeting between the two squads by a 3-1 count at the USD Invitational in 2008.
CSU Bakersfield (0-5) came up empty in four games at the Sanderson College Baseball Classic, Feb. 16-19, in Surprise, Arizona, suffering a narrow 12-inning loss to Minnesota, 8-7, before falling twice to New Mexico (4-3, 6-2), sandwiched around a 15-2 defeat at the hands of Oregon State. The Roadrunners are seeking their first win after falling to Missouri 6-3 at Tony Gwynn Stadium on Thursday.
Individually, CSUB boasts two players hitting over .500 in Elijah Pelayo (.533) and Matthew Kurata (.500). Kurata tops the squad with nine hits, while Pelayo has eight to his credit to go while contributing a team-high six RBIs. In addition, Konnor Palmeira has clubbed two home runs this season.
On the mound, Ryan Verdugo has fanned a team-high 12 batters for the Roadrunners, followed by Gary Grosjean and Ryan Figueroa with eight apiece. Verdugo leads the squad with 10.1 innings pitched, while Figueroa has worked 6.2 innings across four games.
CSUB is hitting .246 as a team, while its pitchers possess a staff ERA of 7.60, yielding a .278 opponent batting average.
The Aztecs have faced the Roadrunners on one previous occasion, claiming a 5-4 victory at home on March 20, 2018.
SDSU's slated to pitch Omar Serrano (0-0, 5.40 ERA) on Saturday, while CSUB's starter has not been determined.
Serrano started strong in his first appearance of the year vs. Portland on Feb. 17, striking out the side in the first inning but was lifted with one out in the fourth after giving up two runs on two hits and three walks.
Meanwhile, Utah will be making its second appearance at the Tony Gwynn Legacy in the last three years and third overall, splitting two games with the Aztecs in 2022. SDSU dropped the first meeting that weekend, 4-0, before regrouping with a dramatic walk-off victory.
Despite the split, San Diego State still boasts a commanding 104-35 lead against Utah in a series that began in 1964. The Aztecs are 67-17 vs. the Utes in San Diego, 27-13 in Salt Lake City and 10-5 at neutral sites.
Utah is one of five programs the Aztecs have recorded over 100 victories against. The other four are New Mexico (132), Air Force (121), Fresno State (109) and UNLV (101).
The Utes (3-1) played their first four games of the 2024 campaign up the coast in Malibu, sweeping a pair of contests from California Baptist, 9-4 and 7-1, while splitting two encounters with host Pepperdine. Utah rebounded with a 9-4 victory after dropping a 1-0 decision to the Waves in its season opener.
Kai Roberts (.313) leads the Utes with five hits entering the weekend, while fellow outfielder Kaden Carpenter has four to his credit along with infielders Tyler Quinn and Core Jackson.
Right-hander Xavier Cardenas III (1-0, 0.00 ERA, 5.0 IP) is expected to make his second straight start for the Aztecs on Sunday, while Utah is expected to counter with their own right-handed hurler in Jaden Harris (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 4.1 IP).
Cardenas was the winning pitcher in SDSU's 7-1 victory over Portland on Feb. 18, scattering four hits and two walks while finishing with a trio of strikeouts in five scoreless innings.
Harris, meanwhile, posted seven strikeouts vs. CBU that same day, allowing just one hit in 4.1 innings but fell two outs shy of the minimum needed for the win after the Utes raced to a 6-0 advantage.
Collectively, Utah is batting .239 through the first four games of the season with 24 strikeouts. However, Ute pitchers have compiled a 2.57 ERA and have limited the opposition to a .221 batting average.
The Aztecs are 14-11 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 a 13-6 ledger in their home tournament, including a 2-1 mark last year. After dropping a lopsided contest to Washington State by a 14-1 count in the opener, SDSU rolled past North Dakota State, 9-2, and edged Hawai'i, 3-2, to close out the weekend.
Following this weekend's action, San Diego State will travel up the freeway to face UC Riverside on Tuesday, Feb. 27, starting at 6:30 p.m. PT.
Aztecs Set for Three Games at Tony Gwynn Legacy
