SAN DIEGO –After playing 12 of its first 16 games at home, San Diego State embarks on a lengthy road swing, starting this weekend when it travels to the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains to battle Air Force in a three-game Mountain West series, March 15-17.
The Aztecs and Falcons will square off in the series opener on Friday, beginning at 2 p.m. MT/1 p.m. PT, while Saturday's action commences at 1 p.m. MT/noon PT, followed by Sunday's finale, which is slated to get underway at noon MT/11 a.m. PT.
***Schedule Update - Friday, March 15***
Friday's series opener has been postponed. The Aztecs and Falcons will open their series on Saturday with a doubleheader at 11 a.m. MT/10 a.m. PT. Both ends of the twin bill are slated for nine innings and will be played at Rawlings Field in Pueblo, Colorado on the CSU-Pueblo campus.
The teams will also remain in Pueblo for Sunday's finale with a starting time to be determined.
With the uncertainty of this weekend's schedule, fans are encouraged to visit GoAztecs.com or follow the SDSU baseball program on social media for the latest updates.
AZTEC STARTING ROTATION
For the second straight week, the Aztecs are projected to employ the starting rotation of right-handers Jacob Riordan (2-0, 4.43 ERA, 24 SO), Omar Serrano (1-1, 2.63 ERA, 20 SO) and Xavier Cardenas III (1-2, 6.16 ERA, 17 SO).
Conversely, Air Force is expected to utilize left-hander Seungmin Shim (1-1, 4.35 ERA, 24 SO) followed by right-handers Dylan Rogers (2-1, 3.18 ERA, 10 SO) and Ben Weber (0-1, 7.71 ERA, 11 SO) in succession.
SETTING THE SCENE
Entering the weekend, SDSU (6-10, 2-4 MW) finds itself in a three-way tie for fifth place in the Mountain West standings with UNLV and San José State, trailing Fresno State, Nevada and Air Force, all of whom have played just one conference series thus far.
The Falcons (6-9, 2-1 MW) won two of three games last weekend at SJSU, dropping the opener by a 10-2 count before rebounding with a 4-1 victory and a 6-5 triumph.
Meanwhile, the Aztecs experienced the opposite fate in their home series with Nevada, claiming a 5-3 decision in game one before falling in the final two encounters by scores of 8-2 and 6-0.
However, SDSU gave itself some much-needed momentum heading into the weekend after wrapping up its homestand with a dramatic 5-4 victory over UC Riverside on March 12.
The Aztecs trailed the Highlanders 4-3 in the bottom of the ninth, when Tino Bethancourt singled home Jake Jackson with the game-winning run after Irvin Weems tied the contest with a solo homer to lead off the inning.
SDSU IN MW RANKINGS
As of March 14, SDSU pitchers lead the Mountain West in strikeouts (173) and opponent batting average (.234), sharing the top spot in hits allowed (125) while ranking third in team ERA (5.12) and innings pitched (144.0).
Additionally, the Aztecs' average of 10.8 strikeouts per nine innings is good for 27th in the country heading into Friday's series opener, while their average of 7.81 hits per innings ranks 37th nationally.
Individually, Omar Serrano ranks second in the conference with a .198 opponent batting average and occupies the sixth spot with a 2.62 ERA while ranking ninth with 20 strikeouts. In addition, Jacob Riordan finds himself among the conference leaders in victories (T-2, 2), strikeouts (T-4th, 24) and opposing batting average (8th, .267).
Elsewhere, Xavier Cardenas III is slotted fifth in fewest hits allowed (17) among league qualifiers while ranking seventh in opponent batting average (.258).
Reliever Issac Araiza is also positioned ninth among the Mountain West leaders with 21 strikeouts and shares the top spot with eight appearances alongside teammate Garvey Rumary, while Evan Miranda and Chris Canavan are tied for third with seven games pitched.
Offensively, SDSU ranks fourth in the conference this week in hits (146) while ranking fifth in team batting average (.261) and doubles (36) while tying for fifth runs scored (85).
ODDS AND ENDS
Despite sitting out Tuesday's game, Colby Turner leads the Aztecs with a .351 batting average, 20 hits and a .579 slugging percentage, the latter of which ranks ninth in Mountain West. He also shares the top spot on the team with 11 runs scored alongside Jake Jackson.
Meanwhile, Tino Bethancourt has racked up five hits in his last three games, raising his batting average from .231 to .297 in that span.
Additionally, Jacob McCombs (.275) leads the Aztecs with three homers and 14 RBIs while occupying the second spot with a .575 slugging percentage.
