COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – San Diego State pitchers Chris Canada (Orange, Calif.) and Omar Serrano (Downey, Calif.) garnered preseason all-Mountain West accolades, while the Aztecs were picked to finish fourth in the league's preseason poll, as announced Thursday by the conference office.
Entering their junior campaigns, both Canada and Serrano have helped the SDSU pitching staff lead the Mountain West in ERA in each of the last two seasons.
Meanwhile, the preseason poll and the 13-player all-MW team were voted on by the league's seven head coaches.
Collectively, San Diego State earned a total of 19 points in the coaches poll, trailing preseason favorite San José State (33 pts), which received four first-place votes, and second-place Fresno State (28 pts), which netted another pair of first-place votes, while Air Force landed in the third spot with 27 points and one first-place vote. New Mexico and UNLV tied for the fifth position behind the Aztecs with 15 points, while Nevada (10 pts) rounded out the rankings.
A 6-7 left-hander, Canada finished second among Mountain West leaders last season in fewest hits allowed (62) and tied for fifth in strikeouts (72), compiling a 3-5 record with a 5.69 ERA. In addition, he ranked eighth in the conference a year ago in opposing team batting average (.265).
In 2023, Canada also posted five or more strikeouts in nine of 13 appearances while yielding two or fewer walks in eight games. The Orange, California, native tied his career high with nine strikeouts in back-to-back outings vs. Air Force and at New Mexico.
In that contest against the Falcons, Canada collected his first victory of the year after allowing just one earned run on three hits and three walks in six innings, as the Scarlet and Black rolled to a big 13-1 decision. He also tossed a season-high 6.1 innings vs. Lobos, surrendering just one run on five hits and three walks but did not factor in the decision, as the Scarlet and Black rallied for a 3-1 win.
Canada also fanned eight batters in consecutive six-inning appearances vs. Nevada and UNLV, securing wins in both games. He ceded three runs on three hits and a pair of walks against the Wolf Pack before giving up two runs on four hits and two walks vs. the Rebels.
Meanwhile, Serrano led the Mountain West last season with fewest hits (46) and runs allowed (34) while ranking second in opposing team batting average (.237). He also finished third on the Aztecs with career highs in strikeouts (62) and innings pitched (53.0), logging a 1-5 record with a 5.43 ERA and one save.
A 6-4 right-hander, Serrano yielded two walks or less in 13 of 16 games and struck out six or more batters four times. The Downey, California, product set a career high with nine strikeouts in 5.1 innings at Fresno State.
Serrano came through in the clutch late last year, notching his first career victory after helping the Scarlet and Black clinch a share of the Mountain West championship with a huge performance in the regular-season finale vs. New Mexico when he recorded eight strikeouts against one hit and two walks in 6.1 scoreless innings, as the Aztecs rallied for an 8-6 triumph. For his efforts, Serrano earned a spot on Collegiate Baseball Newspaper's National Players of the Week list.
On Jan. 30, Canada was also named to the Perfect Game's preseason all-Mountain West team, along with fellow pitcher Xavier Cardenas III, while outfielder Jake Jackson received preseason MW Freshman of the Year recognition by the website. Additionally, Cardenas merited preseason Mountain West Pitcher of the Year honors by D1Baseball.com on Feb. 7.
San Diego State returns 17 letterwinners and five starters from last year's squad that captured a share of the Mountain West regular-season championship, including outfielders Shaun Montoya and Irvin Weems.
Last season, Montoya was a second-team All-Mountain West selection who ranked third in the league with 16 stolen bases. The Rancho Cucamonga native led the Aztecs in hits (56) and doubles (15) while tying for the top spot in total bases (85) and runs scored (36). Additionally, he finished second on the squad in batting average (.298) and on-base percentage (.388).
In 2023, Montoya also fashioned the team's second-longest reached base streak at 18 games. He also tied for second on the squad with multiple hits in 14 starts and crafted a season-long seven-game hitting streak.
Weems, meanwhile, battled a shoulder injury last year to post a slash line of .266/.400/.406 with three homers, 19 RBIs and 29 runs in 48 games. The Las Vegas product led the Scarlet and Black with 26 walks and a .400 on-base percentage while ranking fourth in the conference with 11 stolen bases.
In addition, Weems collected multiple hits in eight games and totaled two or more RBIs in four contests. He garnered MW Player of the Week accolades after batting .500 with five RBIs, five runs scored and one stolen base in a series victory at home over Air Force last March.
The Aztecs enter the upcoming season with 21 newcomers, including 19 true freshman, led by the aforementioned Jake Jackson. In addition, the Scarlet and Black welcomes Division I transfer Jacob Riordan (RHP, Arkansas-Pine Bluff) and junior college transfer Dylan Hawkes (LHP, Utah State Eastern), both of whom are pegged for key roles on the mound this season.
Under the direction of first-year head coach Shaun Cole, San Diego State opens its 2024 campaign next weekend when it plays host to Portland in a three-game series, Feb. 16-18, at Tony Gwynn Stadium.
2024 MOUNTAIN WEST BASEBALL PRESEASON COACHES POLL
| Rank | Institution (1st Place Votes) | Pts. |
| 1. | San José State (4) | 33 |
| 2. | Fresno State (2) | 28 |
| 3. | Air Force (1) | 27 |
| 4. | San Diego State | 19 |
| T5 | New Mexico | 15 |
| T5. | UNLV | 15 |
| 7. | Nevada | 10 |
2024 MOUNTAIN WEST PRESEASON ALL-CONFERENCE TEAM
| Name | Class | Position | Institution |
| Chris Canada | Jr. | LHP | San Diego State |
| Omar Serrano | Jr. | RHP | San Diego State |
| Sam Kulasingham | Sr. | IF | Air Force |
| Jay Thomason | Sr. | IF | Air Force |
| Jake Dixon | Gr. | LHP | Fresno State |
| Murf Gray | So. | IF | Fresno State |
| Tommy Hopfe | Jr. | UTL | Fresno State |
| Reed Spenrath | Sr. | IF | New Mexico |
| Hunter Dorraugh | Sr. | IF | San José State |
| Robert Hamchuk | Sr. | OF | San José State |
| Theo Hardy | Sr. | IF | San José State |
| Mickey Thompson | Sr. | LHP | San José State |
| Rylan Charles | Sr. | OF | UNLV |