McCombs made a huge splash during the Aztecs' season-opening homestand, launching a pair of grand slams vs. CSUN (Feb. 21) and CSU Bakersfield (Feb. 24) for his first two collegiate home runs.
Elsewhere, Evan Sipe (.293) and Finley Bates (.271) share the team's top perch with five doubles apiece. A native of Castle Park, Colorado, Bates is also tied for second on the squad with 16 hits alongside right fielder Shaun Montoya.
Montoya is the lone player to start all 16 games for SDSU this season, while Bates, Turner and Weems have made 15 starts apiece.
A total of 15 of the Aztecs' 19 true freshmen have seen game action this year.
The Scarlet and Black has collected three Mountain West Freshman of the Week honors this season, including two by Turner (Feb. 26 and March 4) and one by Jackson (Feb. 19).
Dating back to 2019, San Diego State is 68-47 in its last 115 games when striking out 10 or more batters. Aztec hurlers combined for 15 strikeouts in each of the first two games of the season-opening series vs. Portland, which surpassed the team-high total of 14 for the entire 2023 campaign.
SDSU is 158-47 over the last seven-plus seasons when scoring five or more runs, including a stellar 38-6 record during the 2017 campaign.
SERIES RECORD VS. AIR FORCE
The Aztecs maintain a sizable 121-36 lead against Air Force in the all-time series that dates back to 1961.
The Falcons are one of four teams which San Diego State has recorded 100 wins against, while the other three are New Mexico (131), Fresno State (110), Utah (104) and UNLV (101).
SDSU is 67-13 vs. Air Force in San Diego, 47-22 at the Academy and 7-1 at a neutral site.
The Aztecs and Falcons each won two of three games on their respective diamonds last season before Air Force emerged with a 12-1 victory in the opening contest of the Mountain West Championship in Fresno, California.
In seven games against Air Force last season, Irvin Weems hit a combined .500 (12-24) with six doubles, one triple, 11 RBIs and six runs scored while adding a pair of stolen bases. He also finished with a .833 slugging percentage and a .667 on-base percentage.
Among SDSU returners, Xavier Gonzalez also batted .296 (8-27) against the Falcons during the 2023 campaign, contributing one double, two RBIs and five runs scored.
On the mound, Cardenas made two appearances vs. Air Force last year, offsetting one hit and one walk with a pair of strikeouts in one combined inning of work, while Serrano earned his first career save in the Aztecs' 11-0 whitewash of the Falcons at home on March 24, 2023, retiring the side in three straight innings to complete the shutout with former SDSU standout TJ Fondtain.
AIR FORCE AT A GLANCE
Picked to finish third in the preseason Mountain West, Air Force is off to a 6-9 start overall, including a 2-1 mark in conference play. The Falcons have played their entire schedule away from the Academy, logging a 3-6 record in true road games and a 3-3 ledger at neutral sites.
Prior to the 2023 campaign, infielders Sam Kulasingam and Jay Thomason were named to the preseason all-Mountain West team after receiving preseason third-team All-America recognition by the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA). Kulasingam is the two-time reigning Tony Gwynn Mountain West Player of the Year.
Entering the weekend, Thomason leads the conference with a .689 slugging percentage and 42 total bases while tying for the second spot with five home runs. In addition, the Air Force senior is slotted fifth in hits (22) and eighth in batting average (.361) while sharing the sixth position in runs scored (17).
Elsewhere, fellow classmates Jake Greiving (.323) and Chris Stallings (.302) are hitting over .300 while sharing the team lead with 14 RBIs thus far, which is tied for ninth in the MW. Greiving is also knotted in the fifth spot with four home runs and ranks sixth with a .597 slugging percentage.
As a team, the Falcons are perched atop the conference with 27 stolen bases and are tied for the MW lead with eight sacrifice bunts. However, Air Force finds itself at or near the bottom of the league in most other offensive categories, including on-base percentage (5th, .350), batting average (6th, .245), hits (7th, 121), RBIs (7th, 68), runs scored (7th, 72) and slugging percentage (7th, .366).
On the mound, the Falcons rank fourth in the MW in team ERA (6.02), opponent batting average (.281) and hits allowed (137) but occupy the basement in strikeout-to-walk ratio (1.38).
Among the hurlers the Aztecs will face this weekend, Shim is tied for fourth in the conference with 24 strikeouts while ranking ninth in ERA (4.35) and innings pitched (20.2).
UP NEXT
San Diego State will almost certainly witness improved weather fortunes next weekend when it travels to the Aloha State for a three-game non-conference series against Hawai'i, March 22-24, at Les Murakami Stadium in Honolulu.